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Clients often give me an odd look when I ask them if they are TV watchers. It’s an important question when designing a family room; some of our clients appear embarrassed or even apologetic about the desire to have a TV in their home and others consider their television the center of family life. Regardless of…
Part III – Interior Colors In the last post we talked about selecting exterior colors. This post will focus on choosing interior colors. If you survived the process of selecting exterior colors for your home you will be relieved to know that there are several aspects of interior color selection that are much more…
Part II – Exterior Colors Last month we talked about the benefits of a thoughtful color scheme, and how to get started. This month we will focus on choosing exterior colors. Most homeowners are surprised to learn just how many colors their house can accommodate without getting carried away or becoming garish. Consider the following…
Part I – Getting started With all of the fancy fixtures, finishes and materials to select in a typical home renovation project, the importance of your color palette is often overlooked The list of decisions and selections to make in a typical home renovation project can seem endless at times. While some of the more…
If you are looking to renovate or add to your home and you haven’t heard of houzz.com, you should check it out. Houzz is a website devoted to all things home design and renovation, from interiors to exteriors, fixtures, furnishings, and landscaping. If it has to do with the design of your home, you can…
It’s a pretty common question for homeowners considering a renovation, “Should I hire an architect and go the traditional design-bid-build route, or should I hire a design-builder?” The answer typically depends on a number of factors, including your budget, the complexity of the project, and your design aspirations for the finished home. Many of our…
Renovating kitchens to meet your needs along with today’s design trends can be a challenge. Regardless of the age of your home, chances are that our attitudes towards the kitchen have evolved significantly since the time your house was built. Once seen as a utility space that should be hidden from other rooms at…
Kenneth Harney pointed out in a March column in the Washington Post, an important fact about green building: green building construction and improvements do not result in changed appraisals or mortgage underwriting in the United States. This seems strange, given the emphasis of sustainability modifications widely marketed, available and adopted by American homeowners. There is…
Many home additions are conceived on the assumption that adding more space will solve all of the problems with your house. We often meet potential clients who are looking to manage clutter, make a kitchen more efficient, improve general flow, and fix any number of other problems; and most immediately assume the answer is more…
A home addition can be a great way to adapt your house to meet the changing needs of your family. There are several regulations that may impact the feasibility of an addition project. Many of these vary by jurisdiction and should be reviewed with a local design professional or code official to determine their impact…
Bennett Frank McCarthy prides itself on its commitment to its clients. We believe that architecture and community design work best when the surrounding context is taken into account. A good addition reinforces the building of which it is a part and the community to which it belongs. Details should respect the materials and assemblies of the original construction so the completed composition integrates old and new seamlessly.
We believe that the interests of the client deserve respect and accommodation. Our design process is organized to provide services suited to each client and their project needs.
We work in an open studio to encourage the free exchange of ideas among all members of our firm. We find the design and construction process to be continually educational, interesting and immensely enjoyable; we look forward to each new project.