9 Ways to Improve your Kitchen Remodel

FEATURED IN

The National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) is the authority on all things residential kitchen and bath and produces an industry-wide publication called Kitchen & Bath Business (KBB): The Official Publication of the NKBA and KBIS. We are so honored to have our Lone Dove Homestead kitchen featured in the current issue!

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Would you like to know the secrets that make a kitchen remodel look ahhhmazing? Do you ever wonder what is the best way to approach a kitchen remodel? Or, do you wish you could read about the lessons learned from a kitchen pro??

Lets look at our LONE DOVE HOMESTEAD Kitchen project and dissect each step giving you 9 ways to improve your kitchen remodel.

NEEDS & WANTS

To start, you need to identify your needs and wants…remembering that a need is something necessary to live and function and a want is something that can improve your quality of life.

More Kitchen Space

The plan was to take down all interior walls, opening to a clean slate, using light to illuminate the new kitchen and create zones, adding flow, function and quality of life.

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Upscale Rustic Aesthetic 

With this country setting, there was both a need and a want to incorporate nature and a rustic aesthetic by bringing the outdoors in.

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Extra Storage for Cookware and Food 

Their cramped quarters allowed for little storage in the kitchen and even less in the pantry. They needed to double their storage space and wanted to add more organization to their daily routines.

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Design Challenges & Solutions

Once you have your priorities then you must contemplate the challenges. A challenge will be anything that needs great effort in order to be done successfully and then of course finding the solution is one of the greatest challenges of all.

Utilize Unused Dining Room 

We were challenged to incorporate the unused dining space to increase its purpose and function. With the current floor plan lay-out, the clients would enter into the foyer, travel either through or around the unused dining room, then into the kitchen. As you enter the sizable foyer, there is even a larger space they called the ‘dining room.' This room hadn’t seen guests for the last ten years. Plus, there were a combination of cased openings and arched walkways linking each room, which created a confusing architectural theme throughout. 

The plan was to take down all interior walls, opening to a clean slate. With this country setting, we wanted to incorporate nature and the rustic aesthetic they requested by bringing the outdoors in. The use of light to illuminate the new kitchen and create zones, adding flow and function, was the plan. Therefore, the windows in the previous dining room would serve as the jumping off point for the new floor plan. Once the two windows claimed their zone, we added an additional window, in what was the East wall of the dining room. 

Because this new window faces the East, it became the location for their gorgeous white Kohler farm sink and was the element that brought those two spaces together, adding more space to the kitchen and turning an unused dining room into workable, functional square footage. They now will be able to enjoy the morning sun while brewing their beloved coffee, everyday.

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Create Open Concept with Purpose

Creating an open concept with purpose was a challenge. Taking down the walls and replacing those demarcations with zones was the key. We brought the kitchen to the front of the home in this open concept, which allowed the eyes to travel throughout the home upon entry. The visual integrity is stunning as light bounces throughout the space. For design balance and to ensure that the island was well lit, three oversized pendants were hung in a gorgeous black and clear glass finish, mirroring the other selections in the room and adding to the rustic aesthetic. The color palette played a very important role in this airy feel. Using Benjamin Moore White Dove on the custom cabinets with a light reflectance value of 85 out of 100 gave the room a warm yet light and luminous feel, complementing the walls which are painted Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore. The island, however, was a rustic alder wood, stained in a dark tobacco to add a neutral contrast.

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Using large, gray subway tile, by United Tile, in a horizontal brick-set pattern, added to the illusion of more space. The scale of this tile was also ideal when taking it to the ceiling and around the range hood. 

This soft greige hue created the ideal backdrop for the modern farmhouse vibe. What was dark and drab with an outdated look is now a fresh and inviting country retreat. The luxury white oak engineered hardwood planks from Robbins were reminiscent of reclaimed barn wood, adding yet another woodsy and organic-looking feature. 

The cabinet doors were simplified with a beveled shaker style to boost a ranch home feel and the soft shaped hardware were matched to reveal a purposeful repeat with a casual and relaxed appeal. Rounding out the upscale look, we selected gorgeous quartz countertops by Pental which highly contribute to the wow-factor. With so much light shining in, the Pental Quartz that was specified, beams, adding even more beautiful drama to the room.

The result of all the interior selections gave the homeowners the rustic homestead they hoped for with a current monochromatic tone they dreamed of!

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Remove Walls While Increasing Storage

We were challenged to increase the storage while opening up the space. By knocking down the walls and reconfiguring the foot print, the cabinets more than doubled. So much so, the clients are having a hard time filling all of the shelves. With custom sliding drawer pull outs, separate pot dividers and the added cabinets under the island, they have more storage than they ever imagined. Our design plan was able to gain an additional fourteen feet when adding the dining room square footage, which allowed for two more zones.

The bar, and the second sink, was an area the homeowners never knew they needed, and now they can’t stop talking about it. It is a wonderful coffee station and go-to for their favorite beverages. The glass front upper cabinets in the bar add to the ambiance as well as add a place to display décor. Plus these glass uppers play off of the glass pendants and even create more depth in the room. A custom walk-in pantry, full of shelves and drawers was also added to the new kitchen. This new pantry is larger in length and width enabling even more storage plus an ingenious space for brooms, vacuums and supplies. And, the custom, reclaimed wood, barn door was the cherry on top! The gourmet chefs are enjoying the ease of storing occasional utensils, small appliances and having room for all of their ingredients tucked neatly in one area. The end result, storage galore!

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THE RESULT

After years of prepping meals in one small area in their home, these gourmet chefs were ready for a change. They had a tiny workspace, no storage and an outdated design. Thats where we came in, creating an open concept plan that reversed their current layout. This massive kitchen remodel also changed the way our clients used their home.  There were many walls and several cased openings which lead to valuable space not being utilized. Adjacent to the kitchen, was a  14’ x 18’ dining room that hadn’t been sat in for over ten years, so we were. challenged to combine both areas while maintaining purpose and function.

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Defining a Cleaning Station

During the Design Presentation, we demonstrated how the use of light would create demarcations for the newly open concept kitchen. The idea was to give the eye a snapshot of various zones to create visual interest as soon as you entered. The zones included cooking, baking, eat, drink, pantry & cleaning station.  Each of which would use every square foot and provide the added space as well as storage they were seeking.

The result is an expansive, modern farmhouse kitchen with an oversized island for prep, dedicated cooking, a baking station with custom cookie sheet racks and countertop appliance storage, a cleaning station with a custom double pull-out trash and clever, easy-to-grab paper towel drawer, an amazing wet bar for both coffee and drinks and last but not least, a stunning walk in pantry that is four times the size of their previous.

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