Kitchen remodel spurs first floor reinvention
The Home:
This 3,900 square foot single family home, built in 1995, boasts a kitchen overlooking the yard and situated between the family and dining room. On paper this layout may look perfect, but has multiple functionality challenges. This kitchen and dining room has 4 entry points, 5 long windows, a set of exterior patio doors and 2 walls.
Existing floor plan of first floor:
Existing Challenges:
Despite a spacious 15x19 footprint and space for a table for 6, the kitchen had:
- Limited storage and counter space.
- An underwhelming island.
- No visibility into the dining or family room.
When prepping meals, our clients could not readily access basic kitchen supplies or see their young children playing. Many rooms on the main level became visible storage havens for overflow supplies, shoes, backpacks, sports equipment, toys, etc. While organized, it was not a home that created calm, comfort or peace. Items collected over time had lost their value or significance and became clutter. Despite being highly organized people naturally with demanding careers, their environment at home did not reflect their aesthetic.
The Opportunity:
The initial request was to remodel an existing kitchen area, but after gaining a complete understanding of how the family lives, we proposed a significant reconfiguration of the first floor.
We proposed several new ideas that hadn't been considered including:
- Utilizing the existing dining room for the new kitchen area.
- Converting the existing kitchen into a coffee/beverage station and dining area.
- Using the eat-in area as a play zone with comfortable adult seating.
- Removing some of the wall to the family room and old kitchen to create a clear sight line across the entire back of the home.
The finishing touches included adding a mudroom in the front hallway to provide much-needed storage, and upgrading the living room to make it kid and adult friendly.
The Goal:
A functional layout with great lighting are the key building blocks of any great design. Our clients wanted a home that would evoke creativity, display items of meaning such as coffee mugs of their favorite cities, LEGO creations or artwork, and enhance overall enjoyment when performing common tasks and relaxing. They love color, so accents of blue, orange and gray were integrated on the 1st floor in all of the new areas. Incorporating wood tone accents finished the look of their modern farmhouse style.
The Results:
The project proved to be a very challenging one because the kitchen remodel became a first floor reinvention and required a sizable budget. After 8 weeks of design and selections, we launched into a full remodel and our clients could not be happier with the results.
“The SDI team are real professionals - responsive, talented, and trustworthy. Their design process is thorough and attention to detail during construction is impressive.”
Let's take a walk through, starting at the front door:
Living Room
The living room is the first room you see, but was the main play area for 2 young boys.
View this video to see the before and after transformation of the living room below.
New Mudroom Area
We created a much-needed mudroom area in the existing front hallway with bench seating, cubbies, shelving, and an enclosed storage cabinet with charging stations.
Previous Dining Room Area:
The old dining room became an L-shaped kitchen with a pantry, an island with seating for 4, and lots of counter space.
View the video showing the before and after transformation of the kitchen, family room and coffee/beverage bar areas below.
Previous kitchen area:
The old kitchen became a beverage center and coffee bar with expandable seating and a sitting area for games and crafts. The right wall was opened to family room to create visibility through the dining area to the kitchen while still preserving some privacy.
Updated Play Area
