Kitchen of the Week: Opening the Layout Calms the Chaos
A full remodel in a Colonial style creates better flow and a cozier vibe for a couple and their 7 home-schooled kids
It’s easy to imagine the chaos created by seven kids running around a house. Combine that with a cramped, poorly laid-out kitchen, and it’s a miracle the owners of this North Carolina home found the energy to cook at all.
But with the help of kitchen designer Jenny Roush Newman, they were able to make sense of the madness. Newman took down walls to open up the layout and rearranged the appliances to improve traffic flow. Now the kids can grab snacks or drinks from the fridge and pantry without getting in the way of the chef.
But with the help of kitchen designer Jenny Roush Newman, they were able to make sense of the madness. Newman took down walls to open up the layout and rearranged the appliances to improve traffic flow. Now the kids can grab snacks or drinks from the fridge and pantry without getting in the way of the chef.
After: Newman worked with Icon Custom Builders to strip the original kitchen and take down several walls to open the layout to the dining room (directly opposite the view of this photo angle) and the living room (around the brick fireplace on the left).
She thought a lot about directing traffic around whomever was cooking or preparing food. She put the fridge on the end and the pantry behind the sliding barn door on the right. Now if the kids want to grab a snack from the fridge or the pantry, they won’t be in the way of the person using the range, sink and island countertop.
To create the look and feel of the kitchen, Newman learned from looking through the homeowners’ ideabook of Houzz photos that they leaned heavily toward Colonial style. “I noticed a lot of hodgepodge — paint, wood, brick, metal and different textures,” Newman says. “A lot of the pictures we were looking at weren’t symmetrical or organized. There were little nooks and random plate racks. Those are kind of the different elements that make that style. So we tried to keep that collected look in mind when making selections, to make the kitchen look like it’d been there forever.”
The sage green on the perimeter cabinets was a key detail Newman noticed in her clients’ ideabook photos that she used to re-create the Colonial look.
Custom cabinets in Sage Green (perimeter) and Mineral Gray (island): UltraCraft Cabinetry
She thought a lot about directing traffic around whomever was cooking or preparing food. She put the fridge on the end and the pantry behind the sliding barn door on the right. Now if the kids want to grab a snack from the fridge or the pantry, they won’t be in the way of the person using the range, sink and island countertop.
To create the look and feel of the kitchen, Newman learned from looking through the homeowners’ ideabook of Houzz photos that they leaned heavily toward Colonial style. “I noticed a lot of hodgepodge — paint, wood, brick, metal and different textures,” Newman says. “A lot of the pictures we were looking at weren’t symmetrical or organized. There were little nooks and random plate racks. Those are kind of the different elements that make that style. So we tried to keep that collected look in mind when making selections, to make the kitchen look like it’d been there forever.”
The sage green on the perimeter cabinets was a key detail Newman noticed in her clients’ ideabook photos that she used to re-create the Colonial look.
Custom cabinets in Sage Green (perimeter) and Mineral Gray (island): UltraCraft Cabinetry
Before: The path to the dining room from the living room was a circuitous route. The family had to enter the kitchen through the doorway to the right of the fireplace, then negotiate the bottleneck between the table and the peninsula, and then finally go around and through a doorway to the left (out of view in this photo) to arrive at the main dining room.
After: With the wall originally to the right of the fireplace removed, Newman was able to expand the kitchen and add an L-shaped island that provides more seating and better traffic flow through to the dining room.
The two black doors on the brick open to a small fireplace that was a big reason why the homeowners bought the house in the first place. It’s often lit during home-schooling sessions. “It’s just a little warmth and coziness while she teaches her kids,” Newman says.
The two black doors on the brick open to a small fireplace that was a big reason why the homeowners bought the house in the first place. It’s often lit during home-schooling sessions. “It’s just a little warmth and coziness while she teaches her kids,” Newman says.
After: The bookcase to the right of the fireplace came down, opening up the living room to the dining room.
Beadboard on the island, punched-tin pendants lights above it and candle sconces beside the sink give the kitchen more of “that old-world feel to it,” Newman says.
Shop for punched-tin pendant lights on Houzz
Shop for punched-tin pendant lights on Houzz
Another design trick that Newman employed to channel Colonial style was painting the perimeter cabinet knobs the same color as the cabinets, which was a detail she noticed while looking through the homeowners’ ideabook of Houzz photos.
Mixing flat- and raised-panel cabinet door and drawer styles played a factor in the overall look as well. “It’s a simple detail, but it’s exactly what the Colonial feel was like,” Newman says.
The flooring is natural wood with a clear coat.
8 Popular Cabinet Door Styles for Kitchens of All Kinds
Mixing flat- and raised-panel cabinet door and drawer styles played a factor in the overall look as well. “It’s a simple detail, but it’s exactly what the Colonial feel was like,” Newman says.
The flooring is natural wood with a clear coat.
8 Popular Cabinet Door Styles for Kitchens of All Kinds
A coffee station fills a corner next to the fireplace.
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More
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Other Resources on Houzz
Get kitchen design ideas
Find a kitchen designer
Shop for kitchen products
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple — he’s a doctor; she’s a full-time mom and home-school teacher — and their seven kids
Location: Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Size: 285 square feet (26 square meters); 19 by 15 feet
Designer: Jenny Roush Newman
Before: The homeowners disliked everything about their original kitchen — “all of it,” Newman says. “The countertops, the cabinets, the placement of the appliances, having double ovens right beside the refrigerator. There was no room to prep or spread out. With that many kids running through and coming in, they felt like they were stacked on top of each other.”
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