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FIT FOR A FAMILY

The Stamms transformed their Graduate Hospital house into a functional home.

Shelby Stamm (left) hired Johanna Adamiak (right) to transform the home she and her husband bought.Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

As architect Johanna Adamiak sees it, too many young families put off creative design projects until their children are older.

“They postpone making the place something they love,” she said. “They think they can’t have nice things because they have young children.”

For the Graduate Hospital area rowhouse of Shelby and Dan Stamm, she has tried to see this didn’t happen.

The Stamms’ house presented a common issue Adamiak faces as an architect: Many older rowhouses are structurally sound and attractive, but they just weren’t built for a 21st-century lifestyle.

The Stamms bought the two-bedroom, 1½-bathroom house in 2012, and “it looked like a frat house when we moved in,” Shelby said. That wasn’t surprising since Dan had been renting there with roommates.

The living room of Shelby Stamm’s home redesigned by Johanna Adamiak in Philadelphia, Pa., on Wednesday, June, 7 2023.
Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
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“It wasn’t conducive to a family,” said Shelby, who had been living in an apartment on Washington Square. “But we loved the location, and we thought that it would be a great place to raise a family.”

So when Shelby was pregnant with the first of their three sons, Dan, a journalist, and Shelby, an entrepreneur and real estate investor, started thinking about what the house would need.

“I wanted to be realistic,” Shelby said. “We have three young boys. This house does explode when they come home.”

They had already “practically gutted” and renovated the second floor, she said.

To deal with the main floor, the couple found Adamiak’s Philadelphia-based business, Rooted By Design, on the Internet. Her first observation was that the home had inadequate light and storage space.

  • So she tore down the wall that typically separates the living and dining areas of a rowhouse and created a small area in the front to function as the family’s “mudroom.”

    Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
  • She then added two openings and transom windows in the wall separating the mudroom from the rest of the house to maintain natural lighting in the new living space.

    Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

To maximize storage across both the mudroom and living spaces, Adamiak incorporated floor-to-ceiling built-ins, including a work station for Dan that folds into the wall. The built-ins stretched to the kitchen, which she otherwise left unchanged except for the backsplash, wallpaper, and additional storage.

Recessed lighting was added in the living room to match that already in the kitchen.

“As with most of my clients,” she said, “we incorporated some more eco-friendly selections by mixing in locally sourced and American-made furnishings.”

An added storage space above the kitchen sink of Shelby Stamm’s home redesigned by Johanna Adamiak in Philadelphia, Pa., on Wednesday, June, 7 2023.
Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer
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She takes care to avoid using any of the large number of household products that add volatile organic compounds (VOCs) to the interior air. In some cases, she uses products such as paint that can actually remove VOCs.

One of Adamiak’s decorating strategies is using the most vibrant colors in pieces that can be swapped out, so they don’t have to change the neutral colors for more permanent elements such as built-ins or large furniture pieces.

“We used color and pattern to bring lots of vibrance to the space, while prioritizing durable finishes that will hold up to daily wear and tear from the kiddos,” she said.

The Stamms sacrificed a formal dining room because they didn’t think they needed one, but there is a breakfast nook.

Kitchen table of Shelby Stamm’s home redesigned by Johanna Adamiak in Philadelphia, Pa., on Wednesday, June, 7 2023.
Tyger Williams / Staff Photographer

Their contractor, Tim Bannon of B&W Builders in Clementon, N.J., made both the coffee table and countertop from walnut.

Looking back on the project, Shelby said she was pleasantly surprised by what could be accomplished by creative use of space rather than adding space and by emphasizing the vertical rather than the horizontal.

“You don’t need more space to make a space seem bigger,” she said.

Have you solved a decorating, remodeling, or renovation challenge in your home? Tell us your story by email (and send a few digital photographs) to properties@inquirer.com.

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Staff Contributors

  • Photographer: Tyger Williams
  • Photo Editor: Rachel Molenda
  • Digital Editor: Katie Krzaczek