How often have you looked at your home and wished that it was bigger and more space-efficient? If you’ve lived in a place for several years, you know how easy it is to get disorganized, even if you start out with all of the best intentions. One Seattle couple did a phenomenal job of turning their small one bedroom into a spacious space for their growing family. Check out this inspiring story— you’ll never look at your home in the same way!

Kyle and Lauren Zerbey are a husband and wife architect team that decided to test their design skills on a very important project—their own home!

When the Zerbey’s originally bought the house, it was a small one bedroom/one bathroom. It was fine for the two of them, but they knew that they would eventually want to have kids, which means that they would need more space.

Though most people would immediately think to just build an addition onto their existing space, Lauren and Kyle tell HouzzTV that they increased their space by simply “moving stuff around.”

The house started off having 750 square feet, and now it has 1,350 square feet with 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms and a loft space. Yep, you read that right! As Lauren puts it, “So, we almost, really, doubled the size of the house without adding anything on.”

So, how exactly did they double the size of their home? They mostly focused on altering their existing features. For instance, the couple enclosed the front and back porches to add some indoor space, converted part of the attic into a loft space, and finished the basement.

The Zerbey’s aren’t just architectural whizzes, they also have a knack for interior design. They chose their great room to be their design focal point for the rest of the house. The couple wanted an open room without creating a “bowling alley affect,” as Kyle explains. To add some warmth to the space, the two got creative with ceiling fixtures and textures.

Of course, the route to creating such an ingenious home wasn’t necessarily easy. Lauren says that one of the frequent challenges in designing great rooms is figuring out a color palette that would flow through the entire house. The couple focused on keeping a theme of white walls and varying textures and colors of wood throughout. They also carefully chose a few colors to feature throughout the whole house.

Their little girls’ room is a fresh take on a nursery. Lauren explained that the couple didn’t want anything in the room to be “too girly,” so they chose a deep blue for the walls and stuck with the same warm wood motif that is found in the rest of the home. Lauren and Kyle also focused on bringing as much natural light into the rooms as possible. Larger windows to the backyard gives them a sense of “expanded living space.” Simply put, it makes the spaces feel bigger. This connection to the outside is especially important in dreary Seattle! There are also some creative and sentimental pieces sprinkled throughout. You have to see what Lauren says about this commissioned art piece. It’s so sweet! Watch the video below to see how this like-minded couple used their skills to double their space.

Have you embarked on a similar project for your home? What do you think about Lauren and Kyle’s design? Tell us all about your thoughts and stories in the comments section below!