REINVENTING HOME

SHIFTING PERSPECTIVES INCREASE POST-PANDEMIC RENOVATIONS.

WRITTEN BY BRANDY WOODS SNOW

When a Cotswold family experienced an unfortunate double whammy—a house fire and the COVID-19 lockdown—they turned to the mother-daughter team of Lynne Clark and Eliza Barnett at Clark & Clark Interiors for help. The family desired a newly renovated home that would answer their need for increased functionality and flow. This touched on a trend Barnett began noticing as the pandemic gripped the country—something she dubbed “The Pandemic Project.” But the growing demand for renovations was less of a timing issue and more about a new way of functioning within the home as perspectives on how life should be lived began to shift.

“During the pandemic, people were occupying their homes more than ever before and began looking for better ways to exist within the space,” Barnett says. “The value meter of their environment excelled, and the lens of what a home is and how it should feel completely changed.”

Clark and Barnett executed a comprehensive renovation for the family. Specifically focused on the kitchen, they were able to construct an open floor plan for good traffic flow, increase storage, add higher-end appliances for enhanced cooking, and include pops of color to infuse life into the space. “We were able to touch all areas of the home, which in turn allowed for optimum function of each space,” Barnett says.

The family loves to entertain and host, but their original kitchen had a smaller footprint that created areas of bottlenecked traffic and a need for more storage capacity. The goal

“THE LENS OF WHAT A HOME IS AND HOW IT SHOULD FEEL COMPLETELY CHANGED.”

—ELIZA BARNETT

PHOTOGRAPHY BY DUSTIN PECK For more information, contact CLARK & CLARK INTERIORS at 704-372-1476 or visit CLARKANDCLARKINTERIORS.COM. was to design an inviting, open space with terrific flow. To achieve this, the design duo moved the kitchen from its original place to be more centrally located, creating the heart of the home. The floor plan was opened to instill harmonious flow between the dining room, living room, and kitchen, and oversized windows were added to increase natural light, making the spaces feel light and airy. White cabinetry, white subway-tile backsplash, and white marble countertops are anchored by surrounding cabinets painted in a dark hue. A geometric backsplash with brass accents and bright pink vintage runners inject interest into the space. And for the last layer, Barnett added the “jewelry” of the kitchen: hardware. The design team opted for black hardware with brass accents to reflect the dark cabinets, while the solid brass hardware gives the black cabinetry a classic feel.

The finished renovation was a beacon of light for the family, giving them a perfectly constructed and styled home in which to live their best lives after weathering some of the most trying events.

And as for pandemic projects, the reversing of COVID restrictions has done little to curtail the trend of home renovation, and, according to Barnett, the lockdown has created a shift in homeowners looking to maximize the quality of life inside their homes—one that shows no signs of slowing down. “We definitely think this trend will continue into the future, as we believe the way we feel and live in our homes has changed forever.” u

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