Timeless Home Makeover & Interior Design Tips | Lover’s Lane Remodel Masterclass

Summary

Podcast Summary: Dear Alice | Timeless Home Makeover & Interior Design Tips | Lover’s Lane Remodel Masterclass

Release Date: August 14, 2025

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Introduction to Remodel Masterclass

In this episode of Dear Alice, hosts Jessica Bennett and Suzanne Hall, the creative minds behind Alice Lane Interior Design, inaugurate a new series titled Remodel Masterclass. Aimed at listeners embarking on home renovation projects, this series promises in-depth explorations of their remodeling endeavors, showcasing how they transform spaces through innovative design solutions.

“We are going to start a new series for you guys here at Dear Alice called Remodel Masterclass.”
— Corey (00:35)

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Project Spotlight: Lovers Lane in Highland Park, Dallas

The episode centers around the Lovers Lane project, situated in Highland Park, Dallas—a prestigious and highly sought-after neighborhood likened to the Beverly Hills of Dallas. Due to limited land availability, many residents, including the featured family, opt to purchase existing homes and tailor them to their needs rather than building anew.

“They’re very popular. There’s no land available, so most of you are just purchasing existing homes and then making them yours, which is the case of this project that we called Lovers Lane.”
— Corey (02:17)

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Before and After: Transforming the Floor Plan

The Lovers Lane home underwent significant floor plan modifications to better accommodate the needs of a young family with five children. Originally, the house featured segregated spaces, including a formal dining room and a compact kitchen that felt constricted.

• Original Layout Challenges:
  • Separate, isolated rooms leading to a lack of connectivity.
  • A small kitchen with a U-shaped layout and a limited island, unsuitable for family gatherings.

“When you walk through the house previously in these before pictures, you’re going to feel like you’re being pinched. It’s just too tight.”
— Alice (10:08)

• Redesigned Layout Solutions:
  • Expanded Kitchen: The kitchen was significantly enlarged by removing the formal dining room, creating an open and welcoming space. A new island was incorporated to facilitate family interactions and accommodate seating for the children.
  • Keeping Room: Adjacent to the kitchen, a new keeping room was introduced as a versatile gathering spot for casual conversations and small gatherings.
  • Enhanced Flow: High ceilings were retained from the original design, allowing for a more spacious and airy atmosphere.

“We opened it up to completely give you a big kitchen and a large keeping room. Nobody feels like they’re in timeout.”
— Alice (11:04)

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Detailed Kitchen Remodel

The kitchen transformation is a highlight of the Remodel Masterclass, showcasing a dramatic shift from a dark, cramped space to a bright, expansive area designed for both functionality and aesthetics.

• Before Remodel:
  • Dark mahogany or cherry wood finishes.
  • Limited seating and a closed-off layout that hindered social interactions.

“It’s not conducive to feeling open or gathering. Nobody can sit in there. Entertaining is there’s no island for five kids to sit at, so it’s just kind of entrapped and feels really heavy for such a small space.”
— Corey (09:39)

• After Remodel:
  • Light and Airy Design: Adoption of lighter colors and the introduction of glass pocket doors to enhance natural light flow.
  • Functional Island: An extended island provides ample seating, making the kitchen a central hub for family activities.
  • Pantry Integration: The redesign included a connected pantry with abundant storage, seamlessly blending utility with design.
  • Classic Elements: Incorporation of brass corbels, marble shelves, and Ralph Lauren pendants, adding a timeless elegance to the space.

“These are just like snaps from my cell phone. But you can really see that pocket door is just so dreamy.”
— Alice (18:56)

“This really is a story of shared light.”
— Corey (17:34)

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Reimagining Functional Spaces: Offices and Keeping Room

Beyond the kitchen, the Remodel Masterclass delves into the redesign of the family's offices and the creation of the keeping room, tailored to support both work and leisure.

• His Office:
  • Expanded Footprint: Incorporation of a windowed box to enhance natural light and provide a serene workspace.
  • Customized Storage: Built-in shelves and personalized touches reflect the homeowner’s personality and interests.

“Her office is my favorite in the history of Alice Lane, of all the women we’ve worked with. It’s just so chic and smart.”
— Corey (32:53)

• Her Command Center:
  • Storage Solutions: Replacement of the traditional fireplace with extensive storage to accommodate crafts, projects, and personal items.
  • Collaborative Space: Designed to support two children working simultaneously, fostering a productive environment.
  • Aesthetic Enhancements: Introduction of classic ironwork doors inspired by cinematic influences, adding character and sophistication.

“The command center feels really accommodating and comfortable and more people can be with the host.”
— Corey (22:17)

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The Powder Room: A Personal Favorite

The episode culminates with a focus on the redesigned powder room, affectionately termed Alice’s favorite space in the house. This room exemplifies the design philosophy of maximizing existing spaces to create functional and aesthetically pleasing environments.

• Design Highlights:
  • Customized Wallpaper: Porter Tile wallpaper with tailored color enhancements evokes a deep sea ambiance.
  • Artful Details: Incorporation of personal artwork and bespoke fixtures like a floating vanity and glass-front cabinets.
  • Flow and Continuity: Hardwood flooring routed to guide movement through the space, enhancing both form and function.

“It just reminds me of just like deep sea. There’s something that’s so mysterious about it that you just are completely drenched.”
— Corey (36:38)

“We did actually occupy a little bit. This closet right here ended up becoming a hidden little closet. Okay.”
— Alice (34:32)

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Conclusion and Client Satisfaction

Reflecting on the Lovers Lane remodel, the hosts emphasize the importance of collaboration, flexibility, and creative problem-solving in achieving a successful transformation. The project spanned two years, navigating challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic, yet culminated in a space that surpassed the client's expectations.

