WHEN DR. JOSEPH JACQUINOT decided to find a new location for his practice, he and his wife, Mandi, initially sought what they deemed the “perfect space.” They considered several new-construction options, but then shifted course.

“Renovating an office can seem a daunting task — you need to have a vision of what the office can become,” says Dr. Jacquinot, 39, a native of Dubuque, Iowa, who earned his dental degree at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry. “Our first sketch was far from the final outcome.”

The process ended up not being especially arduous, though, taking just five months and coming in some $108,000 under its original $900,000 budget (see mid-renovation photo, inset). When it was done, Dr. Jacquinot welcomed patients into a practice that, at 3,470 square feet, was more than double the size of his old one.

The new space had been on the commercial market for some time, and the most readily evident feature of the renovation is the brilliant sunshine now streaming in. “We love the many windows and all the natural light,” Dr. Jacquinot says. More space is nice, too: “We went from a tiny lab/break room/storage room to two storage rooms, a huge lab/sterilization room and a kitchen/bathroom for the staff.” Other favorites: lockers in the staff lounge and a playful section for young patients in the reception area.

A team both in work and in life since their undergraduate days, Dr. Jacquinot and his wife were determined to tackle the renovation carefully and start, literally, with a strong foundation. “There were major issues with foundation settling on this property before we bought it,” he says. Undaunted, the duo dug in, tearing out and repouring three-quarters of the concrete floor.

There were, naturally, trade-offs; the 10-foot ceiling in the reception area would have been too pricey to extend further, so the Jacquinots went with a drop ceiling throughout. “Sometimes you have to go with what makes the most sense,” he says.

Beginning the process last February enabled the couple to examine a number of ideas at the 2017 Midwinter Meeting in Chicago. “We picked out all the colors together,” Dr. Jacquinot says. “We knew we wanted a soothing blue for patients, and the walls are a soothing gray with a tint of purple. They look great with the chairs and floor.”

Indeed they do — a point underscored each day as they welcome patients to their new office just minutes from the downtown district of Platteville, a town in southwestern Wisconsin not far from the Iowa and Illinois state lines. “We’re incredibly thankful for the help we received from our entire team,” Dr. Jacquinot says. “The office is truly a dream come true.”