Our Kitchen Needs a View!

Upgrading a Traditional Design

The customer came to us with a concept plan from an architect on what they could do to open up their late 1960’s ranch home which was very traditional in design. The concept was to completely remove the bearing wall that supported the ceiling joists and some rafters to create a large great room concept to take advantage of the great views to the rear of the home and make the house feel larger.

Blending the Old with the New

The house had been remodeled in the 1980’s with the original garage being converted into a sunken family room which was adjacent to the original kitchen/breakfast area. We wanted to make sure the remodel incorporated this adjacent space so we created a wainscoting feature that we carried through into the new space and included this in the sunken family room. We kept the original fireplace in the family room because it had sentimental value to the family. In the new great room we introduced a new modern electric fireplace and facing to update the look of this space and provide some additional warmth during cold winter evenings.

A Kitchen with a View

The kitchen cabinets and trim are painted maple on the perimeter and Stained Cherry on the island and coffee bar. There is a walk-in butlers pantry right off the new kitchen for additional storage. This has a new decorative pocket door for convenience. One of the most challenging features was a bench seating area that we created between the existing family room and the new kitchen. This space provided a transition from new to existing and acted as a guard rail for the step down and provided needed wall space in the family room.