East Side Conversion

This young family wanted to expand the footprint of their small home by converting their underutilized garage into an office and guest house. The homeowners had previously attempted to convert the garage with an unqualified contractor, who found the site conditions too challenging and gave up a few weeks into the process. Otto revised the existing plans to better suit the future use — creating more open floor space, larger windows for light, and redesigning the kitchen to be both fully functional and minimally intrusive.

The Existing Conditions

The homeowner wanted a flexible space that could be rented to a family friend and eventually converted to an office
The existing garage sat in the back corner of the lot and was downhill from the existing house, presenting both design and technical challenges
When Otto was hired, a previous contractor had already started initial demolition work before abandoning the project, leaving it in limbo for 2 years with barely any progress

The Design Decisions

In order to maximize the flexibility of the space, Otto used an open floor plan and pared-back cabinetry so that no single feature dominated the space
Otto incorporated large openings and a light material palate to create a bright airy space (despite the fact that two sides were too close to the property line to add windows)
The corner bath is the pièce de résistance — despite its small size, careful material selection and the addition of a window create a cheery room with details that connect it to the main space

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