Hi there! I took some time off from content creation last week after launching the fall session of my kitchen design program. It's always a long week... fun but tiring. This week I'm back in the saddle and focused on a new project that's well into the design phase for a remodel that will get underway early next year. These wise homeowners are planning ahead and setting their project up for success! Here's a pic of the exterior.
Today I'm going to focus on the kitchen and pantry design and next week we'll dive into the exciting master bath and laundry room plans.
To give you a little background, this two story house like many coastal homes sits up off the ground with garage parking, storage and a huge bonus/play room underneath. It's in a highly desirable neighborhood known as Wachesaw Plantation but was built in in the nineties and does not include an open concept floor plan. The current kitchen is dated and shares pantry storage with a washer and dryer so all dirty laundry has to be hauled right through the kitchen... not ideal! Here's some photos of the current kitchen and pantry.
The homeowners asked if we could move the laundry room away from the kitchen all together and then asked me to come up with a way to improve their current kitchen including an island. After studying the floor plans here is the new layout I proposed and they love it! A structural engineer will need to be involved to make sure all proper support is in place, but I think we are good to go.
In order to create more of an open concept kitchen and include an island, the plan is to shift the pantry down to the far side and open up the walls all around the stairwell. This allows people in the kitchen to easily see into the family room and the new open dining room. Above all the door openings will be transom glass windows to further this effect. With the new plan, this long narrow kitchen can now include a large center island for seating and entertaining! Here's a picture looking from the kitchen's small doorway towards the stairs and a rendering of how open it will be.
Check out the new spacious butler's pantry that will house all the heavy lifting for the kitchen including the refrigerator, ice maker, uc beverage center, sink with disposal and even a cabinet for small plug in appliances like the toaster. Note- the pantry design was changed from the original plan above as we liked this layout better.
I am so excited about this pantry because it's not going only to be a beautiful space but it's also incredibly functional. Because this house is built up a level, hauling groceries up a flight of stairs is not the easiest thing, especially with three young kids in tow. I had an idea of including a residential dumbwaiter that would come up from the ground floor right into the pantry. Groceries can quickly be unloaded and stocked especially with the refrigerator right there! Even packages and deliveries can easily be transported between floors. Seeing as how we're all addicted to Amazon Prime these days, the job of breaking down cardboard boxes is real! On the ground floor there will be a cabinet designed to store all recycled packaging. The homeowners love this idea and I am working with the cabinet maker to integrate the dumbwaiter into the design so it looks completely built in.
Here's a 3D view of the new kitchen/pantry plan. We are still nailing down all of the materials and colors but I think we are going to save the lively green for the pantry cabinets only and keep the island white with a contrasting counter top.
Next week we'll walk through the plans for the other end of the house. Have a great weekend!