Larch Avenue Remodel

Bringing a Ladd’s Addition beauty Back to life.

In 2014 prior to starting ReAlign Renovation, we purchased a house in SE Portland’s historic Ladd’s Addition with the intention of giving ourselves a project. Working collaboratively with the amazing guys at Lux Construction, the entire house was brought back to life. We entirely redesigned the layout of the kitchen, basement and upstairs bath and added all new cabinets, lighting, appliances and fixtures. (All interior construction work and most photos above by Lux Construction).

We started with the bad, chopped up 1980’s kitchen. We first removed an old service chimney, which opened up a poorly used corner and allowed us to add the range and valuable counter space. But the big “ah-ha” moment came when we realized we could move the existing 1/2 bath away from the corner of the house, replace it with a sweet built-in nook and new windows, and bump a new 1/2 bath into the over-sized dining room (with a repurposed original window). We also solved the problem of where to put the refrigerator by also bumping into the dining room. The result: a beautiful, hard-working kitchen that has become the heart of the house.

The upstairs bathroom was a mess with an awkward shower, sink and toilet layout, so we completely reworked the room to add a massive walk-in shower, soaking tub and vanity. But perhaps the best part? The penny tile on the heated floors!

One of the main reasons we were attracted to this house was the completely unfinished basement with high (7’-2”) ceilings. We rolled up our sleeves and designed the space to include a second full bath, new office/bedroom, two storage closets, a laundry room and a family room with built-in media shelves. Although it’s a basement, it’s become our respite from the world, as well as where kids like to build forts out of sofa cushions.

A year after the interior remodel, we turned our attention to the back yard. While it wasn’t big, it had tons of potential for a comfy urban outdoor retreat. Working collaboratively with Lori Scott Landscape Design, we completely rethought how the back yard should be used. We landed on a simple but elegant design that has four distinct spaces: a new modern deck with sitting area, a small but well-used patch of grass (for summer camping sleepovers), an outdoor dining room, and a gas fire pit and sitting area. We were even able to sneak in space for a ping pong table!

Here’s a few more beautiful pictures of the house taken by Wendi Nordeck and art directed by Jackie Salway.