Turned This Kitchen Renovation Into a Welcoming Gathering Space for Family & Friends
Updating this 25 year old family home's kitchen & social gathering areas took a little more than simply replacing existing cabinetry.
For this family, being able to enjoy get togethers including having close friends over for good food and the latest sports event or holiday festivities meant creating a layout that allows everyone to be together, yet provides for separate but openly connected conversation areas, including kitchen activities.
Meeting the homeowners wishes called for a little room reorganization first.
The rarely used larger living room space was exchanged with the too small dining room for a perfect furniture fit. The smaller dining room became an intimate soft seat conversation area. And by opening up the wall between the new sitting area & the kitchen and adding a common serving counter, this space is now connected both functionally & visually.
The main entrance to the kitchen area was expanded and partition walls that visually divided the kitchen and it's eat-in dining area were also removed. The now unencumbered open space between the kitchen & family room allows for a practical irregular shaped island to serve for everyday kitchen table activities & informal entertaining and is complimented by the addition of a coffee bar cabinet in the same area.
The addition of ceiling pot lights throughout, with multiple switching options and dimmers provides excellent controlled lighting everywhere.
The kitchen's original darker oak hardwood floor was repaired, sanded and refinished for a seamless colour transition with the adjoining rooms. It's now clearly a pleasing aesthetic feature!
And of course, the main attraction - the beautiful simple but classic cabinetry and the finishing surface material detail. With the focus on useful, easy to access storage, we incorporated as many under counter functional drawers as possible and ensured that there were "landing" areas next to major appliances. Under-cabinet lighting against the almost seamless large tile porcelain backsplash shines even light on the natural granite countertop. The rooms millwork was planned to tie seamlessly with the cabinetry crown including the bridge over the cooktop exhaust hood and the kitchen window valance.
The final touch: a splash of "red" on the walls & bar stool upholstery, to add a bit of feng shui "fire energy" and connect to existing family room furniture colour.
The result - open & airy, while feeling warm & inviting!!
