Kitchen 243

This row house was located within walking distance form Crystal City, VA. Built in the 1940’s this couple did not have any of amenities that today’s kitchens have to offer.
Their kitchen was barely 10’x10’ with a small side window and back door leading the dragged looking glass porch which was partially converted into a room. Low ceiling, no heat, cinder block walls separating this room from the kitchen. Their kitchen backed into an even worse looking ½ bath with exposed cast iron pipe, baseboard heat and plaster walls.
Clients love their home location and wanted us to help them make changes so they can keep living in their home.
There were a lot of challenges, some of which are listed below:
Lots of old cast iron pipes needed to be relocated
The high velocity air condition system they have added couple years back had to be re-evaluated and additional registers were needed
The baseboard heats were all on the way
12” thick cinder block ( load bearing wall between kitchen and back sun room) was hard to work with and needed to get done
Gas and plumbing work needed to be replaced
The sunroom walls and roof had to be reframed to get into new century
Electrical wires were dangerously in bad shape. The panel was an old fuse box
There was no storage space.
The laundry room was in this 6’6” ceiling high basement with old unfinished cinder blocks and just plain ugly.
They did not want to go to basement for doing laundry anymore.
Since we were tearing down plaster walls and framing, we were simply able to run plumbing and electrical to a unused closet in second floor and convert that to their future laundry room.
Now comes the kitchen:
The bathroom was torn down and got shifted into an adjacent closet and now has a large shower, relocate toilet and larger vanity. All plumbing were upgraded and hidden into wall.
Some space from this bathroom was given to kitchen to allow deeper fridge and a large pantry.
New support beam made a total openness possible between sunroom and kitchen,
The sunroom was built up to level with kitchen; insulation was added to entire space.
Bathroom door was now relocated to access front family room and adjacent guest bedroom
LED lighting was added for its statics
The stove and its professional range hood was relocated to create a better work triangle
New peninsula offers seating with an exotic stone countertop.
A timeless shaker bisque color cabinetry with a complimentary hood counter top and full back splash made this kitchen a very classic looking one
New electrical panel, new upgraded baseboard heat, and new vents from high velocity AC unit made this first level very comfortable to live in.
Use of solid oak wood flooring throughout make a seamless connection, as well as give it a new facelift.
This couple is enjoying of their new upgraded kitchen, entertain more and will spend a long time in this home. Now it is a very different place inside.