“Years later, the remodel works the way you needed it to and surpasses any of those expectations. It’s the cherry for our job.”
— Alice (38:45)

The episode underscores the rewarding nature of remodeling—transforming a house into a personalized, functional home that caters to the unique lifestyle and needs of its inhabitants.

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Final Thoughts

Dear Alice’s Remodel Masterclass offers listeners an intimate look into the intricacies of high-end home remodeling. Through the Lovers Lane project, Jessica and Suzanne demonstrate how thoughtful design and strategic space reallocation can breathe new life into existing homes, making them timeless and tailored to modern living.

For those embarking on their own home projects, this episode provides invaluable insights into the creative and practical aspects of interior design, showcasing the transformative power of professional expertise and collaborative vision.

Transcript

[Alice]

Foreign.

[Corey]

This is something that the designers just really broke their brain over.

[Alice]

I love a powder room by spit. Like, of all the powder rooms that, like, Alsane has ever done, this is.

[Corey]

This is one of the powder room.

[Alice]

This is my favorite.

[Corey]

It's probably my favorite room in the house. When you're just in the common area and you look over and you look in there, you're like, what is happening in there? It is just so fantastic. Hi, guys.

[Alice]

Hey.

[Corey]

Welcome to Dear Alice.

[Susan]

We're here.

[Alice]

Oh, my gosh.

[Corey]

It's another Thursday and in the summer, and it's been a good one. We've had a lot of requests to do deep dives on some of our projects, remodels in particular. So you guys must be in project mode. And we are going to start a new series for you guys here at Dear Alice called Remodel Masterclass.

[Alice]

I'm so excited.

[Corey]

A luxury reveal. So we'll maybe do one of these once a month for those of you in project mode and just showing how we're reallocating spaces, how we're reimagining rooms. It does take an imagination to really see a home differently than it's currently been done.

[Alice]

Yeah. And you kind of know, we've talked about this for if you're a new build or if you're a remodel. Most of us live in a home, but most of us have a house project or want to do something. You wouldn't be here. Right. If you didn't care about your house? Um, I love a remodel. I love, like, reimagining spaces. And there's obviously, there's, like, you get some bad, inherited architecture, but you also get some just, like, problem solving and things that you wouldn't necessarily have planned for or corners or pockets that somebody else brought to the table that you get to benefit from and make it your own also. That's the magic of a remodel.

[Corey]

Also, keep in mind, like, the one that we're about to show you is in Dallas, Texas. It's in a really, really lovely area called Highland park, which is kind of like the Beverly Hills of Dallas. And you don't. There's no land available. Right. So you're going to either purchase a home and knock it down if you want to do a new build, or you're going to purchase a home and reimagine it. So a lot of you might live in areas like that which have been populated for a long time. They're very popular. There's no land available, so most of you are just purchasing existing homes and then making them yours, which is the case of the. This project that we called Lovers Lane.

[Alice]

Yes. I love it so much.

[Susan]

I would say, too, that sometimes limitations can, like, bring out creativity. So you have, like, more like, I don't know, remarkable, fun things, and you.

[Alice]

Have a better outcome. And I think in a lot of, like, corners of a space that, like, again, you wouldn't have, like, you couldn't have planned for that, but, like, it was a gift to you that, like, I don't know, just got thrown in a blender and reimagined your way. And it's really. It's super gratifying. And especially, who doesn't love the a before and after. I tell you what, like, remember all those makeover shows?

[Corey]

Yes.

[Alice]

In the 90s.

[Corey]

I just like, this is our version of the makeover show. Yeah.

[Alice]

Welcome.

[Corey]

Yes. We're going to show you the before and afters and the problem solving we did to get to this. We've got floor plans today, We've got Susa's sketches, and then you'll see the finished outcome. And we're actually saving Susan's favorite room for the end of this project. So make sure and stay tuned to see that. But first, I wanted to tell you guys about a free service that we have here at Alice Lane. If you're just on the furnishings portion of your house and you're trying to get it right, and for some reason it's really hard to. To work on your own project, you kind of just get this hijack in your brain where you're like, I don't know why I can't make decisions for myself, but I could tell anybody else what to do. Our home furnishings design service is interior designers that know all of the Alice Lane Rolodex. They know all of our 200 vendors. They know all of our products that we're creating, and they can give you the best, best expert help for free. This is complimentary because you're going to be purchasing the things through Alice Lane. So it's incredibly popular. It's crazy that we do it, but we have really, really talented designers on standby to help you and take advantage of that service. Again, it's called home furnishing Design. Corey, tell them where to find it on our website.

[Susan]

So, yeah, so if you go to our website, alicelanehome.com you go to the design services tab. Scroll down to Home Furnishing Design, and it'll take you to a. A form that you fill out and one of Our designers will get back to.

[Corey]

Yeah, and they get back right away, which I think is a thing in the industry. You have a lot of creative people, and they don't always get right back to you and. And pick up the phone. And so you're gonna love that. These guys do. So anyway, go give that. Go give that a try. I know you'll be able to finish off your rooms in a really beautiful way.

[Alice]

Not to mention exclusive product.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Alice]

Anyway. Yeah, probably already said that, but.

[Corey]

And.

[Susan]

And, like, a lot of the time, that's. That's the group that's getting, like, you.

[Alice]

Know, the front row.

[Susan]

Yeah, yeah. Front row to it. So that's great.

[Corey]

It is great.

