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Each construction project seems to have its own personality, and the theme of this kitchen renovation might be "A study in patience". Not with the actual project, although any remodeling project requires patience to complete, but with the amount of time it took to get to the point of doing it. The clients moved into this 1906 home in 1973. The features of this house are typical of the era, with tall ceilings, elaborate moldings,quartersawn oak floors, and plaster walls. The kitchen had the tracings of a butler's pantry that had been removed to make the space larger. There were back stairs leading up 
to bedrooms and down to the basement, which may have been used by servants. These kitchens usually went through a major make-over in the 50's or 60's and
this one was no exception. Details included site-built cabinetry, black sheet linoleum on the floors and counters, and one central light source. The homeowners gave me some insight into their personal history of using this kitchen for 30+ years:
The dishwasher was a pop-top dishwasher that would
spring open during the drying cycle. One of the first
things we did was to have new countertops and floor
installed. We did everything in white – white
countertop, white floors, painted the cabinets white,
put on new hardware and painted the walls a bright
yellow.
About 10 years and three children later, we had the
white floor ripped up, the linoleum ripped up and took
the floors down to the base floor – a nice pine floor
that when refinished looked quite good next to our
adjoining oak floors.
In the mid 80s we began discussing a complete re-do of
the kitchen. I had been collecting dozens of
remodeling books, kitchen magazines, torn out articles
from newspapers, visiting homearamas, watching home
decorating channels, etc. All of the information that
I gathering was filed away with pages earmarked on
what were the latest trends and ideas.
Although this kitchen had served the clients well over the years, there were a lot of problems with it. There was a peninsula in the middle of the room that they had learned to hate. The only seating was a small table at the far end and they wanted an island with seating for four. The electrical service and wiring needed updating as did the plumbing. The lighting was terrible. The walls were under-insulated and the windows were drafty and needed to be replaced. In other words, the room needed to be gutted.
In some ways the plan for the new space was not a radical departure from the old. The range, sink, and refrigerator were in basically the same place. The peninsula had to go and was replaced by an island with a granite top, curved on one side to form a seating area. Much of the design work involved making the room more functional for everything they wanted to use it for, including preparing everyday meals, entertaining, and just relaxing at the end of the day. I think that the single biggest change in a renovation like this is the improvement in the lighting. We used recessed lights for the main task lighting, along with xenon undercabinet lights. A row of hanging fixtures went over the island, and "rope" lighting was placed above the upper cabinetry as and accent. One feature in the plan was a blank art wall behind the island, which was lit by track fixtures with Solux full-spectrum bulbs.
As far as improving the storage and function of the cabinetry, there was no
place to go but up here. A tall cabinet next to the refrigerator was fitted with rollout shelves for food storage. We put in a lot of drawer space and a lazy susan in the corner. There were narrow cabinets flanking the slide-in range which featured spice drawers on top and vertical dividers behind doors below for trays,cutting boards, pizza stones, etc. This is one of the better uses for the inevitable narrow cabinets that find their way into almost every plan.The biggest change in the range area was having counter on either side of the cooking surface. A microwave was built in to a custom sized cabinet above the range with an open case above that, which was originally for cookbooks, but became a display space. Upper cabinets flanking the sink were fitted with glass doors which reflect light and help keep things from getting too heavy visually.
The island had large drawers for pots and pans, a pull up mixer shelf which
provided dedicated storage for this heavy appliance without taking up counter space, and a wine rack with space for 15-20 bottles with a drawer for supplies. A full height bookcase went in one corner for cookbooks and a place to stow the phone. The counters were granite with an under-mounted Silgranit sink. The floor was cork tiles. This was the homeowners idea and proved to be one of the more interesting features of the project. It's a "green" product, it is very resilient and nice to stand on, and after almost 2 years of use the acrylic finish looks great.
It's very satisfying to work on a project like this, helping clients achieve their vision of a new kitchen, especially when they have been thinking about it for over 30 years. Some final thoughts:
What we thought was the beginning of an easy process,
turned out to be fun but crazy-intense with decision
after decision. We met with Richard countless times
picking granite counter tops, deciding on wood type,
color and design for the cabinets, floor material and
style, tile choices, lights, and so much more. We
spent hours poring over blueprints, choosing cabinet
inserts, selecting appliances, and Richard remained
an active participant in our decision-making, without
ever trying to dissuade us from ideas we considered
firm. (However, he was a great help, guiding us into
the realities of various situations.)
The kitchen today is a focal point of our house, a
point of pride where we often have breakfast and
dinner, and share it with our friends over cocktails.
We recently added finishing touches – a small
wall-hanging Navajo rug and four Monument Valley
photos from a recent trip. They form the cherry on
this particularly delightful creation.
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