The owners of this kitchen were looking for an update and to solve some specific problems with this small kitchen. Some specific problems were:
• No visual communication with other rooms in the house.
• Entry/Laundry area was cramped with no place to take off shoes
• Lack of usable counter space and storage space
• Flow of kitchen was inefficient for cooking
• Poor lighting from central lighting fixture on a dark wood ceiling
• Kitchen details didn’t match the rest of the house
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YEAR BUILT / REMODELED:
1910 / 2008
STYLE:
TRADITIONAL KITCHEN
CABINETRY:
MEADOWLARK BUILDERS CUSTOM BEECH CABINETRY
EUROPEAN FULL OVERLAY DOORS
5-PIECE END PANELS
COUNTERS:
GRANITE
FLOORING SURFACE:
RE-FINISHED ORIGINAL BEECH FLOOR
GREEN FEATURES:
LOCALLY-MADE CABINETRY
REFINISHED ORIGINAL FLOORING
EFFICIENT SPACE USE
UNIQUE FEATURES:
COMPACT AND MULTI-FUNCTIONAL BACK ENTRY
HISTORIC TRIM MATCHING
DROPPED SOFFIT LIGHTED CURIO DISPLAY HIDING STRUCTURAL BEAM
Design Process:
Removing the wall between the kitchen and living room would visually open the space. This was a load-bearing wall so putting the structure into the ceiling would have significantly increased the scope and cost of the remodel. To solve this issue in a cost-effective manner, we built boxes where the beam projected into the space and used them to hang upper cabinets and become a display area.
We discovered that the flooring underneath the existing vinyl floor was the original beech floor and was in good condition. Saving the floor would save resources and save money. Using the flooring as an anchor to the rest of the original home made the kitchen blend with "older home charm" the rest of the house had. Selecting the right wood for the cabinetry became a crucial part of that decision.
The location of the refrigerator was changed to open up the back entry and gain much more counter space. This left us with a space that was 16 inches wide and 30 inches deep between the refrigerator and the wall. With standard cabinets, this would become dead space. We decided to use this for an efficient pantry cabinet.
A bank of drawers was installed on the end cap of the peninsula to provide a space for flatware and linens for easy accessibility to both the kitchen and dining room. End cap drawers are another custom feature not available in more standard cabinetry.
We selected beech cabinets to go with the beech floors and to provide good contrast to the original oak flooring in the adjacent rooms. With wood cabinets, we also decided to paint the dark beadboard ceiling a lighter cream color. This reflected the light better to make the kitchen appear larger and well-illuminated.
Our proprietary cabinet design software allowed us to effectively communicate how the kitchen would appear before we started construction. Highly sophisticated computer rendering technology provided a life-like picture of the kitchen in the planning phase. It allowed us to experiment with finishes and lighting to find the right solutions for our homeowners’ goals.
The washer and dryer in the rear entry did not work well in their location. It made it hard to use the space as an entry, and hard to use it as a laundry room. We made this space much more effective by making stackable units protrude into a less-used closet on the other wall. Built-in cabinetry completed a small and very functional space. What was formerly only enough room for a washer and dryer now has the following functions:
•Laundry
•Bench seat
•Coat rack
•Shoe rack
•Mail-sorting station
•Recycling station
•Winter accessories storage
•Broom closet and cleaning supplies
All this and it feels more spacious and inviting than before. Everything you don’t want to see is hidden in the cabinets!
The Finished Product:
The refrigerator pantry holds a very large amount of dry goods and is easily accessed on with a heavy-duty slide-out system.
An original oak door was moved to this location in the kitchen to replace a painted and beat-up door, and new custom oak trim manufactured and finished to match the rest of the house.
The original floor turned out to be beautiful! It’s distressed enough to look like it belongs in an older home, but cleaned up and finished to be a beautiful floor at about half the price of a new wood floor and a quarter of the price of a new tile floor.
The beech cabinets compliment the floor perfectly, and have just enough texture to match the oak trim and adjacent floors well.
The undersides of our cabinets are finished and bases and end panels are scribed to the floors and walls. Quality finish details are the difference between good and great.
