When Belmont resident Lauren Capitani, owner of Abode Well Designs, was a young child, she dreamed of being an astronaut, but when she knew she would never reach the minimum height of 5-feet-4-inches, she turned her thoughts to flying airplanes.
“During my first lesson, the instructor said he’d let me help land the plane, but would take back the controls as we neared the ground. But I ended up landing it fully. He commented on my having a strong natural sense of spatial. relations, “said Capitani.
Today, Capitani puts those spatial skills to good use, especially when it comes to looking at a room or house and envisioning how to reconfigure it to maximize livability.
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Originally from New Jersey, Capitani has moved all around the country and rented in many different types of homes over the years, transforming each to suit her family’s needs. Eventually, she turned that ability into Abode Well Designs.
How it all began
In 2015, Capitani, her husband, three daughters and family dog relocated from Santa Fe, New Mexico. When she bought her first home in Belmont, she wasn’t deterred by the purple exterior and the outdated interior.
“It had so much potential,” said Capitani.
She turned the entry foyer into a mudroom, added a bedroom, renovated the kitchen and bathrooms, and changed out a fireplace.
Capitani oversaw the entire project from start to finish, serving as general contractor.
The next thing she knew, she was completely renovating a historic 1800s home at 26 Cross St., Waltham, which she bought for $ 230,000 with the intention of renovating and reselling. She had a six-week timeline to complete the project before listing agent Lynn Findlay put it on the market. It sold for $ 405,000.
After this project, Capitani knew she had a calling and started Abode Well Designs, helping clients by overseeing and managing renovation projects from start to finish, procuring the general contractor, materials or furnishings, or acting as a consultant.
From tired and uninspired to transformation
Capitani recently helped ready a house for new owners by re-doing the floors, adding new light fixtures and window treatments.
She also converted a living room into an office, a basement into a mudroom and playroom and is now renovating a kitchen and two bathrooms.
Traci Doherty of Belmont recently hired Capitani to renovate her master bathroom. Her budget was $ 7,500.
“It was dated, tired and uninspired,” Doherty said.
Capitani helped her give it a facelift and stay within her budget.
“She listened, is very practical, and has great ideas of how to really transform a space in a pragmatic way,” Doherty said.
To help stay on budget, Capitani advised Doherty to keep her travertine wall tiles but found marble floor tile with a hint of the same color to complement, but not accentuate them.
Capitani also helped Doherty narrow down choices from the overwhelming number of possibilities.
“She made the process much more streamlined,” Doherty said.
Focusing on now, five years from now and long term
Capitani helps her clients consider what updates they will value the most and how it will suit their needs in the present, in five years and long term.
“I look at people’s budget and vision. What’s going to give you happiness now and value in the future, ”she said.
Removing a wall may be beneficial for a family that wants a more open floor plan so they can see their young children but when the children become teens, they may prefer their own space. Also, more people working from home is causing the popularity of open concepts to diminish.
When she converted a living room to an office, she designed it so that if the family decided not to use it as an office anymore, they could simply open the glass pocket French doors she added.
“It’s always important to think about what the future could hold,” said Capitani.
What’s in, what’s out
Capitani said pops of color, jewel tones and retro are in but so too are colors that feel serene and spa-like.
Gray, once popular, is now trending out and Capitani is seeing more earth tones like warm and soft beige on walls to bring the outside in.
When it comes to decorating, mixing old and new, modern and traditional, high- and low-end is also very in, according to Capitani.
Stark white cabinets are also not as popular as warm white, she said.
Trends come and go
“In general, I think trends can be dangerous. Everybody follows them. It’s impossible not to, ”said Capitani.
However, when looking at important features such as a sink, trends can be a mistake. If you choose a farm sink you may be stuck with it forever.
“I recommend putting in things that make a house look current without the owner being a slave to them before they are ready to renovate,” she said.
Capitani warns her clients if they see something again and again and it’s a big ticket item, think about it before you invest because trends like granite counter tops, dark wood cabinets, cabinet colors, farm house sinks, oval tubs, and brass in the kitchen look lovely now, but in five years it will be outdated.
She said sometimes just changing paint and hardware such as hinges and door handles can freshen up a space and be easily changed for far less money.
What matters most
Now that people are spending more time working at home, Capitani said it’s more important than ever to love your house and feel comfortable in it.
Every family has its own needs which is what decisions should be based on.
While the previous owners of Capitani’s home did not need a mud room, Capitani’s family did, so she added one.