A chopped-up 1990s tri-level, opened up and connected.
This Highlands Ranch family was living in a 1990s tri-level, a home split across three staggered floor levels that had never been updated. Golden oak cabinets and trim, carpeted living areas, heavy railings, and a different finish in nearly every room left the house feeling dated and disconnected. They wanted a cohesive, modern home, and that would mean reworking every level, from top to bottom.
Highlands Ranch, CO
Whole-Home Remodel
1990s Tri-Level
Taking down the wall between the kitchen and front living room opened the main floor into one space. At its center sits a large island topped with waterfall quartz paired with two-tone cabinets (darker around the perimeter, lighter on the island) and open white oak shelving.
In a tri-level, the railings are the first thing your eye follows from one floor to the next. We replaced the home’s heavy original railings with modern black spindles and stained white oak rails and risers, so the eye travels cleanly between levels and every floor feels connected.
The lower-level lounge is anchored by a full-height stacked-stone feature wall with a built-in electric fireplace and a mounted TV. Built-in white oak shelving, surround-sound wiring, and color-changing LED accent lighting make it the spot the family heads for movies and downtime.
Most 1990s tri-levels in Highlands Ranch were built without a spot to store your shoes, bags, and coats. We added a dedicated drop zone by the entry, with built-in cabinetry, shoe storage, and bench seating, so the everyday clutter finally has somewhere to go.
A conversation, not a commitment.
How it all came together.
01
The house was a classic ‘90s tri-level, and it still wore all of its original finishes: golden oak cabinets and trim, carpeted living areas, dated lighting, and heavy railings. Every level had a different look, and a wall between the kitchen and the front living room chopped the main floor into small, closed-off rooms. Nothing felt connected.
02
The biggest problem wasn’t any single finish; it was how cut up the house felt. The wall between the kitchen and the front living room was doing the most damage, boxing in the main floor and stopping light from moving through it. Take that wall out, run one set of finishes across all three levels, and the whole house could finally read as a single, connected home.
03
We proposed keeping the home’s existing footprint but reworking how it flowed. The wall between the kitchen and front living room would come out, and the kitchen would be rebuilt around a larger central island. New railings, flooring, trim, lighting, and fireplace features would carry the same look across all three levels, and a built-in drop zone by the entry would add the everyday storage the original layout never had.
04
Before any demo began, we walked the homeowners through the full design: floor plans to lock the new layout, mood boards and real material samples for the finishes, and 3D renderings so they could see the opened-up main floor and the coordinated look across every level. They signed off on the whole direction before we started building.
05
The main floor now reads as one open space, with the kitchen at its center and light moving all the way through. The lower level works as a real gathering spot for movies and family time, and the same flooring, railings, and finishes run through every level, so the house feels like one home instead of three. It’s brighter, more open, and built around how the family actually lives.
What used to feel like three disconnected levels with mismatched finishes now reads as one intentional, connected home. The opened kitchen has become the centerpiece for both everyday life and entertaining, while the lower level gives the family a comfortable place to hang out. The coordinated flooring, railings, lighting, and fireplaces tie everything together, making the home cohesive from top to bottom.
No. We’re a design-build firm, which means our design work is a feature of our building services, not a service on its own.
We design and price the project together. The budget is determined as the plan is made. Every selection is locked in before we start, right down to the grout color. Then we hand you a fixed-price contract: one number for the agreed-upon scope, so you’re not surprised by change orders mid-project.
Whole-home remodels like this one generally start around $250,000 and go up depending on the home’s size and how custom the finishes get. If you want to change the scope after signing, we get every alteration in writing before moving forward.
Yes. We run every project through BuilderTrend, your online client portal. Our in-house crew is on site Monday through Friday and posts daily logs with job-site photos and progress updates at the end of each day.
Selections, approvals, invoices, and project messages all live in one place, and you’ll have a dedicated on-site project lead, so you’re never guessing what’s happening in your home.
We build throughout the Highlands Ranch area, including Littleton, Centennial, Lone Tree, Greenwood Village, Park Hill, and the neighborhoods in between. If you’re nearby and not sure whether you’re in our radius, just reach out and ask.
Complete the form, and a member of our team will contact you to schedule a short phone call. We’ll discuss your home, the spaces you’d like to remodel, and whether D&D Remodeling is the right fit for your project.
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