Kitchen & Bath Design News

NOV 2015

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24 | Kitchen & Bath Design News | November 2015 By Kim Berndtson Project Case Study { Spotlight on creative, problem-solving kitchens and baths } S ometimes it takes a while for the perfect plan to come together. In the case of this remodeled Mamaroneck, NY kitchen, it took three years and three complete revisions for the transformation to come to fruition. "It was a long process," says Sarah Robertson, owner of Studio Dearborn, also in Mamaroneck, who worked with Choura Architecture to bring to life all of the homeowner's requests. At the top of the wish list was creating an improved workspace. "The initial complaint with her original kitchen was that there was no good place to work," says Robertson. "She did have a small peninsula, but it was used mostly for eating and was not helpful from a prep standpoint." Problems number two and three were both related to what was just be- yond the walls and small window. The backyard overlooks a nature preserve and the previous layout provided no convenient access to it from either the kitchen or adjacent breakfast area. Plus, they could only view that outdoor beauty through one small window. "The previous foor plan just wasn't leveraging what they had outside," she continues. With three big requests on the table, there was one big challenge standing in the way. "They were hoping to not have to expand," she says, "but there was just no way to accomplish everything they hoped to without making the space larger." That's when the homeowners brought in an architect, who added four feet to the previous kitchen area to create a larger footprint for both the new kitchen and breakfast area. He also vaulted the ceiling to further open up the space. PROBLEM-SOLVING DESIGN With a bit more breathing room, Robertson set out to solve her clients' initial concerns. The frst task on her agenda was to swap the kitchen and breakfast areas and move the pow- der room to improve trafc fow and provide access to the backyard. To ad- dress workspace issues, the designer created a large 9'-plus island with an open expanse for food prep, ac- centing it with v-groove paneling. It's large enough to accommodate three stools, and provides easy access to the undercounter Wolf microwave. Two windows – a large one above the Franke sink that is accented with a Kallista faucet, and a second one next to the 48" Wolf range – give her clients their desired view to the preserve. COMMAND CENTRAL The desk matches the cerused oak in the rest of the kitchen and serves as 'command central' for the family's activities. To keep it tidy, Robertson included an electronics charging station in one of the drawers and bulletin boards on the inside of the doors of the upper cabinets to corral notes and papers. CERUSED OAK CABINETRY Pulls in the color of the bark from the oak tree in the backyard LARGE ISLAND Serves as the perfect – and much needed – workspace FOCAL-POINT HOOD Combined with Macaubas quartzite, it is massive, but not ostentatious Island, Cabinetry Shine in Long-Awaited Transformation

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