September 26, 2024, Hurricane Helene made landfall in the Florida panhandle. Most of us went to bed that Thursday night with little concern since the radar forecasts showed the storm path going through Georgia. But, like so many folks, Helene decided to move to Greenville, giving it a direct hit on Friday morning. The destruction was fortunately not as bad as Western North Carolina suffered, but it was still the worst we've seen in Greenville for many years. Life gave many people lemons, a lot of lemons, but some of our clients were able to make lemonade. The hurricane damage was at best a huge inconvenience, dealing with the insurance companies a huge annoyance, and the loss of electricity and internet a huge hassle. But for several of our clients, the silver lining was putting the pieces back together much nicer than they were before, including bringing an old home into compliance with modern building codes.

The unexpected event became an opportunity to not only repair the damage but to incorporate renovations or expansions of the house that had been desired even before Helene hit. With our in-house design studio, we were able to provide both repair and renovation drawings to turn a disaster into a dream house. Our field team and our administrative staff carefully segregated insurance from non-insurance work, essentially developing parallel projects to both fix the damage done by Helene and incorporate the changes and additions desired, to make the home better than it was before.

Designed for Downtown and our sister company AJH Renovations, LLC are a Design/Build team specializing in the reclamation of mature homes in the downtown Greenville area. We don't do insurance work as a rule: the difficulties associated with dealing with insurance companies are truly prohibitive. But it was gratifying to provide both our basic construction services and our renovation design services to bear for folks who had suffered the trauma of Helene's wrath. To help make things not only whole again, but better than whole, is as refreshing a thought as a cold lemonade on a hot summer day.

Helene certainly didn't convince us to start doing insurance work, and we hope that Greenville never suffers a natural disaster of that magnitude again, but we did some great work with the bushels of lemons Helene dumped on us.

Photo via Corston Architectural Detail

Why do we love Corston Architectural Detail? Because their products go above and beyond in quality, looks, and style!

Corston Architectural Detail is a lighting firm established in England, with branches in the U.S. and Europe. Corston’s specialty is designing high quality fixtures in timeless styles. Corston’s lights, switches, and hardware are all designed, engineered, and manufactured in-house, allowing them control over the quality and look of every piece.

Quality is Corston’s trademark, and their fixtures are manufactured from materials significantly above industry standards. Nearly all their products are made from solid brass, finished one of three ways: antique brass, a living finish that ages and patinas as you use it; bronze, a deep, rich color that is eye-catching but not shiny; and polished nickel, a warm steely color that works well in a wide range of settings.

Corston is also committed to making life easy for their homeowners. Many commercially available LED light fixtures are built as a single unit, with an LED light chip built into the shell, but, these are difficult to maintain, as replacing the LED requires replacing the entire fixture. Corston’s LED lights are designed to function like regular lights, using replaceable LED bulbs. Their lights bring energy efficiency and ease of use, all in an attractive packaging!

Corston is a champion of recycling and re-cast all the brass clippings from their products for use in future fixtures, an effort that helps them manage waste while providing high-quality products. They also use only recyclable cardboard packaging, specially engineered to offer the best protection for your fixtures!

Whether you love their pendant lights for your dining room, need some antique toggle switches for your library, or even just want some nifty sconces, Corston Architectural Detail provides fixtures and hardware for every location in a quality that can’t be beaten! They even make yard lighting to go around patios or in gardens, so you can throw the spotlight on the best parts of your home, inside and out! Check out their products and more here!

So your downtown mature home is feeling a bit small now that you have two children? Or maybe you just had out-of-town guests stay for a week, and your galley kitchen was a bit tight? You love your neighborhood, but you need more space: do you go up, or do you go out?

Many homeowners tell us that they've been informed that it is cheaper to go out than up, but this is often not the case. As always, it depends on the particular circumstance, but generally it is more economical if the additional space can take advantage of the existing foundation and load paths. Designed for Downtown, LLC has the experience and the expertise to be able to advise homeowners on the best path forward for their home.

“Every home’s potential is different, but every home has potential.”

Going out with an expansion makes sense if the house is sitting on a large enough lot - usually ¼ acre or larger for the downtown area - and one that is relatively flat. Same-floor expansion is the way to go if what you need is a larger kitchen, a meaningful “great room”, or just a master bathroom or walk-in closet. Going out involves grading, excavation, and concrete, all of the things that are involved with bringing a home out of the ground. It also means trying to match the foundation veneer and the exterior siding, which often means re-siding the existing house.

Sometimes this is a good thing, since the existing siding is old and in need of updating; but sometimes it is just an additional cost necessary to maintain the curb appeal. Finally, expanding the main floor living area - often coupled with a more open floor plan - often creates air flow distribution problems for the HVAC system that must b e considered. Many times it is more cost effective to go up

This is especially true if what is needed is additional bedrooms and bathrooms. Most of the homes in downtown Greenville neighborhoods were built quite well, and often all that is required to add second floor living space is a few more piers and some beams in the crawl space or basement. Even interior load-bearing walls can be replaced with engineered beams to safely support second floor living space.

Bedrooms, bathrooms, home offices, or playrooms can be neatly fit under a steeper pitched roof, or a short perimeter wall can be used to increase second floor living area without making the house seem too large from the curb. Second floors also open up the possibilities of walk-out attic storage or built-in cabinetry for maximum efficiency of use. Add a few front-facing dormers and the old-town feel of the home, and the neighborhood, is preserved.

Every home's potential is different, but every home has potential. At Designed for Downtown, LLC we put our thirteen years of design/build renovation experience to work for you to unlock that potential.

Images via Worthen Custom Brass & Iron Furniture

Why we love them: They bring a unique, American-made finish to your home, an eye catching centerpiece that will impress both guests and future buyers. 

You might not guess it by looking at one of their products, but Worthen Furniture has only been around for about fifty years! They got their start in 1975, in Richmond Virginia, which has been their center of operations ever since. Fifty years ago, they began to make cast iron and brass beds in antique styles that were going extinct. Their products not only paid homage to the antique beds that inspired the company founders, but also improved on their quality. Ever since 1975, all Worthen products have been made in the US, right in Richmond. The products are subject to intense quality control, and they are designed to use sturdy dovetail joints and other historic techniques instead of fiddly bolts. 

Eventually Worthen branched out from beds to tackle other custom furniture. They still make antique-style brass beds, but now also make custom furniture, from desks, and coffee tables to vanities and benches. Even more than their furniture line, however, they have become experts in open shelving, for use in closets, kitchens, and beyond!

Their expertise is best showcased in their Taboret shelving system.  Designed as open frameworks of brass pipe, with intricate connections and a multitude of available finishes, these shelves may just steal the show from their contents! In fact, the combination of brass framing around glass or wooden shelves perfectly frames them as the centerpiece of your home. The system can be adapted to nearly any space since it can be mounted from the ceiling, the wall, or even cantilevered! Whether the system is an elaborate surround for a wet bar or a simpler pot rack, it and its contents are sure to catch the eye! 

With so much history and heritage, it is not surprising that Worthen products bring instant distinction to a room. Their weight and impressive  style is truly something to marvel at! Explore more of their artistry here.