We had the very fortunate opportunity to catch up with our past clients in this special virtual chat! We caught up with Ben and Laurie Feinzimer of Deerfield via Zoom one afternoon during for a quick conversation about their home renovation 10 years ago with Advance Design.

Pre-Renovation: They Hated Their House

Ben and Laurie were newly married when Ben moved into Laurie’s home in Deerfield, IL. Their family grew: two kids and three dogs later and their two-bedroom ranch became claustrophobic. They began looking for a larger home to suit their growing family. After a lengthy search, they ultimately decided they loved their town and neighborhood too much to leave.

This put them in a bit of a quandary. Should they add on to the house? Should they tear down and start over? Where would they live while the renovation took place? And who could they trust to accomplish such an enormous task? Then through a reference, they met Todd & Christine Jurs, owners of Advance Design Studio to discuss their options.

“From the moment we met Todd and Christine,” Ben said. “We knew right away that there was no more searching. We knew right away who we wanted to build our house. They proved our instincts correct.”

 

 

The Home Renovation Process: It Was Fun and Easy

After discussing the possibilities of a major renovation, it was determined that the design of the original house and the existing foundation wouldn’t easily support the addition of the type of spaces needed and the style of home the couple desired. So Todd and Christine, and the Advance Design Team worked with Ben and Laurie to design and build a new house from the ground up.

“We went from a cramped two-bedroom, one and a half bath old house to a beautiful two-story home with a front porch, back patio, and full basement. Front to back, side to side the whole property is just fantastic!” Ben said.

One of the benefits of a rebuild is that every inch of the new home can be put to practical use and wasted space is eliminated. Everything is designed with a purpose. Ben and Laurie loved that Advance Design helped them identify exactly what was most important to them and designed their new home with every personal goal in mind.

“The laundry room contains a boot bench area perfect for the kids and dogs coming in from outdoors. Laurie wanted the proximity to the kitchen and living area to be such that she could oversee the kids doing homework while she was completing other tasks like laundry and cooking,” Christine said. “So we designed it exactly how she wanted it. The kids each have their own en suite baths, another feature that was important to the family and something you don’t see in most older homes.”

Our House During Quarantine

Ben and Laurie had heard home building horror stories from friends and family who cautioned them in building their own home. But Ben and Laurie’s experience was even better than they had even imagined. And today, their carefully planned home has paid dividends years later as they have been able to focus on spending more time with family.

“This home quarantine has been rough,” Ben said. “But Laurie and I both say on a regular basis that it has been much, much easier because we are comfortable and happy in our home and it’s true.”

“Todd, Christine, and the entire Advance Design team were and still are not only the best in terms of work and product, but they have been the kindest, most responsive, and most generous individuals we’ve hired for anything,” Ben said. “In today’s environment, it has become increasingly rarer to find truly conscientious, bright, dedicated individuals and companies. Advance is all of that and more! We’ve had them back many times over the years for smaller projects, and my family is always trying to figure out what else we can build or renovate just so we can use Advance again!”

“Working through our process ‘Common Sense Remodeling‘ and managing the entire project from start to finish is the key to a successful large-scale renovation project (or new home build) going well. Clients who understand the benefits to them truly appreciate our process and reap the benefits of our experience,” Todd said. “And working with such great people like Ben and Laurie make what we do truly rewarding for us and our team.”

With everything happening in the world today, being confined at home has changed the family’s perspective on a number of things. “We feel fortunate to have met Todd and Christine and all the people at Advance Design years ago. And to have this beautiful home to at least feel safe and enjoy our time; we didn’t feel stuck here at all with the quarantine, which was really nice,” Laurie said.