The homeowners decided they were not going to lose sight of little joys in life. They, very cognitively, decided that part of this meant 'reclaiming' the area(s) of their house in which they spend most of their time whenever they are at home - the kitchen and adjacent dining, mud, and powder rooms.
A congested, existing layout not only meant lack of flow and functionality in the kitchen, but often lead to one family member scurrying off to another part of the house in search of 'a little more space' for whatever they were doing.
The solution: create a more open area starting from the kitchen and into all adjacent rooms as much as the existing site conditions would feasibly allow.
This included partial removal of adjacent existing walls (entry hallway, basement stairwell, part of the powder room, dining / kitchen wall) in order to facilitate a more functional kitchen layout.
What transpired was a spectacular transformation of a once confined kitchen area into a bright, welcoming and tremendously functional space that, though it is open enough to feel like one big room, still maintains enough partitions to maintain a comfortable feeling of separation.
The new, more energy efficient kitchen window in conjunction with perfectly selected finishes, create perfect daylighting of the room and contribute to the dramatic enhancement of the space.
Now, as the kids do homework on the spacious kitchen island and tell mom and dad about their day, mom and dad can enjoy a glass of wine from the wine fridge that is now housed underneath the island.
And as the parents prepare dinner for the evening, they look forward to entertaining their friends and family during the upcoming weekend.
There is now room and space to enhance the little joys in life and create new ones.