Homeowner’s Objective: To Have a More Functional Kitchen and Eating Area with a New Family Room

With a new position at work came more expectations for entertaining guests at home. These homeowners needed an updated and larger kitchen with more storage space. They also wanted to have a casual eating area in close proximity to the kitchen. Lastly, with a young son, they wanted to have an informal family room near the kitchen so that he didn’t always have to go to the basement to play or do homework. All of this needed to be done while keeping the need to entertain business guests in mind. In addition, central in the homeowners’ minds was that they didn’t want the addition to look like an “addition”, inside or out. They cared what they saw inside and what neighbors would have to look at every day. This design/build solution met all their needs and more.

Functionality Highlights: By adding an addition to enlarge the kitchen, eating area and family room, we met all the homeowner’s requirements for family and entertaining. The homeowner had previously hired an architect who had designed an addition with multiple level changes in the flooring.
We redesigned the plans to incorporate flush flooring to make entertaining guests with plates full of food safer than having to navigate flooring level changes. Since the client did not know what size TV they would ultimately have, we designed a custom book shelf/entertainment center with adjustable shelves to accommodate current and future needs. This entertainment center is the focal point of the family room.

Aesthetic Highlights:

• The entire project is pleasing to the eye. However, special consideration was made to make the addition seamless with the existing space.
• While the homeowners didn’t want a basement under the new addition, they didn’t want the piers to show. So, we wrapped them in attractive trim and lattice boards.
• While the new floors remain flush with the existing home, interesting ceilings in the eating area and family room add to the visual interest of the project.

Craftsmanship Highlights:
Every detail in this project was carefully considered. A few are:

• A custom job-built entertainment cabinet with adjustable shelves and large storage bin door. The window trim above the unit was also custom job-built to pull the whole look together.
• Multi-angled ceilings, demonstrating carpentry and drywall expertise.
• The manner in which the old house transitions seamlessly into the new.

Problem Solving Highlights:

• According to the homeowner, the new space feels like they are vacationing in their own home. No longer do they have to go to several different storage areas in the house to assemble and cook a large meal. The new kitchen has ample cabinet and drawer space for all their cooking and dining needs. Organization is now a snap.
• The addition faces the northeast. So, getting natural light in the addition presented a challenge. Large windows and glass French doors in the eating area helped. As well as the specially designed windows above the entertainment center in the family room. These windows are not only functional, but add an interesting visual appeal to the room.
• The homeowners feel that the design has easily allowed the whole family to be together in one space. The overall design makes living easier everyday.

The homeowners were so pleased with the project that they have referred us to three other clients to date.

Back to Project Profiles