[Alice]

But. Yeah. Okay, well, let's get started on this period. Okay. So just again, you mentioned, it's in. It's in Dallas. The family that approached us, they're a young family, five young kids, and that was that same thing where they just. They. And he liked deals in development and stuff. And, like, they were able to purchase. I believe it's actually two lots that had, like, this house on it, because it does have, like, a pool house and a pool, but it was just very, very dated. And, like, it just wasn't, like, the way it was configured, wasn't. Didn't fit the needs of the family. Again, it was a lot of separate rooms, which, you know that there's a place for separate rooms, and we love a scene, but, like, for the way this family needed to live, like, they just needed, like, more space. They needed a larger kitchen. They needed an office for him, a command center for her. They just. There were certain needs that they knew, you know, what they needed when they went into this. And so it was just like, now how do we, like, slice and dice this thing up? Right?

[Susan]

They had already purchased the home when they had contacted us, so it was.

[Alice]

Like, okay, yeah, they'd already purchased the home. And actually we were at a site visit for another project in Dallas in Highland park, and, like, it was early in the morning. We only had, like, so much time, and we got the car, and I, like, slipped over there, like, in the morning. They weren't there. Nobody was there. It was, like, so early. And I remember just, like, peeking through the gates. I saw a picture on my phone. I was just like, hey, this is the house is where it's at. You know, just like, show quick just.

[Corey]

The exterior of the house the way it was.

[Alice]

Okay.

[Corey]

Because I want them to be able to visualize this is you peeking through the fence. This is the house.

[Alice]

Yep.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Alice]

So this is.

[Corey]

What was this home built?

[Alice]

Gosh, I don't even know. I think it was like, in the 90s, like, early, early 2000s.

[Corey]

So Mediterranean.

[Alice]

Mediterranean. Like, beautiful home.

[Corey]

Like this beautiful crawling, like, all stone manor on the exterior. Fountain in the front. Yeah, Again, paver driveway. Really beautiful.

[Alice]

Yeah. Lovely home. And so, like, I saw this and I saw the floor plans, and then we. I mean, we got started. I mean, they had a team, like, ready to go already had torn it up and like, just started to look chip finishes of the things that they knew they didn't like, but they just needed help with. Like, now what do we do with it? So anyway, so this is the exterior. This. This is what became of the exterior.

[Corey]

Kept that Mediterranean tile roof, though. Yeah. And then just kind of modernized. This home went black windows and just a really crisp. I think edit to what it was. It feels really, really beautiful.

[Alice]

And the fun thing is lighter. But even, like, from the exterior, like from the street that it's on, the whole thing is fenced by green. So you don't even see the house. Like, there's just, like, green everywhere around it. So you feel just so enveloped. So it doesn't feel like a desert, you know, that you're in somewhere a little bit more lush and humid. Definitely more humid. But this is, like, where we ended. There's a couple things, too, that we're going to get into the floor plan real fast that we might come back and revisit these, because I want to show you a few things. Okay. This is the floor plan. We're going to like, be covering about four spaces, like the kitchen, their office, both of their offices, and my favorite room at the very, very end. But I want to first talk about. Oh, shoot. Just reallocating space. Remember how I said we're going to slice and dice? This is where you'd walk into the entry right here at the bottom of the screen. And this is how it sat before. Okay. You had an entry. You had a formal dining on the right side. And then you have like a walk in, like, little butler's pantry with a regular pantry. And then you have a pretty small kitchen. Actually, these plans were older. They didn't even have that peninsula. They just had this U shape with a rec. A small rectangular island in the center, which, like, their kids can't sit at. Like, there's just, like, not enough space.

[Corey]

Also, I feel like when homes were being designed back in the late 90s, early 2000s, it wasn't the open floor plan that we were today. And what we. What we wanted to do with the floor plan here was to open it up and get a better flow. Because those of you that are not watching right now, we're looking at a really nice size floor plan. But because everything was sectioned off, each space doesn't feel that connected to the next. So you're having these really individual experiences in them. And this big family wants to feel connected. And I think a lot of people that inherited homes from this. From this time have tried to feel like, how can we open the house up right and share light? Also, they were craving a lighter, brighter experience. And this was feeling darker. And the kitchen was so small. Will you show them the kitchen before? That is so dramatic.

[Alice]

Okay. Oh, there we go. Okay.

[Corey]

So you can see, like those of you tuning in and watching on YouTube or Spotify, you can see this kitchen. It's. It's not only a stain grade dark. I feel like it's dark mahogany or cherry wood. Corey, would you say?

[Alice]

Yeah.

[Corey]

Really dark kitchen. Kind of a yellowy, plastery finish. The casings are that dark beige, and you've got precast around the windows, so they went for it. Here we've got granite countertops, but it's just a big U shape, and it. It's not conducive to feeling open or gathering. Nobody can sit in there. Entertaining is there's no island for five kids to sit at, so it's just kind of entrapped and feels really heavy for such a small space.

[Alice]

I know. I'm like the whole thing, like, all. When you walk through the house previously in these before pictures, you're going to feel like you're being pinched. Like it's just. Like it's too tight. And again, especially when you see the grand. Grandness of that exterior and the sprawlingness of it, it doesn't feel like the inside. Like, you should feel like that sense of grandeur when you walk into a space like that. Right? Yeah.

[Corey]

You know what is nice about this home, though, is the high ceilings for the time the home was built.

[Alice]

Absolutely.

[Corey]

So you had volume, which is awesome. And then just changing up the floor plan also gave you the width besides the height. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Good bones to work with.

