Custom Addition, Brentwood, TN
Case Study: How a Growing Brentwood Family Gained 1,370 Square Feet without Losing Their Home’s Heart
When this Brentwood family first walked through their home with the design team, they described a familiar situation: they loved their house, but their lifestyle had outgrown its walls. The husband needed a quiet, dedicated office for client calls, while the wife wanted a home office that didn’t compete with their toddler’s toys for space. They also wanted to grow without sacrificing the open, light-filled feel that first drew them to the home. Over eight months, the project added 1,370 square feet of purposeful living space while preserving the original structure's character and openness.
Project Details
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Project scope: Whole-house renovation and rear two-story addition
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Location: Brentwood, Tennessee
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Timeline: Approximately 8 months from design through completion
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Special features: Expanded kitchen-adjacent living, flexible guest suite, dedicated office suite, screened porch with hot tub
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Client priorities: Preserve natural light, maintain open flow, create true work-from-home functionality, improve daily family living
The Challenge
From the first consultation, three needs stood out: a legitimate, acoustically separate home office; a guest room that could double as a daily-use workspace; and a more family-friendly living area that wouldn’t disrupt the existing open kitchen-living-dining flow.
The rear of the home faced south, bringing in valuable natural light they did not want to lose, and every decision needed to support a toddler-friendly, safe, and highly functional home.
Key Design Constraints
Preserve existing open-concept kitchen–living–dining connection.
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Maintain natural light from the south-facing rear of the home.
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Provide acoustic separation for remote work and client calls.
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Create a true multi-purpose guest room that is a fully functional studio.
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Ensure safety and durability for an active young family.
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Our Approach
The solution became a two-story rear addition that preserved key sight lines and natural light from the existing spaces. On the first floor, a guest room and secondary living area connect easily to the main kitchen and living areas, while the second floor forms a dedicated office suite with physical and acoustic separation from everyday activity.
First-floor Additions
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Multi-purpose guest suite with a contemporary Murphy bed
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Built-in shelving for design samples, books, and décor
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Window seat with integrated storage for linens, toys, or project materials
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Secondary living room positioned as a buffer between the main living and the office above
The Office Suite And Hidden Moments
Upstairs, the office suite supports modern remote work with vaulted ceilings to avoid a closed-in feel and a layout tailored to productivity and relaxation. One section houses a golf simulator with specialized turf flooring to accommodate the husband’s golf hobby, turning potential dead space into a practice area. A bar with sink and wine storage supports both client entertaining and personal downtime, acknowledging how today’s home offices often blend professional and personal life.
Second-floor Features
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Dedicated, acoustically separated office suite
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Vaulted ceilings to maintain a sense of volume and light
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Golf simulator bay with specialty flooring
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Built-in bar with sink and wine storage for hosting and unwinding
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The stairs leading to the office created a small area beneath them that was transformed into a toddler play cubby with built-in lighting. This playful nook turned what is often wasted space into a favorite spot for their child.
Results and Takeaways
The addition delivered 1,370 square feet of new, highly functional space across two floors, but its success shows most clearly in daily life. The husband reports a significant boost in productivity from the dedicated, acoustically separated office, while the Murphy bed studio keeps the wife’s home office organized and allows the room to function comfortably as both work space and guest suite. The secondary living room and screened porch now anchor many family evenings; on mild nights, opening all three sliders transforms the combined space into the heart of the home.
