Melinda Mandell doesn’t do “design lite.”
But when the Palo Alto, California–based designer and principal at Melinda Mandell Interior Design first met with her clients, that’s what they were looking for. The couple, busy working professionals with two young children, had lived in their 4,400-square-foot ranch in Silicon Valley’s Redwood City for five years when they started demo.
“They had an architect who got them a permit, handed it off, and was never seen again,” says Mandell. “I took one look at his plans and immediately saw some things that had yet to be optimized. The bathroom layouts were awkward and outdated.”
The 6-foot tub was way too big for bathing small children, for example, and the windows felt stocky and cut off. After talking with Mandell, the couple realized that they needed heavy-duty design help not only to improve the home’s flow, functionality, and storage, but also to transform it into an anchor point for their extended family.