2015 CHRYSALIS AWARD SOUTH REGION WINNER, RESIDENTIAL KITCHEN REMODEL OVER $150,000

Estate home with a 5 acre lot in Great Falls, VA occupied by a busy household of six and growing.
The current kitchen was dysfunctional and would not serve them well.
Pantry space was limited, storage space was always short, and the center island was placed at an angle and was limiting the accessibility and traffic pattern.
The cook top in the Island created a hazardous environment for their kids wanting to hang around the island.
Kitchen entrance from the back hall and garage was mostly blocked by the old placement of the fridge.
Doorways were narrow. Getting around this kitchen given its size was not as easy as you can imagine.

Challenges:

• They wanted to add a 60” professional gas range, but natural gas was not available in this neighborhood.
• The back hall was a maze. They needed a large entrance to the backyard instead of the windows, the single side door from the kitchen to the backyard was poorly situation and always interfered with the table.
• Laundry room needed to move upstairs and the 10’x12’ room had to be used for better purposes for kids stuff.
• The full bath of the back hall had no use for them.
• The disconnect of this kitchen from the rest of the house through lots of narrow doorways was bothersome.

Design solutions:

• Delete all bulkheads and their containments and replace with taller and double stacked cabinetry to maximize the storage space.
• Relocating the cook top center to the far left wall, bring gas lines to accommodate the new 60” professional range and its beautiful customer made mantel hood.
• This required us to excavate and place a large in ground propane tank in the back yard and run gas line for a new stove.
• Across the room there was an unused wall that now contains 36” tower fridge and freezer (all covered with matching panels) and a tall cabinet contains microwave, steam unit and warming drawer. All tall elements are hidden out of sight and do not create any visual barrier when entering this kitchen.
• A proportional island with a prep sink, second dishwasher, beverage center and space to accommodate seating for four or more carefully placed in the center of this kitchen.
• The doorways were widened with placing structural support.
• The side door was closed up and now a contrasting color Hutch has taken its place to show off the prized china.
• Quad-tall double hung windows were placed on the back wall to maximize daylight.
• In the back hall the back windows were replaced with a set of French door and added decking to create a direct access to deck and backyard.
• The full bath was demolished and the tub space was given to adjacent pantry. The entire pantry was designed for maximum capacity.
• A new powder room was created from a remaining bathroom by the way of relocating toilet and sink.
• The old laundry room was reconfigured to have lots of locker space for all kids and added cabinetry for storage. A double entry door separated the new mudroom from the rest of the back hall.
• New matching hardwood flooring was installed instead of the old tile to create a seamless transition between kitchen, back hall and the rest of the house.
• Use of white color cabinetry with complimenting white carrera marble top and full back splash of marble lightened up this kitchen.
• The contrasting distressed Ebony Island and hutch allow a transition between casual and contemporary flair to flow through back and forth.

Outcome:
“A kitchen to die for” is how The Mrs. described her new kitchen. She said it was all worth waiting for.
Open floor plan, wide entrance with no obstacles, pleasing color scheme and interesting light fixtures.