This kitchen remodel project is in progress right now, moving steadily along. We are updating this home to be more wheelchair friendly with accessibility and ease of use as top priority.
This is a former client of mine and I’m so happy to be back working with them again. I worked on their bathroom remodel some years ago.
It took a few options of a floor plan to get the one that spoke to these clients, as it was a square kitchen.
Square kitchens are kind of a challenge to lay out. You often tend to create dead corners and there isn’t as much of a flow to the layout usually.
Before - Kitchen hood wall with island, to be remodeled
Before - Kitchen to be remodeled
You can see that getting around this kitchen in a wheelchair would be a challenge. They wanted a more spacious, open kitchen that two people could work in comfortably, one in a wheelchair.
Another aspect of this kitchen that had to go for my client, was the brick arch surround. It took up valuable counter and storage space and the aesthetic it created was not desirable for them.
Behind the big brick arch and cooktop wall was a butler’s pantry and this small space, below….. a wine room.
Wine room to be removed.
This room wasn’t used at all, it was too tight and not needed. It was square footage that could definitely be better used in the kitchen.
Here’s a pic of the space, more opened up. The new island is mocked up with the box in the middle.
In Progress - Kitchen remodel under construction
This column, that was at the end of the bar, floating in the middle of the space, wasn’t even supporting anything. It had to go too, for a cleaner look.
New structural support has been carefully added in the ceiling with new beams to handle the removal of the cooktop wall and this column (that should have had some structural support in it).
Extra Items For Remodeling
We are doing a few extra things since we are already here remodeling, and will be doing a new flooring material.
The fireplace was never used, with the tv in front of it. We decided to have it removed, along with the chimney and then have a clean wall for furniture, tv and art.
The bookcase is being redone as well, to get a more simplified look, and that niche will be removed so that a beautiful Tansu chest can be moved there.
Before - This wall is chopped up with a fireplace, built-in bookshelf and then a niche.
The niche for the bookcase, below, has been modified to create a cleaner look. I love how the top of the niche aligns with the adjacent window top and the bookcase doesn’t die right into the side wall, but now is furred out to repeat the distance of to the window.
This was all designed on purpose, of course.
Details like this just bug me until they are fixed! It seems like such a small thing, but to me, this is huge. :-)
In Progress - Niche modification for new built-in cabinet
The curved wall here at the entry protruded out to eat up about a foot of hallway space (with a soffit above), very critical for wheelchair access. It didn’t provide storage or anything particularly useful and redesigning this space was in order.
We will have a new niche here with a special place for their sculpture and then storage for shoes, etc. below.
Before - Curved wall served no purpose and took up valuable floor space needed in the hallway.
The curved ledge has been removed and the furred opening has been opened up to eliminate this pinched opening into the hall.
New niche for a built-in shoe cabinet and a space for their tall sculpture.
As of yesterday, the wainscot mouldings in the dining room have been removed. The curved wall of windows had just little pieces of moulding in between, it looked rather unfinished. (Another builder detail that bugged me. I’m not sure why you would want a wainscot on a wall like this.)
I preferred treating this wall in a cleaner fashion and I like it much more already!
Dining room wainscot moulding being removed so it doesn’t look so chopped up.
There’s more, too, with a powder bath, an expanded pantry, and a new coffee bar.
I’ll just leave you with the photo of the stone we are using for their countertops and backsplash in the kitchen. It will be a showstopper!
If you want to call the contractor we are working with here, I will happily link to them, but please wait a few months until our project is finished! :-)
And tell them you got their name from me!
If you are interested in full service design like I’m doing on this project, you can read more about this service here. >>> Full Service Design
This blogpost was thoughtfully written by me, Carla Aston, and not by AI, ghostwriters, or guest posters.