Mark and Keriann Ours had been hoping to find a home where they could live the urban lifestyle they love. They looked at about a dozen homes. They had an offer in on a condo, but it fell through. They were looking at a townhouse in Victorian Village, but the fees were not that appealing. German Village was a neighborhood they considered, but had always thought they would be priced out. When their realtor showed them a place that was originally a 5 car concrete block garage that had been converted to a home in 1979, they fell in love. The open floorplan and the loft feel was just what they were looking for. At first, they were unsure about living on an alley where everyone’s garages faced their door and trash day would be at their front door as well, but now they are really enjoying it. “Everyone is nice and we know everyone on the street,” said Keriann.
Their home is a little over 1200 sq feet, with a 40×50 foot yard, 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and a garage. When they moved in, they removed the white ceramic tile floors, replacing them with bamboo floors which considerably warmed up the space. The home was painted in dark colors everywhere, so they repainted in cool grays. As the sunlight changes through the day, the colors of the walls change slightly. The kitchen got a total makeover. They replaced the cream tile counters and backsplash with modern gray subway tiles and a sleek and smooth countertop. The white cabinets were changed out for dark ones and the hardware was given a modern update. New appliances complete the look. The dried roses hanging over the passthrough are keepsakes from when they were dating and splashes of yellow accent the space.
Kitchen After:
The dining room is adjacent to the kitchen and they added a beverage center with a wine cooler and coffee area. It’s great for parties and comes in handy since they love entertaining. The home has a good flow for guests, especially when the weather is nice and they can open the double doors to the yard, where the deck becomes an outdoor room.
When they bought the home, the yard was overgrown and taken over by weeds. They wanted a more formal look for the space and added edging pavers and many, many bags of local Darby pea gravel. There are a few mulched beds in the yard, which Keriann would like to make pea gravel. “Carrying mulch through the house every year gets old,” she said.
Originally, Mark and Keriann wanted to have the spiral staircase be the focal point of the space. It went through quite a few coats of paint before they decided to leave it the same muted grays as the walls.
The upstairs loft has their bedroom where they each have a walk-in cedar closet. Mark owns his own architecture firm and has his home office upstairs. The bathroom was also updated. The new tiles combined with the wood they left in place create a ski-lodge getaway feel for the space.
Mark and Keriann really enjoy the proximity to Schiller Park. They have two dogs that enjoy trips to the park. The dogs are a focus of some of the art that decorates their home. The couple also enjoys aerial photography of the neighborhood. A photograph by Jason Wilson of Metroscap of Red, White and Boom reminds them of when they got engaged. Joy Kollmer of Kollmer Photography did the pictures of Mark and Keriann with their dogs.
For this remodel, they were able to use Craigslist to liquidate everything they removed and all of the old brick pavers from the yard. Remodeling homes is something they have discovered they love to do. For their next home, they would like to stay in the German Village or Brewery District area and find the worst house on the best block to make it shine.
Thank you to Matthew Carbone for contributing photography.
At Home is a monthly column on Columbus Underground focused on urban home remodeling and style as well as older home renovations and unique homes in Columbus. If you would like to have your home featured in the At Home series, please send me an email at [email protected].
[At Home is sponsored by The Hamilton Parker Company. Located in Columbus, Delaware and Cincinnati. The Columbus Showroom, open to the public and located at I-670 and Leonard Avenue, features brick & stone, ceramic tiles, garage doors and fireplaces for your home and landscaping projects. Currently, there is a sale on Hardscaping and Fireplace Departments. Other promotions include Ragno Boardwalk and Calabria 13×13 Porcelain Tile at 20% off. Click here for current promotions or stop by their showroom. M-F 8-5pm, Sat 8-noon, Extended hours Tue & Thur 5-7pm]