A Charmed Bungalow in Denver: Renovating with Character

I love renovated older homes that manage to keep their original charm intact.  I worked on this 1920’s Denver Bungalow for well over a year – it was a rewarding experience.   The homeowners added a second floor and gave the home 3 new bedrooms and 2 new bathrooms, yet when you’re inside the home, it feels cozy and charming: exactly as a bungalow should feel.  The exterior is welcoming and comfortable on the tree lined street – this is no hulking behemoth.  I’m happy with how natural the home ended up looking – the additions that were made to the original were all in the spirit of the first, little 900 sq. foot home.

The architect on this project was Jon Hindlemann of Hindlemann Architecture + Design. He excels at creating new and renovated homes with character.  I love the idea of a hidden storage area – this closet has a touch latch with concealed hinges so when you’re standing in the space, you don’t know that it’s there.  Such a cool detail!  The round, hall table is from Arhaus and the console table is from Wayfair.

The front room of the home is so small that it always makes me wonder about how people spent their free time in the 1920’s.   I think they must have just sat very close together next to the fire.  The wall between this and the dining room had been taken out previously, but you can still see part of it, which tells you it must have felt even smaller back in the day.  We placed two small, velvet covered settee’s opposite one another to keep the look cohesive and provide as much seating as possible without it feeling crowded.  We had the client’s existing rug (from a different room) cut down with serged edges so that it fits the space perfectly.  I added a custom mahogany mantel above the fireplace to replace the existing top which had been damaged from sun, water and time.  The art above the fireplace is a custom piece by Colorado artist Julia Havel.

Isn’t that pine table gorgeous? It was the client’s existing dining table and we had it refinished.  The floors are original to the home and were refinished at the end of the project.   The client found the two wooden architectural pieces on the wall at a shop in Denver.

We had a custom sofa and custom X benches made just for this room by a local upholstery shop. The rug is from West Elm.  I designed a wine refrigerator/closet combo to the right of the television out of the room’s old closet.   It’s up higher because the basement stairs cut into it at the bottom.  We re-used the existing trim wherever possible.

If you’d like to see more of this home, I shared photos of the renovated and new bathrooms in this post.

“Houses are like people – some you like and some you don’t like – and once in a while there is one you love.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Emily Climbs