[Alice]

I know. So when we. I'm gonna go to. Okay, so this is the before plan. You've all seen it. Okay, now we're going to hit the after plan. We again, we did a bunch of different versions of this, but this is kind. This is where we landed to kind of fit the client's needs. They wanted a Larger kitchen. And so what we did. And they didn't need a formal dining room. That's one thing. Like, look at your space, like, your homes. And what spaces do you not use? Like, get rid of those and reallocate it for something that you need or the lifestyle that you want to live. This family, again, they wanted an entry that, like, a proper entry. The other one was, like, shared with the dining room. So we closed that wall off, and then we opened it up to completely give you a big kitchen and a large. We call it a keeping room. It's this, like, little adjacent room to the kitchen where you can have, like, a small gathering that's separate from a family room. You know, we're just like, people can be conversing, can be talking to the cook, and it's just like another little gathering space that's still in the mix of everything. So nobody feels like they're in timeout. I feel like the last plan, you felt like you were in time in that kitchen. All these spaces were so isolated that you're like, okay, everybody's lonely and sad. Like, soft sadness everywhere. So. But one thing that I think is interesting, because we, again, we mix this a ton of different ways before we landed here, but this little space where those two windows were in that last pinch, pinched kitchen, those are these kitchen windows. Again, not a lot of light. It's kind of crazy to think. I'm like. I think we tried to avoid it for a while. The idea of covering up, like, not having that be shared with the kitchen space. But in the end, it made the very, very most sense to, in order to get, like, a larger footprint for our island, to actually create the pantry back here with those windows, which is a pretty dreamy experience, to, like, create an experience for that pantry moment, but really to just elongate that whole island so that we can generously seat, you know, all of her children at one time. Um, there's plenty of space between. And you have this keeping room. The keeping room is probably my favorite ad in this whole space. The kitchen's awesome. The pantries are great, but, like, this whole space, just like it is a party barge.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Alice]

Like, they entertain, and they entertain really, really well in this space. And there's some of these vacancies, again, on this floor plan that you're looking at. You have the kitchen. You have the keeping room at the bottom, and you have this family room that's sitting over to the left with the fireplace that's still open to all this space. Like, people in the kitchen. Can kind of yell and like at the game or talk to people over here, but you have this vacanc which, like, was a perfect spot for a dining table, like a large dining table. I think we're like 84 inch dining table right here so that they can really again host. And they have another thing we should show probably on our social. We can't go into everything today, but the previous owners had like this little bar area and our client wanted a soda bar and like an ice cream parlor with a service window out to the pad on the deck.

[Corey]

And so.

[Alice]

Yes, yes. And all their friends. And so again, thinking about, like, are we going to use this space? Like, are you big drinkers? Is. Is that important to you? Or like, do you just need an ice cream parlor as a service window so that you're the house that all the kids want to go to? And that is this house.

[Corey]

So good.

[Alice]

It's very, very family friendly.

[Susan]

I love that you mentioned kind of you, like reworking it a couple different ways and had landed on this one and trying to like, kind of incorporate those windows into the kitchen somehow, but just realizing, like, the best thing to do is like, hey, let's just give the pantry those windows and just, you know, lay the kitchen out this way. And I think there's always going to be a give and take in remodels.

[Alice]

Yes.

[Susan]

And always.

[Alice]

Yeah.

[Susan]

And. And. And it turned out, like, dreamy.

[Alice]

That's.

[Susan]

That's amazing. And then like, taking the space that was really useless and like, hey, we don't need a formal dining room, but we still need something and we're gonna, like, go ahead and use that space. I feel like as far as square footage goes, you're taking advantage of all of it rather than kind of leaving voids in your home. So.

[Corey]

And this is why I just want to put a plug in for. It's. It's nice to hire an expert because if you're taking on the remodel yourself, you can only reimagine that kitchen as it was. And you're like, well, we'll just take out the old cabinets and put something new in.

[Susan]

Yep.

[Corey]

This is something that the designers just really broke their brain over. And I just want to say the designers on our staff, they have interior architecture degrees, and so they actually did this. They didn't hire an architect to do this work. They sort of scraped the floor plan clean and they reimagined it several different ways with the client to come up with this. And then you can use engineers to make sure what's load bearing still gets the support that it needs, if it is load bearing at all, to be able to come up with a brand new solution for this old house. And you can live the way that you want to live if you get creative and think outside the box. That's why it's worth hiring a professional. Because look at the difference in living like this versus the befores. Right.

[Susan]

It's just more. It's like more collective. It's more together.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Alice]

Yeah.

[Susan]

You know, rather than like, hey, you're. We'll be in here. You're in the kitchen.

[Corey]

Whoever was. Whoever was in the kitchen before probably felt like they were in time out like sue said, because there's not a ton of room in there. And. And it doesn't.

[Alice]

It just only room for one cook.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Alice]

In there. You know, and like cooking is such an experience. And I think more and more is like the decades have gone that we just. That's. That's the party.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Alice]

Is making the dinner together.

[Corey]

Totally.

[Alice]

Okay. This is that. Just a study sketch on how we wanted to start allocating. You can kind of see we had tall cabinetry on the left on that far wall. And that's where we're going to put our fridge and everything in that doorway that I have shown in the sketch right here that goes to that back pantry area.

[Corey]

So we need the old kitchen windows.

[Alice]

Yes. Which is old kitchen area. But then we gained like all this space for our big range wall. Because again, the range, that is your money shot. Like that is what you pay for when you park a car underneath that hood. And then again with the kitchen, with the pantry. Here's another little sketch of just like how are we going to utilize, like try and get as much vertical storage for pantry, but then floating shelves over the window again just to kind of keep it open, but still have usable pantry space. Cuz that's where you go to shop.

[Corey]

Definitely. And you don't want to get rid of window light also on the front of the house. You don't want to lose windows.

[Alice]

No.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Alice]

No.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Alice]

Okay. Okay. And then this is. This is like in process picture. I think we were there like styling. But you can kind of see here through that pantry door. We have a pocket door also. Pockets. Like don't underestimate the power of a pocket.

