Major Reno = New Social Kitchen

Once this homeowner decided her home would be her forever-home, she felt it was finally time to do that kitchen renovation she had dreamed of.

Her current kitchen was hobbling along—it was inefficient, broken down and tired. For someone who loves to cook and entertain, it was not only small, with insufficient storage but, also cut off from her guests.

With a new plan to remove several walls, we were able to create a large, bright space with loads of storage. A new open plan allowed her to cook and simultaneously entertain large groups of guests. It was a massive change in functionality.

These first two images give you an immediate view to the before and after. But, take a look further for a better understanding of where we started and where we landed. There is still a bit of finishing and furnishing to be done but, you can still get a feel for the new space!

BEFORE

AFTER

Original Floor Plan

In the image below you can see the original floor plan. The plan was to remove two walls: the one between the kitchen and dining room and the one between the dining room and what is labeled as the living room. But, truly, the way she used the space was that the living room and family rooms were swapped—what is labeled as living room was actually a bit of inefficiently used family room space. She mostly used her living room (which is labeled as family room here) as her primary living space.

View straight into the small kitchen. Windows will stay in place but the wall to the right will go away and the slider to the left will be eliminated. Just to the right of the fridge and on the other side of the right hand wall is the dining room.

Dining Room that is to the right of the kitchen from the previous image. You can see the original kitchen and slider through the door on the left of the image. The slider in the dining area will be replaced with French doors.

This slider in the dining area will be replaced with French doors.

With the kitchen to the left in this photo (out of shot), and a sneak peek into the dining area, this image shows the second wall that will come down. It is a wall that separates the dining area and the family room. The next several images will take you around a clockwise view of the family room.

In the family room looking through to the entry foyer.

Ill-placed, not very useful, fireplace to the right of the long windows in the family room. This will be removed to open up the floor space and allow for a larger scale dining table to go in what is now the family room.

Another shot of the kitchen slider that will be removed to make way for kitchen storage. And, the wall to the right, in this photo, will be removed.

Family room view from the entry foyer end looking back towards the kitchen slider. The wall to the right, that is out of shot, will be removed.

The New Kitchen

After the removal of the two walls (one separating the kitchen and dining area and one separating the dining area and the family room), we were left with one enormous space that was open to the primary living room space.

The kitchen stayed in the same corner of the house but, after removing the constraining wall, we were able to add an enormous island. A LOT of counter space and storage in an open-plan kitchen were the owner’s goals.

The following photos of the new kitchen show the enormity of the space. She still needs to get her final bar stools, much larger dining table and chairs, and additional lounge seating that will go in the space leading to the French doors. But, this gives you an idea of how the space changed!

Same view into the kitchen as the original view—but, decidedly different!

This huge pantry is where the slider used to be.

So much counter space!

HUGE, very functional island that has loads of storage, houses the microwave, sink, dishwasher and wine fridge.

Pendant lights over the island are forthcoming.

View of the open plan to the living space beyond. The dining room will be in the open space, just out of frame, to the right.

View from the French doors. You can see that the fireplace has been removed from that far-right back corner.

You can also see where a new dining table will go—along the wall with the window.

If you are interested in a making any changes in your home, give a call!