Project: Full-gut kitchen remodel in Wakefield (AKA #ProjectHeartOfTheHome)
In this design-build project we completed a gut remodel of the kitchen in a 1995 home, a young house by our standards at McGuire + Co., as we are used to remodeling projects in 100+ year old homes in Wakefield and surrounding towns. But this kitchen had reached its peak and was ready for a redesign, not to mention a more functional layout.
The kitchen sits central to the home’s adjacent spaces (home office, front foyer, formal dining room, door to basement, laundry room and family room!), bringing new meaning to the phrase “the heart of the home.” We were excited to transform the kitchen for this couple and their adorable young children, giving their home new energy and an enjoyable space to make family memories as their children grow. Home is where the heart is, indeed.
Each of our projects starts with measurements and space planning, and #ProjectHeartOfTheHome was no exception. There was a glaring opportunity to improve functionality of the space with the addition of a central island. The previous kitchen was an oversized U-shape layout with a large expanse of open floor in the middle. To make room for a substantial island, we transitioned the floor plan to more of an L-shape, drastically improving the flow and intentionality of the space.
To accommodate the new and expanded L-shape layout, the refrigerator moved to the same wall as the sink, while double ovens anchor the other end of the core kitchen space. Our clients took the opportunity to ditch their slide-in range in favor of a gas cooktop separate from the wall ovens, allowing for plenty of flexibility in cooking family meals.
The new island provides seating for four, and makes full use of the available floor space. A kitchen table previously sat at the end of the room, creating an obstacle to walk around into the family room, but now the island sits squarely in the kitchen and allows a direct path from the front of the house to the back.
Opposite the main kitchen, where the kitchen table previously sat, we added a dry bar on open wall space between the formal dining room and laundry room. We designed cabinetry to incorporate the clients’ existing wine cooler and provide an ancillary space for serving while entertaining. The installation gives purpose to this end of the kitchen without blocking the natural pathways in and out of the adjacent rooms.
In re-working the kitchen layout, we removed a framed coat closet in the home’s front foyer and replaced it with a slim cabinetry installation.
Our clients typically enter their home through the garage and finished basement, where they keep bags, coats and shoes, so this installation didn’t need to be as hard-working and chock-full of storage as a true mudroom. Therefore, we designed it to be open and inviting with hooks, V-groove paneling and a wood bench top, creating the perfect spot for guests to hang a coat or sit down to tie a shoe.
The beautiful mix of materials adds just as much to the renewed feel of the kitchen as the improved layout. Dated honey-oak cabinets screamed 1995 and weighed down the space, so we lightened everything up with soft white cabinetry and a marble-look quartz countertop. The blue-gray mosaic backsplash, punctuated with dark grout, adds just enough contrast and surprise to create a unique look.
The kitchen reads transitional overall but has a nice tension of more detailed elements—profiled shaker cabinets and classic, clean colors—and contemporary notes, like the sleek lines of the chimney hood, unfussy cabinetry moldings and the modern subway backsplash. This design was a nice marriage (pun intended) of the couple’s preferred aesthetics.
The blue-gray finish of the island cabinetry balances the cool blue backsplash tile, and blends harmoniously with the sprinkle of stainless steel hardware and pops of matte black throughout the space. Everything is layered on top of a new just-right gray porcelain floor tile: not too cool, not too warm.
The U-shaped layout didn’t go away entirely, as we snuck a run of shallow floor-to-ceiling cabinetry next to the wall ovens, providing the busy family with oodles of pantry space. The oversized milk-glass light fixtures add soft weight over the island, leading your eye into the room and welcoming you to take a seat.
A lovely feature of the dry bar installation is the LED puck light installed inside the cabinet, filtering warm light down through the glass shelves, highlighting favorite glassware and libations alike.
Another cool feature of this kitchen is the glass rinser installed at the sink. The homeowners wanted a convenient way to rinse glassware and mugs, a la your favorite coffee shop, so we added a glass rinser to the right of the faucet, that drains gently into the sink. On the other side of the faucet is a built-in soap dispenser.
There are so many lovely details to savor in this beautiful design-build project! Enjoy a walk-through of #ProjectHeartOfTheHome with designer Jenni Jacobs. Thank you for following along!
