Size isn't everything: Even mansions yearn to be homey

The pursuit of a homey feeling is the most obvious challenge when a couple builds a large suburban dream house.

You don't want it to feel like a hotel lobby or an amphitheater.

In the case of one such 20,000-square-foot home in Barrington Hills, Doug Durbin was called in to help, thanks to his expertise with nuHaus, his Highland Park firm specializing in kitchens, bathrooms and areas with woodwork, such as libraries. The homeowners, who collected many ideas while living 30 years in their old house, wish to remain anonymous.

Durbin helped finish the interior spaces, and many of his ideas about achieving balance, symmetry and proportion would work in smaller homes, too.

The homeowners and Durbin say the architect, Michael Hershenson Architects of Evanston, was a big part of the project's success as well.

Durbin's work shines through in the kitchen, library, master bath and the guest powder room.

Here are a few tricks he wanted to point out:

Kitchen

The range wall is a focal point when guests enter the kitchen from the family room. It needed to be very attractive.

Durbin wanted to reduce its mass and scale. To do this he built a fake wall about a foot inside the support wall. This means the matching cabinets that flank the range and the massive range hood do not stick out too far because they are set back into the wall.

On the island, the granite top curves gently on the outside edge to match the home's arched doorways. One end of the island is raised a bit to allow the apex of this curve to be opposite the center of the hood over the range. With an island this large, a curve of these proportions would not crest at the right place if the top were all one level.

The refrigerator is in a dark walnut armoire inlaid with polished metal to look like a piece of furniture rather than an appliance.

"The proportion of everything is right on," said Durbin.

These details contribute to the feeling of balance when someone walks into the kitchen, he said, but visitors don't have to know why it all works.

Library

The library is paneled in walnut, including the ceiling, which features shallow beams formed into squares in the corners.

This allows Durbin to really shine because he is a former cabinetmaker. He points out details, like the fact that the carved scallops in the ceiling molding curve different directions on either side of plinth blocks set in the center of each wall.

The powder room protrudes into the room, so Durbin added a matching paneled bump-out that hides cabinets on the other end of that wall. The area between the two is the right size for the homeowner's credenza.

Another challenge of creating symmetry came when Durbin realized the fireplace was not centered on its wall. A bookcase just the right depth on a perpendicular wall straightened that out.

"This is one of my favorite rooms because I understand how this goes together, how complicated the engineering is and amazing the craftsmanship," said Durbin.

Bath

It seems like a small thing in a large space where marble-laden, his and her bathrooms are connected by a walk-through shower, but the doors on the cabinets on her side are show stopping.

Filmy white silk cloth is laminated between two sheets of glass. This gorgeous treatment gives some privacy to the items stored within.

"I've been playing around with laminating all kinds of things," said Durbin.

Powder room

Durbin likes fixtures, such as the walnut vanity with several finishes and graceful legs to look like fine furniture.