With our masks, pandemic precautions, and a positive attitude, we’ve shifted our workflow as necessary to protect ourselves and our clients- but this new normal has had its own way of igniting our creativity! As our JSDG team worked with this family of six throughout the last few months on a full-scale, ground-up new construction, a small shift in perspective allowed us to actualize this family’s total dream home in a whole new way. So, how did we adjust during this time? How did the build change? What did we discover while designing amidst a pandemic? Read on below. 

Original Goals

As this big and well-known Highland Park family grew and evolved, so did the necessary dynamic for their home. With three grown-up girls out of the house and a son finishing up his senior year of high school, Mom and Dad were eager to build their new home from the ground up with the following overarching goals, determined when they hired us in December ‘19:

• Finally bring their dream home to life
• Create a welcoming space for the kids to come home to
• Host large family gatherings
• A place to relax and enjoy
• Capture a modern farmhouse feel, with a touch of glam and edge

How the Pandemic Changed Our Perspective 

When quarantine was ordered in March, both our perspective and our clients’ goals were revaluated. While they knew they wanted their new home to be a sanctuary for the kids and extended family to return to and enjoy, this became increasingly more important. The ambiguous timeline for quarantine and the uncertainty of daily routine in general made our client feel even more compelled to create spaces where:

• They knew family could safely congregate
• They could productively conduct a full workday from home
• Extended family could come by for socially-distanced dinner al fresco
• They could responsibly have friends over by the pool
• Safely distance while laying out in the sunbeds
• They felt comfortable and safe

So, we designed with this new dynamic in mind. We: 

• Made design decisions that encouraged outdoor togetherness
• Upped the number of sunbeds and lounge chairs so more extended family could responsibly gather around the pool
• Added a fire table for additional heat to extend the seasonality of the pool area into fall
• Added sunbrellas to extend time outside on hot summer days
• Made the home office convertible into another guest bedroom
• Added ombre side tables for a unique and fun look that tied in the home interior
• Included massive mudroom storage to accommodate multiple guests

Interior Sanctuary

While the outdoor spaces were important for gatherings, a comfortable and calm interior feel also became paramount. If we were mandated to stay home, the family wanted to make sure home was just right. Their excitement surrounding their dream build really inspired us to make some really fun yet functional decisions. We fell absolutely in love with this full-scale project. Just some of the many noteworthy details include:

• Primarily black hardware
• LED light fixtures that truly brighten up the home
• Signature JS white custom cabinet color
• Pool bathroom with barn door shower door
• Fringe ottoman in the family room (Jamie’s favorite!)
• Floor to ceiling tile behind the television
• Bar stools (Fan favorite!)
• Unique tile in mudroom and bathrooms

Final Touches on This Favorite

When times got tough, we relied on our best asset: creativity. This ground-up new construction inspired us to think even more cohesively, and exercise our ingenuity within the boundaries of quarantine. New builds are our favorite way to design a home because everything has a flow: like how the indoor and outdoor match in this Highland Park home, the daybeds at the pool (and the pool itself) are the perfect size down to the inch, etc. It just works out for the best! Attending installations as we usually do was incredibly rewarding for this build. We loved watching this home come together flawlessly, despite all that had changed in the world through the last few months. Our favorite moment? Receiving photos of the whole family enjoying their new pool to the fullest on a warm August day.

We are currently finishing the basement on this build, feeling blessed to see each element through to completion. Stay tuned for more full-scale dream projects like this one; could our next one be yours? Contact us when you’re ready to bring your dream home to life with JSDG. We would be honored to make it your new reality!