Room Restoration

The Room is the beginning of architecture”  

Louis I. Kahn

If the room is the measure of architecture, then the achievement of interior architectural integrity also begins with the room. But interior work often gets divided up and parcelled out piecemeal, without any plan for achieving wholeness. This lack of attentiveness to integration–which is more involved than mere coordination–often results in disjointed, uneven, or incomplete restorations. Even when smaller projects than entire room restorations are done, they should be done with the intent of enhancing the integrity of the whole room, hence restoring its dignity, its singular wholeness.

Oak Brothers offers the antidote to these problems–“whole room restorations.”  We work closely with clients to integrate multiple parts of projects, providing services in as many of the areas in which we have expertise as possible (both directly and by drawing from within our community of fellow artisans who share our values and integrity).

Where is our design degree to vouch for our capacity to do this work?  We have none!  We offer these services as un-designers and non-contractors because we do not fit comfortably in either of these categories.  We are artisans who also respect our client’s inherent aesthetic sensibilities. (Part of our job, then, is to draw out these sensibilities.)  We work with clients to achieve room restorations which respect the architecture while meeting their needs and preferences. Our years of experience, aesthetic sensibilities, and skill sets in our areas of expertise are our credentials.

walkway to front door of colonial home

For instance, while we offer color consultation services, we will not choose colors for clients.  Instead, we work closely with clients to assist them in choose their own colors.  This process enables the homeowner to feel a sense of ownership for their own color style and rooms, rather than to have artificial rooms designed by “experts.”

(Want to read a funny and inspiring story about this approach to color?  Read about “The Red Door of Courage.”)

While we didn’t do a whole room restoration of the kitchen pictured at the top of the page, we did do work in keeping with the character of the room.  Go here to learn what we did and why we are showing this room in a section devoted to whole room restorations.

Here are five whole room restorations we have done, including a list of services we provided for each project.