The program was to create a more beautiful, functional kitchen that was a better gathering space for family and friends. The goal was to better define the entry and living room and create modern, clean lined fireplace and cabinet focal point that included wood storage for their wood burning fireplace. This new design repurposed the underutilized rear entry into an art and home office space.

The primary entrance into the kitchen was under a stair. The ceiling was quite low and the space felt cramped. We created the arched opening with a barrel vault to maximize the space under the stair and make the experience of entering the kitchen more exciting.

The dining room and kitchen were connected by a small door that limited offered minimal physical connection and no visual connection. We created a 5′ wide cased opening that better connected the kitchen and dining room. We also brought the box beams in the dining room into the kitchen to further connect those (2) rooms.

The original kitchen was long but was divided into (2) parts: a cooking area and a seating area at the bar. The layout was awkward and did not facilitate the clients’ goal of making cooking more enjoyable as well as being able to easily share the space with friends and family. In the new design, we eliminated the existing peninsula and moved that gathering area to the new wood island, which was a found wood table. The kitchen was extended to fill the entire room. By extending the kitchen into the seating area we were able to increase storage and minimize uppers to make this narrow kitchen feel open and light filled. We also installed new windows and moved the headers as high as possible to bring light in high. We replaced the existing French doors with 8′-0″ French doors to maximize light and views into the lush backyard.

Living room: we added low knee walls to better define the entry and living room. We rebuilt the fireplace, and added cabinets on either side to conceal the TV and create a space for wood storage, books and art. A new hot rolled steel hearth plate was also install.

Home Office: The house had (2) doors to the backyard. We kept the one in the kitchen and changed the underutilized rear entry into a home office. We removed the door and replaced it with a large casement window that connects to the backyard garden. The zebrawood countertop offers a warm work surface and a nice contrast to the modern white open shelves and file drawers.