a mid-century kitchen

A friend of mine recently asked me to help her design a kitchen for her family's new home - a cool, mid-century gem tucked beneath tall trees on the west side of Cincinnati.  No arm twisting required here! Like I'd pass up the opportunity to play with a modern!

So we began designing, over the phone, with kids running and talking in the background.  I'd draw something up, send it to her.  We'd chat, I'd edit, and edit some more and before you knew it, we had moved the dining area into the great room and expanded the kitchen into the old dining space to create a freaking fantastic kitchen full of storage and plenty of counter space.  And, I love working with someone who loves modern . . . she already had materials in mind that were completely appropriate for the style of the home.

Now, as with any renovation project, there was some problem solving to be done in order to stay within the budget and allow for a timely completion, but I think the space has benefited from the smart solutions to those challenges.

Here is the existing floor plan of the kitchen and dining area:

The existing kitchen is tiny!  You can't stand at the sink if the dishwasher is open and you can barely get the fridge open if the dishwasher is open.  Talk about poor planning.  We initially started by working within the existing space, and only grabbed maybe two feet from the dining area to allow us to spread the major appliances apart so all of them could open (good place to start, right).  But in the end, more countertop space and a larger kitchen won out.  The proposed plan provides counter seating at a new peninsula, floating shelves above a new sink, and more of a connection with the great room through the two existing openings into that space.

I can't wait to see this project finished.  My friend and her husband are renovation rock stars and so I have no doubt that they'll complete this project quickly and with care.