Northshore Home magazine highlights the best in architectural design, new construction and renovations, interiors, and landscape design.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1325707
94 WINTER 2021 elements nshoremag.com/nshorehome/ K IM AND MIKE NUGENT EACH HAD A DESK IN THE attic of their Newburyport home. When Covid hit they became full-time office mates, though the situation was short-lived. "Our video calls annoyed each other quickly," Kim says. The solution? A wall. Holly Gagne, who the couple hired to help problem solve, has received numerous such calls since March. At first, clients were asking for quick fixes. Now they realize more drastic measures are in order. "It went from 'just get me through this,' to features that will be permanent parts of the house," Gagne says. Shelby Littlefield, senior project manager at SV Design, Siemasko + Verbridge, Zooms from her dining table, so her husband spent spring and summer with his laptop on the three-season porch. It's currently being winterized. Littlefield and principal architect Tobin Shulman are designing an octagonal-shaped desk elements nshoremag.com/nshorehome/ with a partition that will sit in the center of a client's octagonal-shaped home office. The husband had been using the space exclusively while the wife staked out the dining room, but they are eager to reclaim the room for meals. "Their jobs don't require them to be on the phone, so sharing a space will be fine," Shulman says. In some homes, parents are making way for kids. Meghan Shadrick had just transformed a wood-paneled study into a feminine retreat with a hand-painted ceiling and floral drapery for a mom of four boys when the pandemic took hold. As the only public room in the open floor plan with a door, it's become the place where P H O T O G R A P H S B Y , L E F T T O R I G H T , E R I C R O T H , S E A N L I T C H F I E L D Above, Architect Tobin Shulman, who designed this office in Gloucester, says it was intentionally designed so a couple can enjoy more of the summer in New England," he says. "The space doesn't have to be huge; just flexible, bright, and comfortable." His associate Shelby Littlefield did the interior design. Top right, Jayme Kennerknecht designed this small but cheerful office off the kitchen for a family who has recently hired her to transform their living room into a full-on homework space for their kids. Bottom right, Kennerknecht designed a wall of built-ins for a boy's bedroom at a New Hampshire vacation home.