Tour seven completed remodeling projects where creativity abounds

If you're thinking about remodeling your residence -- and even if you're not -- you'll want to check out the Remodel Chicagoland Tour showcasing seven remodeled homes in five different suburban locations.

The May 17 and 18 event is the third annual remodel tour sponsored by HBAGC Remodelers, a council of the Home Builders Association of Greater Chicago.

Many homeowners want to update one or more rooms in their homes, and the tour is a chance to see finished remodeling projects that include an updated master bedroom and bath, remodeled kitchen and laundry room, 800-square-foot addition and larger, whole house renovations.

"Every year we get increasingly positive feedback from tour attendees who come away impressed and inspired by the scope and diversity of the upscale remodeling projects we showcase," said Lisa Pickell, president of HBAGC Remodelers.

A portion of the proceeds from the tour will benefit HomeAid Chicago, the HBAGC's charity of choice that shelters and assists the area's transitional homeless population.

Insignia Kitchen and Bath Design Group, Ltd. of Barrington updated a 1980s kitchen that had white cabinets and wood flooring. While discussing how to make the room look larger, the idea of combining the adjacent laundry room with the kitchen seemed viable.

"Both rooms were too small, so we incorporated the laundry room into the kitchen and integrated it into the cabinetry," said Designer Brian Murphy. "When the laundry room is not in use, you don't even know it's there. You just have a nice big kitchen."

Insignia installed a massive stone hood and cooking alcove, which is the focal point of the kitchen. They also put in two bi-level islands, one providing a large eating area, cabinetry with a distressed finish and new high-end appliances including an armoire style refrigerator with pillars on either side.

This project was a little different in that Insignia used less wood and more stone than usual to accomplish what the owners envisioned. The floor, backsplash and back of both islands are an off-white limestone along with the cabinetry crown molding, which makes it very unusual, Murphy said.

"The room is gorgeous -- a very comfortable place to sit and strikingly beautiful.

We created the look, feel and environment the owners wanted, and they said they had hoped it would feel like this," Murphy said.

"They're enjoying remodeling a little bit at a time. And they're already talking about next year's project."

Scott Sevon, CGR, CAPS, GMP, CGP, president of Sevvonco, Inc. in Palatine and Michael Nagel, CGR, CAPS, president of Remodel One, Inc. in Roselle teamed up to customize a ranch home in Schaumburg to better accommodate the owners' two children with special needs.

After determining it wasn't feasible to remodel the home because it was too costly, owners and builders decided to do a whole house renovation and re-build the home.

"We installed a track system in the bedroom that allows access to the adjoining wheelchair-accessible bath with special doored bathtub and roll-in shower area. And we put a track system in the living room so the child can use a zero gravity harness for mobility," Sevon said.

The builders widened every doorway in the house to make them wheelchair-accessible and widened the hallways to four feet for added accessibility. They put in a ramp from the garage into the house and installed a deck that is wheelchair-accessible from the backyard play area and main entry.

Both builders have been involved in the green movement for almost 10 years -- long before it became a trend. So making the home extremely energy efficient to save energy, heating and cooling costs was a priority. "We built the home to save the family long-term energy costs over the life of the home," Sevon said.

The project's challenge was the number of people involved. Builders worked with the homeowner, trustee, architect in Rockford, bank inspector, and Village of Schaumburg. Also unusual is the number of donations and discounts that vendors provided for the renovation.

"It's a labor of love more than anything else," Sevon said.

Mike and I enjoy working together, and we're very passionate about our work. The renovation with the green aspect along with the opportunity to help this family made it a very satisfying project, Sevon said.

Doomis Custom Builders, Inc. completely modernized a 6,000-square-foot South Barrington home that was built in the late 1970s on a five-acre home site.

The highlight of the house is the walk-in entry with a giant barrel ceiling that looks into the three-story glass atrium in the center of the house, said Mike Doomis, partner with his brother Tom. "It's a lot to digest at first."

Doomis put in custom walnut interior doors and walnut trim throughout the home, higher ceilings in the kitchen, increasing the 8-foot ceiling to 13-feet, and added skylights. The great room features a large projection TV and raised starlight ceiling.

They also installed a two-story screened-in porch that overlooks an Infinity Edge pool and lake, and added a hot tub and separate pool house. The home is surrounded by front and rear ponds and has a stone bridge over the water for entry into the house.

In the finished basement, there's a gun range and large wine cellar with a glass front where you can see the bottles of wine on display.

Other amenities include controlled lighting, visual electronic monitoring system, standby generator system, all brick paver driveway and much more.

"There's something neat at every turn," Doomis said. "Everything is over the top."

Remodeling an outdated master bath in a traditional South Barrington home was a pretty routine job for East-Dundee based Great Northern Kitchen & Bath. "This is what we're in business to do," said John Lagioia, vice president and designer.

The company designed a large shower with heavy clear glass door, built-in seat integrated into the tub deck, body sprayers and a digital home spa experience system. The large deck-mounted bath tub has curved stairs into the tub and a copper drop-in flower pot arrangement. Large porcelain tiles in a pattern surround the tub deck and shower.

"An unusual aspect of the project was putting in the digital home spa interface system from Kohler that is programmable by the touch of a button," Lagioia said. "The system has eight multi-user presets that control all the shower heads and body sprayer. It's a high-end system."

The company extended their work into the master bedroom where they removed wallpaper and painted the walls, installed a wet bar, cherry cabinetry with granite countertops and a plasma screen.

Owners are remodeling their home a room at a time, Lagioia said. "We're quoting some of the hardwood flooring on the first floor."

Other homes on the tour include a Highland Park home with an open floor plan whole house renovation by Design Construction Concepts, Ltd. of Northbrook.

In River Forest, Oak Design & Construction based in Oak Park added 800 square feet to a Mediterranean-style home that includes a sophisticated kitchen, expanded casual dining area and finished basement.

Also in River Forest, a 1938 Better Homes & Gardens two-story colonial presented a challenge for Pollard Construction Company, Inc. who extensively renovated the home.

The Remodel Chicagoland Tour of seven remodeled homes takes place this weekend with models open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 17 and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, May 18.

Admission is $10 online at www.RemodelChicagoland.com or $15 when purchased at tour homes. Children 12 and younger are free. The ticket price includes Remodel Chicagoland magazine, which features each of the homes and tips for remodeling your own home. Visitors provide their own transportation. For questions not answered on the Web site, call the HBAGC office at (630) 627-7575.