[Susan]

I also love that you did glass. Glass pocket door. So like kind of bring in some. Some of that light.

[Alice]

Don't block that light. Yeah. Glass pocket doors are awesome. And the nice thing about a pocket, I know some builders will like kind of like raise their arms and they're super.

[Corey]

They're hard.

[Alice]

You have to double frame a wall. But you just don't take up real estate with the door swing. And if it's open all the time, people can peek back there because it's always fun to see those transition spots and to see like what is beyond the door so still be able to.

[Susan]

Close it off, which. Because you don't want it just to. Yeah, yeah.

[Alice]

Yep.

[Corey]

I know this is just a cell phone image. It's on the screen right now. But look how bright this kitchen is. This is also is in a white kitchen. This is a dark green kitchen. But there's a lot of shared light that's coming in from the keeping room and from the pantry because you did the glass door. And then also from the room that's not in here, which is that kitchen table area. It just feels so good, feel so bright. It's amazing that that other kitchen has the windows right in that space. Yeah. This really is a story of shared light.

[Susan]

It feels lighter and brighter than the, than the other kitchen, even though technically as windows.

[Alice]

Yeah. One thing again, you think that this island is long. We. This was before that butcher block portion was added in. So it's about to get even better. Here's. You can kind of see that butcher block that it's just extended that even more still have like at least a four foot pathway right there. Um, but really fun. You can kind of see back to the pantry and just how the space was filled in in these next images. And I just think it turned out so, so beautiful. This is kind of looking in from the keeping room. Yeah, it's just. And again, I like that you pointed out that it was dark, dark green. Just cuz like the client was fun. They were young and they were willing to take a risk. And this was, you know, this was back in 21. 2021. And so again, in this kind of sea of gray still back there, we were trying to introduce color.

[Corey]

Love. Love. Oh, I love.

[Alice]

These are just like snaps from my cell phone. But you can really see that pocket door is just so dreamy. And that reeded front detail on the front of that island. Anyway, it's just such a crazy, like dramatic transformation.

[Corey]

There's so many classic elements about that kitchen with, you know, the brass corbels holding up the. The marble shelves, those Ralph Lauren pendants in all brass picture lights. It really feels so, so good. You know, there's a lot of classical details in it and the dark green also just Feels like such a classic. And I know they've said in like restaurant design that you want to use like green because it feels living and produce and fresh and everything looks good in it. Right. And reds I think are also great for restaurant design. They always say no blues. It doesn't make the food look appetizing. So this is like such a money shot and a great idea. If you are considering a color kitchen, I think green is probably going to be top of the list, don't you think?

[Alice]

That's the color that we use the very most. When you get into pantries and for kitchens, just because it does pair so well with whatever you with it, right?

[Corey]

Always. Yeah.

[Alice]

And it just feels classic and it still feels young. Like it still feels really fresh. Like that's a piece that her sister painted and like anyway there's little personal touches that like she had want us us to incorporate.

[Susan]

So Suze, I heard you got Cozier's new luxury blanket and I want you to tell us about it.

[Alice]

I did. It's my very favorite new toy. It's the bubble cuddle blanket from Cozy Earth and it's this faux fur that is the softest blanket I have ever, ever experience. All my family, we all go downstairs and we watch movies together almost every night in the summer and we all fight over our blanket and I think I won. I have the Bubble cuddle and it is so soft and furry and I just, I love it so much.

[Susan]

Cozy Earth also has amazing bamboo sheets that come with a 100 night sleep trial. So try them out. If you don't love them, return them hassle free. There's also a 10 year warranty because once you feel this level of comfort, you'll want it to last a decade. So head to cozyearth.com and use our code Dear Alice for up to 40% off. That's cozyearth.com code Dear Alice. And if you get a post purchase survey, make sure to let them know you heard about Cozy Earth right here. Because your bed should be more than a place to sleep. It should be your happy place. Cozy Earth makes that possible. Yeah, like looking at the before like where are you laying stuff out there was or and preparing at the same time. It's like there's, there's. And having five kids. Yeah, right.

[Alice]

Yeah. So and like even in this, like it's not like it's a clean countertop, like it's in the middle of an install and kids and like there's a lot of, a lot of stuff happening there but it still looks beautiful. Just because, like, it's just, it's well allocated.

[Corey]

Beautiful.

[Alice]

Yes. And when you do have a closed off pantry, you can do a fun tile on the floor. I don't know. Peekaboo on that, guys. And then the keeping room. The keeping room, like in the actual plan development was probably one of my favorites. Just because it was just a created space that like, she didn't ask for. She wanted a bigger kitchen, but it's just a space that I knew and like, we both know, like the power of a keeping room. And just like when someone's cooking, like if you're, you're pregnant or you just need to sit and like not have a game on, you just want to have a conversation, this is where you go. If it was just like her and her husband that like, in the morning that's where I would eat. My breakfast is right there with that pull up table and with the big windows and with the live tree just canoping over me and just like up to my thoughts.

[Corey]

If this is the holidays, this is where grandma's gonna sit and the nursing mother on the sofa and somebody doing a puzzle at the table. And so this is their own little social thing, but. But they're feeling connected to their sister who's hosting Thanksgiving, and she's in the kitchen cooking. And there's just all these cute conversation circles going on. And. Or if grandma wants to talk about a story, everybody leans in and listens. And I don't know, you just feel my mom just has a little love seat within her kitchen and everybody fights over it. There's always, there's always somebody that's there, or there's like a toddler napping on the sofa. He got tired and just fell asleep. It makes the kitchen so accommodating and comfortable and more people can be with the host.

[Alice]

And you're probably getting a sample of whatever the, like the chef is cooking. Like, I'm just like, come try this. More salt? Does it need more sugar? What does it need? I'm like, this is, this is the hot spot, y'. All.

