Project Profile: 1190 West Kitchen Renovation

The kitchen renovation at 1190 West all started because of a broken dishwasher.

The homeowners were torn between redoing their master bathroom or their kitchen. They knew they could only do one at a time financially, so when the dishwasher broke, they knew that was the sign to move forward with the kitchen project.

The existing kitchen was basic, tired, and impractical for the family.

 

The clients’ goals were to:

• Enhance the aesthetics of the kitchen to make it fit more in to their contemporary/transitional style with low maintenance project that wouldn’t blow the budget
• Maximize prep and storage space
• Retain the ability to have an “eat-in” kitchen for casual family meals
• Improve the lighting plan for functionality and aesthetics with lighting layers

The new and improved kitchen was able to achieve each of these goals. Keeping with a monochromatic color palate and sticking with clean straight lines throughout the space helped to convey the design scheme the clients were hoping for. With the use of granite, simple ceramic backsplash tile, and luxury vinyl flooring, the look was able to come together in a way that was practical and affordable.

The architecture of the space was fairly long and narrow, so instead of trying to combat it, the new design plays in to the linearity of the space. The island needed to be narrow for clearances for the refrigerator and pantry units across from it, so the idea of a typical overhang at the back of the island for seating was out of the question. After several iterations of designs trying to determine how to incorporate seating at this island, the idea of a lowered island “table” came to fruition. The table, which can comfortably seat all members of the family, attaches seamlessly to the island and features legs for support that match the cabinetry in the rest of the space.

One of the major issues in the old kitchen was storage. The insides of the cabinets were bursting at the seams, and nothing was organized or easy to find. The two pantry closets proved to be difficult to organize and frankly, unpleasant to look at. Nothing had a proper home. Now, spices and canned goods have a home to the right of the range, cooking utensils live in the top drawer of the island, and the old pantry closets have been converted in to two floor-to-ceiling pantry units with roll trays inside so nothing will ever get lost in the back of the pantry again. Even wine has its own place in a full height column of wine cubbies between the two pantry units.

The kitchen pre-renovation did have some recessed lights, but they were poorly places and ineffective. The new lighting plan features recessed lighting over the counter surface, so that the light is given where it is needed. Proper placement ensures that the light hits the counters and does not cause shadows on the work space. Pendant lights and a matching chandelier were added over the island and “table”. These act as both decorative lighting (as they fit right in to the contemporary theme of the space) and also task lighting. Another form of task lighting in this kitchen is undercabinet lighting. The undercabinet lighting provides extra task lighting at the perimeter prep areas, and it doubles as ambient lighting when the rest of the lights are off for the evening except the dimmed undercabinet lighting. It provides a “warm and cozy” feel.

The best part about this kitchen renovation is that the clients could not be happier.