2018 Kitchen Remodel

2019 CotY Award

First Place, Residential Kitchen

If this 1935 Georgian-style home could talk, it would tell you about the second floor plumbing leaks and damage, the basement flooding catastrophe, the knob and tube wiring failures, the nine years of waiting and planning this family went through—all before this kitchen remodel.

Our client longed for a home that was modern, masterfully crafted, and easy to entertain in. “We didn’t want to make it too modern where it wasn’t classic. And, we also didn’t want this kitchen to look like a museum.” she said. Our client stressed that the most important goal was to honor the house and its history, however she was ready for a complete overhaul.

Her family’s needs were very relevant for a modern family living in a historic home and included the following:

A kitchen and dining room that married function and beauty and was entertaining-friendly
A breakfast area that would serve as their casual family spot and could include a TV
A place to store shoes, bags and coats when entering from the garage
A butler’s pantry to show off servingware and everyday china yet tuck away the coffee station and wet bar

To meet our client’s needs we completely renovated most of the first floor, which included removing multiple walls, eliminating several closets, duplicating an elliptical opening, adding a mudroom and butler’s pantry, and creating a kitchen that was ideal for both family life and entertaining.

More about the Project

Breakfast area

The homeowner wanted a built-in hood with floating shelves over the range.
Range backsplash features a 7 ft. x 30 in. backsplash in Alba Vera marble. The stone has magnificent veining.
Original windows were restored and reused.

Before

Former kitchen before walls and closets were removed. This view is standing in the old kitchen looking through to the breakfast room.

Kitchen

Standing in the new breakfast area, one can look through the kitchen to the front of the house and into the dining room to the right.

Marble island

This is a view standing in the dining room looking into what formerly was the breakfast room.
In this photo, the cabinet on the left is a Thermador tower freezer and refrigerator. The cabinet on the right is an appliance garage with pull out drawers and shelves which allows my client ample area for workspace. All cabinets are custom built. The client did not want to remove or change the windows, so we created a desk area in front of the window. It features honed Alba Vera marble with 5-in front lip to enrich the appearance. This desk area includes outlets with USB ports for docking phones and laptops.

1930 Fluted Casing

We had to duplicate an elliptical opening and match the fluted casing to the original. This opening is in a wall between the butler’s pantry and dining room. We recreated a casing that mirrors the home’s original detail found at the other dining room entryway
The fluting on the windows was different than the fluting on the elliptical, which required us to make two separate knives to recreate the both designs.

Dining Room

View of the dining room through the new elliptical opening.
What beautiful view through the home when coming in from the garage!

Butler's Pantry

The new butler’s pantry we create after removing the stove and the closet.
This room makes a big design statement, from the hex tile, Alba Vera marble counters, custom cabinets and pendant light fixtures.
The pendant lights are from Circa Lighting, and match the brass of the drawer and door pulls.
The 3×12 subway tile runs from countertop to the ceiling.
One side of the butler’s pantry features a dish pantry with custom glass-front cabinets and drawer storage.
The other side features the main sink, dishwasher and custom cabinets. This butler’s pantry keeps dirty dishes out of sight from the guests and entertaining area.
Designer refers to it as the jewel of the kitchen

Mudroom

We have removed the closet and a base cabinet, relocated the refrigerator; and we framed a new wall opposite to create the mudroom.
New mudroom features two wall cabinets for coats, a built-in bench and some open shelving.
Wall on the left was originally tiled from floor to ceiling. We replaced the tile with board and batton paneling.

White subway tile

The design called for both walls of the butler’s pantry to feature 3×12 subway tile from the counter to the ceiling. Client wanted the subway tile to flow through the cabinets. But we couldn’t hang the heavy upper cabinets on the tile. So we tiled inside the cabinets. Now the tile appears to flow seamlessly through the cabinet.

Island

Our stone fabricator went to great lengths to match the veining from the stone sides, up through the mitered corners, and over the top of the island. The finished product is a stunning piece of custom Alba Vera marble stone work that appears seamless.

Renovation

• Dramatic view from center hall through the dining room into the kitchen.
• Historical details restored and duplicated. Walls removed. Open concept as requested by the client.
• LED canned lighting and lovely modern light fixtures