[Corey]

Totally.

[Alice]

So. And then this is like just a process picture. We're still in the works with like the gallery. So we were just trying out some pieces, but just so you could kind of see. Just like they wanted, you know, something that would be really cozy for her husband. And so he did this like really kind of Ralph Lauren. He wing back and then anyway kept things like, relatively light since we were living in such a heavy time, but still the opportunity to add color like, forever and always is there, which is really exciting.

[Corey]

So beautiful.

[Alice]

So. And then this is a little before and after of this, like, bar. They had, like, this actual, like, wine room. Beyond this, there was, like, a little art door. So anyway, that's where we put our soda fountains back there. And then we created a whole service window above this light counter that. Where that window's at, so that they can just like, slide that open and have the ice creams and all that and the sodas out to the kids, which is really, really cute. And then after, we use the same floor tile here that we used in the pantry. So just seeing some of those, like, repeat bits are so beautiful. Went a little bit more dramatic on our stone in here, because it's a soda bar, and we're gonna put a picture of it. I didn't put in this slide, but they wanted a neon, and they're really, really fun. And so we're like, what should the neon sign say? And it was Pour some sugar on me. No, no, no, no, no. Oh, gosh. Clip that, Ryan. Anyway from, you know. Heya. Yeah, that's awesome.

[Corey]

So good.

[Alice]

So, so good. Okay.

[Corey]

Love it.

[Alice]

So good. So that was the kitchen.

[Corey]

The kitchen transformation. We're just going to show you two more spaces in this home. Even though there's a whole home, you'll have to check it out on the portfolio. It's called Lovers Lane. But we want to go into his office and her office, which they call the command center.

[Alice]

Yes. Okay. So in this exterior shot, you can kind of see there's, like, this, like, very, very Caesar's palace deck right here. Happening those arcs then. No, but you're in Dallas, like, so you have a very short time where it's not, like, hot and sticky. This wasn't really being used. So this show is the before of that deck area. And he had the great idea. He's like, I wish it was just a little bit bigger. And so we're like, well, why don't we steal that? And actually just, like, create a windowed box within your office so you get all that light, but you expand your footprint. And so this was it before. Again, kind of, kind of pinched again. And this was just, like, again, studies of just, like, how we wanted to, like, expand that. That's where we put the sofa right there in the window and then put his desk just so that he could have built ins on his left and the view out of his right. This is some process pictures showing just that windowed wall now getting framed out. The deck is all enclosed and just some of the finished work and rhythms that we were playing with with the. And how that integrated with the built ins. And then this is the after. It's just. It's such a crazy. Before. Enough. Let's do that one more time. Before, after. I mean. I mean, it is Yoda. I'm so glad that you noticed that they were. They were like, pulling out art and it wasn't framed. And he's just like, this is something that I just got. And I was just like, that's dope. Anyway, so we got it framed and highlighted it. And he loves New York in the city. And anyway, he loves tag graffiti. And anyway, so we have a lot of, like, little, like, winks it at the homeowner throughout this office and throughout the home. But just really interesting. I think not only it's the, like, shell of the room, like, I think so lovely and warm and timeless and cool. It feels really young, but it also feels stately and collected and just something of like, old books. But just all. All the pieces have, like, I don't know, a character name to them, like, even that so far. I remember, like, the design team, they had like, a bunch of orange, like, more rusts. And I'm just like, oh, no, he's so much more fun than that. You know, like, go more. Like, we need neon orange, like, as neon as we can, like, afford to go, right? So anyway, not one chair is the same, but it's a really interesting collection of people in here.

[Susan]

So cool.

[Corey]

So good.

[Alice]

So good. Okay, now. So that's his office. Now we're gonna go to her command center again. You have this, like, I think a lot of people have formal dining rooms, formal living rooms, spaces that are, like, I guess, nice to have, but if it's not the way you live and you need something else, like, rip it out. So in this living room, there was a fireplace. And as we, like, did a bunch of different planning, we're like, really? What we need in here is storage. And, like, she just had a lot of requests where she's like, I want two kids. I want to be able to, like, store all my stuff. I want to be have filing in here. I want to have, like, any tools, like for crafts or projects, for anything in this command center. I need a spot for, like, two kids to be working, including myself. And I need storage, and I need a chaise. She's like, I really want a chaise or a space for, like, me to just do my own thing. And so we're like, hey, well, fireplace has gotta go. And so she actually, as we were doing, like, the planning of everything, she. It was like when Cruella came out with Emma or Emma Stone. Thank you. Right. Anyway, Cruella came out, and I don't know if you guys remember in, like, their office of the baroness. Anyway, they had, like, all these arct windows, and the client screenshotted this, and she's like, I love this door. And so we see it here. We see it here. Just some of this, like, old British, like, iron work. And so we're just like, that would be. She's like, I think I want to do a door into my office like that. So we did create. And because we had some of these things happening on the exterior, we brought this on the inside, too, which I thought was a really, really successful little venture here. And then this. This is kind of after. When you, like, look in there so you can kind of see.

[Corey]

I love all of the arcs that you guys brought in off doors. The peninsula has that rounded edge, that big pedestal underneath it. The art even makes a circle. The big chandelier. You're feeling all these rounds within the square. And it's probably my favorite room in the house. When you're just in the common area and you look over and you look in there, you're like, what is happening in there? It is just so fantastically designed. It's smart. You can tell that it works, but it's so beautiful and really unexpected. Yeah, I. I haven't seen anything like this before. And the color combination, too, so good.

[Alice]

Excited for you to see, because even that chandelier was probably my favorite light in the whole house.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Alice]

Okay, so this is how it turned out.

