The Change

A modest-size farmhouse blossoms into a family-friendly home with a spacious eat-in kitchen, mudroom, and screen porch on the main level, and a master bedroom, bath, closet, and laundry area on the upper level.

What It Took

• Building a two-story addition onto the back of the house to increase the home's size by 1,056 square feet.

• Converting the old kitchen into a butler's pantry, coat closet and half bath.

• Designing a new, bigger kitchen with an island that offers casual seating plus enough space for a separate table and chairs.

• Installing French doors to a three-season screen porch that welcomes breezes and sunshine but shuns bugs.

• Including a mudroom that eases the transition from outside to in and includes storage for sports equipment, coats and shoes.

• Using the new upper-level space to house a complete master suite: sunny bedroom, master bath, closet and laundry room.