Kitchen 227 Gallery

PROBLEM:
Long-time owners of a 1950s Rambler in Arlington wanted to upgrade their kitchen and better integrate the space with a rarely used sunroom, which had been added years earlier. Traffic between the kitchen and dining room was constricted due to narrow doorway. The owners also wanted more storage and food preparation space – along with new appliances.
SOLUTION
The project began with a reconfiguration of the floor plan: the entrance to the dining room was shift about 18” to create needed wall surfaces for cabinetry, but also to better align with the door linking the kitchen to the sunroom. This would allow a direct flow of traffic between the two rooms through the kitchen – while bypassing the food preparation area. A set of French pocket doors were installed in the new opening – which was created when a load-bearing brick wall was modified. The old opening was closed and the resulting wall space used for cabinetry and appliances.
Concurrently, the entrance to the sunroom was widened to accommodate a pair of glass doors; the old sunroom floor (a concrete slab) was then raised to the level of the kitchen and dining room floors.
With the food preparation area now defined as a horseshoe-shaped galley free of through-traffic, the creative placement of cabinets and amenities could proceed. A new island – with sink and marble countertop – was built in the middle of the horseshoe, creating breakfast bar and triangular workstation (sink, oven, refrigerator, stovetop). Stylish two-level cabinets (glass-faced above, wood below) were installed around the space and above the new brushed-chrome appliances. A large new window installed above the corner sink allows in significantly more natural light than before.
Hidden from view (but requiring true design ingenuity) were new plumbing to the island sink and a gas line for the new range. Above, the forced-air ductwork in the sunroom was removed – replaced by hot water baseboard heat. Meanwhile, a new porcelain tile floor was laid throughout the kitchen and sunroom – now designated the “breakfast and multi-purpose room.” As a bonus, the contractor designed a small computer work station for the corner of the kitchen where the wall phone still hangs.
The overall outcome of the project: an expansive, thoroughly updated kitchen (with room for at least two cooks); a reclaimed sunroom, now fully functional and part of an inviting kitchen space that is the center of family activity. The owners say it more than surpasses their expectations.