[Corey]

Do you see that marble?

[Alice]

Do you see that pedestal base again? You see it on our table over here as well. But one thing again. That fifth wall, the ceiling, I think, was such a big win in here. Can you imagine if that ceiling was white?

[Corey]

Like, I can't imagine, because it's what everybody does.

[Alice]

I know.

[Corey]

And when you set the ceiling off like that in black, all of a sudden, that light fixture becomes four times more impactful. That little pinstripe. Pulling that down onto the crown is just such chic tailoring. Yeah. It's so good and unexpected. Amazing. Yeah.

[Alice]

So, yeah, she. Yeah, that's what navy is like, one of her favorite colors. This. Yeah. This chandelier, it feels like a halo. It's giant. I want to say it's, like, 48 inches round. Like, it's huge. But the drama of that scale is so Impactful. When you go in here and you do feel it at night. Yeah. Holy cow. It's so dreamy when that thing is dimmed on. Oh, it's so pretty.

[Susan]

Anyway, I'm gonna say this about those doors. I love those doors. And I think that's a testament to, like, building. Building the right team around you. Because you need to be able to have some flexibility and leave some. Leave some space for magic to happen. Because when you're in the middle of a remodel, that's all you're going to think about. Your mind's going to be obsessed with it. And then that's when I. That's when you're like, eyes gonna catch things and be like, oh, this would be cool to do here. This is, you know, and then that. Where the magic can happen. And if you, like, give that to your team and they're rigid, they're the wrong team. Yeah, it's the wrong team.

[Alice]

Yeah. So, yeah, you should not feel uncomfortable to speak up if you're having an idea or something's inspiring you. Because I think, you know, like, through everybody's filters, we can like, turn that into something great. That's why just. That's why we work in teams too. Because someone will have this idea, but then someone's gonna have this idea and then this idea and then this idea, and then just like combustion happens and like miracles. Miracles happen.

[Susan]

Y' all so true.

[Alice]

It's so good because this, this is like he heavenly. Like, who wouldn't want, like, if you had to like, pay bills, like, yeah.

[Susan]

Serious, you have to pay for the remodel.

[Alice]

This is exactly where I'd be writing my checks. Right here. Right here. Okay. Okay. All right. So that concludes his and hers spaces. Okay, now we're gonna go to my favorite space, which actually existed. Like, this wasn't a reallocation of space. It was sitting there. So it was just like the low hanging fruit. This is the power of just like, this is the room that you already have. That's just like, not that great. That could be great. Right? We always say that. Even like when we're like, we DM stuff all the time and we'll see something. We're like, well, she. You forwarded me something last night. And you're like, it could have been great. I'm like, I know. That's the saddest thing. It's just like, oh, if you just like take it to that next level, if you just get a little bit, it's okay if you're nervous, if you just, like, go for it. Like, those are the spaces you're going to want to stay in. I was thinking about that. They're like, what is your favorite space in this house? And I was thinking about, like, what were the spaces that you just wanted to, like, sit and keep talking that I couldn't get myself out of. I just wanted to stay. And it was. It was his office, like, both the offices. But, you know, I love saturation. It was his office, and it was a snake space. It's called the powder room, guys. I love a powder room by spit. Like, of all the powder rooms that, like, Alston has ever done, this is.

[Corey]

This is one of the powder.

[Alice]

This is my favorite.

[Corey]

I agree.

[Alice]

I think it's a space too. I'm gonna go back to the floor plan just really quick, so you can kind of, like, orient yourself.

[Corey]

I also want to say, shouldn't admit these things on air. But I also want to say her office is my favorite in the history of Alice Lane, of all of the women we've worked with.

[Alice]

Yeah.

[Corey]

It's just. Yeah, it's on another level.

[Alice]

It really is. It's so chic.

[Corey]

It is, but it's also so smart. You know, the amount of storage and. And everything in there, you could tell that she had a big. A big list of things we had to accomplish. And like Corey was saying, oftentimes when there's constraints can come great creativity around it. And the way that the problems were solved is so good and so striking, and it's a space that you just want to be in.

[Alice]

Yeah.

[Corey]

And, you know, anything could happen. They could pull anything out of those cupboards. You could have kids doing homework in tandem. She could be on a. Shades making sure they're really doing it, you know, but. But working on something else. It's just. It feels like a space where creativity can. Can bloom. Yeah. Yeah. And homework wouldn't feel so sad and drab. It's magic.

[Alice]

It's magic. I just want to remind you this. I'm going back to the floor plan. This is that powder room. So you walk in, and it's kind of. You know, you have the toilet over to the right. And so we looked at that, and we tried to, like, re. Spin it a few different ways, but we actually. We did actually occupy a little bit. This closet right here ended up becoming, like, a hidden little closet. Okay. So the powder is my favorite room in the whole house. And that's a really. That was a really hard drum roll to, like, come to, because the whole house is Amazing. But these are just some, like, the study sketches because it is kind of like this, like, little L shaped space. And so how do we expand it? Before, like, they just had like this kind of rinky pedestal, but you had like all this opportunity and the square footage to really, like, do something with. So we did a floating vanity that could just like stretch from wall to wall. We had a great window in here. Um, we had room for an edit. Like a really, like, lovely, like 100 brasser. Not even edgier. It was just like.

[Corey]

Like a cat's.

[Alice]

A cabinet. Yeah. Glass front grass cabinet. Like, that's when I. We like, saw it at market. Like every time I'm like, someday, someday I'm using that cabinet and I got to use in this powder room. Anyway, we nested this great little OT and one of my. I'm really excited that we did this because we redid all the flooring and just like, just with like little turns of your hardwood and just kind of giving people direction on how to use the space and how to go and where to find it. Just like follow the wood planks and it wraps it wrapped around the.

