Each fall as thousands of young people leave home for college, their parents are left with what is often referred to as the empty nest. One of the most common ways parents deal with this housing dilemma is by downsizing. But the term downsizing tends to come with a negative connotation—as if life isn’t as meaningful now that the children are away. But the contrary is actually true. When homeowners downsize their square-footage, they increase the time they have to enjoy other aspects of life.
When one such couple realized they were ready to “downsize” after two of their three children left home, with the third close behind, they decided to invest in something way more fun—they built a new house. “We downsized,” the husband begins to explain.
“And upsized the garage,” the wife adds as they both chuckle. The couple’s new garage is home to their cars, and boat, and golf-cart.
“Dunedin is very golf-cart friendly,” the wife says. “There are special pathways you can drive your golf-cart that are great to get to the community center when they have parades or fireworks.”
Although this couple had grown children and were in the process of downsizing, this was the first time they’d built a new home; so they were very excited to have exactly what they wanted—especially when it came to the kitchen design.
“We both like the contemporary design,” the husband describes. “In our older home, we were kind of stuck. But we were able to make this house exactly how we wanted.”
The wife adds, “We didn’t use an interior designer, because we have similar tastes and knew what we wanted. And working with Mike and Alex made it easy and fun.”
When the homeowners refer to Mike and Alex, they are speaking of their homebuilder, Mike Cogdill and cabinet designer, Alex Baez.
Together, Cogdill and Baez helped this couple create their dream kitchen.
Cogdill, of Cogdill Builders of Florida, was born into a family of homebuilders. His father started Cogdill Builders in Jacksonville in the 60s. “I opened my company in 2002,” he explains of going out on his own.
After a frustrating experience with a cabinet company, a chance meeting brought Baez, owner of Jacobs Custom Cabinets LLC, onto Cogdill’s radar. The rest, as they say, is history.
“I met Alex through homeowners I was working with,” Cogdill explains. “I was building a house north of Tampa and the owners changed something on the cabinets, but my cabinet guy was taking too long. So Alex and I drove up to Wildwood, got there at 10 o’clock Friday night and looked at the project with flashlights… Alex got the materials we needed by Tuesday. The rest is history.”
Baez remembers that night similarly, explaining that the two work so well together because they both completely submerge themselves into their projects.
The homeowners came across Cogdill’s building company online. “We met at one of the houses I was constructing because it was similar to what they wanted,” Cogdill remembers. “Except instead of a three-car garage, they wanted four.”
The homeowners remember their initial kitchen wish list, which consisted of a light color scheme, floor-to-ceiling, flat-front cabinets, and shiny finishes.
Ironically, the homeowners admit there isn’t much stored in their upper cabinetry. “We have a huge pantry, and our island is full of hidden cabinetry, so we have more storage than we could ever need,” the wife explains. “It was more for the aesthetic that floor-to-ceiling cabinets brought to the space.”
Baez used maple to give the homeowners the light color they wanted, but he did use a stain to even the tone of the wood. “Natural maple actually has brown streaks and spots in it,” Baez says. “You don’t want a dark streak going across a door, so we put a conditioner and natural stain on the wood to make everything consistent.”
The homeowners brought sparkle into their kitchen through their cabinet pulls and appliances. “We knew this would be our last house and wanted to invest in our appliances, so we were directed to the GE Monogram line,” the husband explains. “Our previous house did not have gas, so we were very excited to get a gas cooktop. We can even flip a burner over and use a wok, which we do a lot.
“We also wanted two ovens. We use the smaller one most of the time, but one of our daughters loves to bake.”
The custom-built, stainless steel backsplash and hood blend beautifully with the appliances and continue with the contemporary feel of the space.
The homeowners are avid art collectors and enjoy supporting their local downtown art community. One of the wife’s favorite artists is M.C. Escher, so the couple thought it would be wonderful to incorporate a 3-D tile into their kitchen.
“No local tile companies had what we wanted,” the husband explains. “So I went online and ordered it from California. Our flooring guy installed the backsplash and did a phenomenal job.”
The couple went with a quartz countertop in the kitchen and bar. “Since we have a beachy-atmosphere in our home, we liked the quartz with tiny pieces of shell in it,” the wife explains.
While the couple admits that this home is smaller than what they’re used to, they agree that since it’s “almost just the two of us,” it’s the perfect size. And they couldn’t be happier with the end result.
RESOURCES Builder Cogdill Builders; Cabinetry Jacobs Custom Cabinets LLC; Appliances GE Monogram, Famous Tate; Flooring Countryside Tile; Tile installation Hunter Flooring; Countertops Quartz