Ordinary Turns Extraordinary

Like many families today, the owners of this suburban cape craved a multi-functional, spacious kitchen area that would be integrated into and flow well with the rest of their home. Like the owners of many traditional capes, what they had was a cramped, isolated kitchen—even despite earlier renovations and additions to the home.

While we could have torn down prior additions and started over, our commitment to resource efficiency led us to look for another way to meet our clients needs. Sure enough, we soon realized we could renovate rather than replace the earlier additions, allowing the family to make the most of the space they already had. A previously added family room that was larger than it needed to be became the new kitchen. This design decision allowed us not only to better utilize this large space but to better incorporate the kitchen into the home. We also enclosed an underutilized screened porch adjacent to the new kitchen/family to provide a light-filled, informal eating area with picturesque views off the backyard. Finally, we transformed the old kitchen into a home office, a powder room & an ample pantry for storage, which was sorely lacking before.

What started off as a "mere" kitchen renovation resulted in much more livable and functional home. And we did it without tearing down the earlier renovations, fulfilling our client's goals and while also keeping the financial and environmental costs in check.