[Corey]

These are the details. I feel like people would phone in.

[Alice]

Yeah.

[Corey]

You know what I mean?

[Alice]

They'd, like, just run it straight.

[Corey]

Just run it through. They wouldn't even tell them what direction to run it just come off the hallway. That's hardwood. This room's hardwood. But if you really get into the details of design, you can get a payoff like this, where the hardwood floor actually kind of tells a story and meanders through the space.

[Alice]

Yeah.

[Corey]

And the. The payback is just so tremendous.

[Susan]

One of the many genius things like you've done, you did in that powder bath. That's. It really is just putting that on a miter and 45ing it. That's.

[Alice]

Yeah.

[Susan]

It's super smart.

[Alice]

Yeah. And it miters through the hallway too. So, like, it's just like you kind of follow that miter through into the space. And this was a. This was the powder. If he had clients come in, you know, or anybody, this is the powder that they use. So he's like, I want this to be awesome. I need, like, I want to be impressive. Like, I want to be great for me, but great for, like, the experience for other people, which. Oh, gosh, music to my ears. So I just love this. And we put it. Okay, now. Okay, let's go, let's go. The afters. This is the powder. You've probably seen us, like, flash this up on. On our website. Before and on our social. But I just love this. We used a Porter Tellio wallpaper, but we customize the color a little bit because they have like stock colors that are beautiful, but you see them. And so we're like, let's just like turn the dial up and like, just make it a little bit more rich, a little bit more interesting. And it just reminds me of just like deep sea. Like, help. I don't know. It's just like. There's something that's so mysterious about it that you just. And you're completely drenched. Like, the ceiling is that color, that trim. We have this like rad proof of Mick Jagger with royalty happening over the toilet, which is so cool.

[Corey]

It's a slim Aaron's proof with his handwriting on the slides. And there's just something kind of raw about. About just the handwriting and the looseness of it. And then the Portitelio hand painted wallpaper is a study in Japanese pottery. When they break pottery, they fill the cracks with gold. So it's sort of a take on that. That's why you see this sort of gold leaf running through irregularly that feels like cracks. It's just so artful. That's smart, it's sophisticated, it's interesting. You're. I mean, if I was. If I was a client going to that bathroom, I'd be like, where do I sign?

[Susan]

Sold.

[Alice]

This is.

[Corey]

Yeah, this guy is. Is in the details.

[Alice]

And we. I mean, at the end of the day, like, it was me, the other designer and the client. We were all. We all hung out in the powder at the end of the day. So maybe that's why I'm just like. That was a really great conversation on a really like, tired, exhausting, gratifying, glorious day.

[Corey]

Yeah.

[Alice]

Because the end of the day, we ended in the powder. And that is why I just love.

[Corey]

Everybody gets to fill that way model at the end, they're tired. But it's glorious and gratifying and you're.

[Alice]

So happy for your client. You're like, it's. Remodels are exhausting. This was a two year remodel. And so just like, some of them can go quicker, but a lot of them drag on longer because you just find surprises. Things don't happen. It was in the middle of like the COVID you know, and so just like, there are a lot of things that were being thrown at the client and in the middle of trying to raise a family with just the hope that, like, fingers crossed, it turns out awesome, you know, because it's a Lot of money. And I actually talked to the client not that long ago, and I asked her, I'm like, is there anything that you wish you did differently? And. And she's like, no. She's like, it worked awesome. She's like, there's this one swivel chair that blocks a little bit of a cabinet, but that's my kid's fault. It's not your fault or anything. But anyway. But just like, to be able to say that like, years later, years later, that it works like the way you needed it to and like, surpasses any of those expectations is like, I think just the. It's the cherry for our job, man. Like, it's. It's so good.

[Susan]

I bet the re. The reason that is is because they just went for it.

[Alice]

Yeah.

[Susan]

You know, had they phones. Had their phone stuffed in, they would have been like, I. I wouldn't. I wouldn't know what it's like, you know, to have that if I just didn't go for it.

[Corey]

And I'll also say besides being trusting, they were in it because she's sending you pictures from movies. They both were in it. Yeah. And so I think that sort of. That trifecta of you're in it, you're trusting, you're sending ideas because you're in it, and you're feeling them too. It's kind of like, like you're riding a wave. Right. Like you're surfing. And if everybody's feeling it together, then you can make decisions or text each other or we're staying here. And this is inspiring. And. And. And it's this energetic ball that's like sort of volleying through the air and everybody's kind of hitting it around and. And like Corey said, they left space for magic to happen. And I just think this has been one of the most lovely remodels. I think if you guys are in the middle of a project, hopefully this has been helpful. We can continue this remodel master class, maybe one a month, just to sort of share some of the. The problem solving and some of the solutions that you come up with the constraints of a remodel. So this is the great work of alid, that's our Alice Lane interior design service. And they actually just are in the middle of a bunch of installs, which means we're open back door. If you guys have a full remodel that you want to do or a new build, we can take your project in the back door because you guys are listeners and we would love to help you. So if you're interested in that kind of work. That's a different design service, Corey. Same thing. The tab on the, on the website where you tell them how to find Alid.

[Susan]

Yeah. Go to alice lane home.com and then design services tab and then it's Alice Lane interior design. There's a form there. Fill that out and we'll get back to you.

[Corey]

Yeah, that's great, guys. Thanks so much for tuning in. We are if, if you don't mind, leave us review that helps our show grow and leave us a comment we love to hear from you. Or if there's an episode that you guys want us to talk about a topic, you can always send that to Dear Alice, alice lanehome.com and we'll catch you guys next time. Hey, thanks for listening. If you like our show, please leave a five star rating.