Harkness Kitchen Renovation (complete July 2012)

We started working on this kitchen renovation for Julie and Bobby Harkness in February of this year. I helped her develop a design that would lend to a much more open floor plan. We took out the wall dividing the dining room from the kitchen and brought the kitchen out toward the dining room more. We also added a door to backyard to make it more accessible. We built a full-sized pantry and added an office space for Bobby.

In our collaborative design, we fixed issues like:

• The previous layout had Julie traipsing all over the kitchen, from one side to the other, in order to access the refrigerator, sink and pantry while cooking. We brought those things into a central location.
• The refrigerator used to be right in the path from the dining room to the kitchen, making it difficult for someone to pass by if someone else was in the fridge – we remedied that.
• Previously, the only way into the backyard was through the sunroom. The back door we added provides immediate access, especially for the dogs.

We put in cabinetry with slide out shelves – something that is very popular because it allows homeowners to access the items in the back without a lot of work. Additionally, we updated the brick fireplace by wrapping in it stone and building a new mantle. We also added a bar top and stools along the pony wall dividing the dining room and living room, which creates a place for someone to eat, watch television or work on a laptop without committing themselves to the lazy couch.

One design element that I must also point out is that the cabinets opposite the window and next to the oven are built INTO the wall, rather than hung on it. We framed the oven base and part of the upper-cabinets into the wall, with the extreme uppers surface mounted. This provides a little more walking space and accommodates bar stools at the island. It also added a design element that I think looks great.

We had a lot of fun working with the Harkness family. They were very encouraging throughout the project and I enjoyed every trip I made to their house. I think we will be working with them in the future, too.

~ Andy