Liberty Kitchen Renovation Project

Our Liberty Kitchen Project is so special to us for many reasons.  First, this sweet family is SO FUN to work with and is so close-knit as a unit!  We recently completed a kitchen remodel for our client's daughter and they loved what they saw so much that they wanted to work with us again when it came time to re-doing their own!  Also, this house is a family home, passed from parents to the now sibling-owners.  It's seen so much love and memories through the years that we knew when it came to re-working the space, it would have to continue to be that special, central gathering hub for the family for years to come.  

Ok, let's get to the good stuff - the BEFORE and AFTERS!  

The original kitchen footprint was an add-on lovingly constructed by their parents, but proved to be less than ideal for hosting family gatherings.  Countertop space was scarce, the appliance placement seemed a little like an after-thought, and there were two odd half-walls disproportionally dividing the prep-space from the eating area.  Our clients tried to "band-aid" the lack of pantry storage by bringing in additional cabinets purchased through a big-box store, but it did not give them the cohesive feel they were after and ultimately only contributed to making the space feel more closed in than ever.  We also had the added challenge of some pretty significant settling to the addition that would need to be addressed before anything could be installed.   

Enter: THE PLAN!  Mission:  Remove the partial walls to create an open floor plan, address the structural issues, create a dedicated pantry area, re-work the appliance layout, increase countertop prep-area, lighten and brighten the space, introduce a unique architectural element.  WHEW!  We had our work cut out for us!

Tearing down the walls that separated the two spaces was a no-brainer for us.  It really allowed us to maximize our cabinetry space and provided a more workable layout where the appliance placement was strategic and still provided enough floor space to host multiple cooks at the same time. 

Our clients had mixed feelings about whether or not to incorporate light or dark cabinets, so we thought, "Why not BOTH?!"  By installing the cherry slate color in our base cabinets it keeps the space anchored and provides some much-needed depth against the lighter greige upper cabinets. 

Incorporating a pantry storage area was at the top of our client's wishlist, so we re-worked the appliance layout and created a built-in look with the refrigerator.  Storage problem solved!  We also made sense out of the kitchen's second window (where the sink was when the house was built originally) by extending our cabinetry and mirroring the same backsplash tile and wall sconce that we incorporated along the sink wall.  This provides yet another surface area for serving/prep work and increases storage to the right of the pantry as well.

We created the feeling of more space by nixing the upper cabinetry on either side of the sink window and incorporating open shelving instead.  The stained wood shelves and black brackets provide depth and interest against the neutral backsplash tile and give our clients the opportunity to display their most frequently used dishes and glassware.  Installing the backsplash tile along the entire wall (not just underneath the cabinets) draws your eye up towards the real show-stopper of the space:  THE CEILING.

We treated our ceiling like a "5th wall" and incorporated it into the design by installing a combination of paneling and molding to create a faux-coffered ceiling look.  We could not be more in love with how this turned out!  No more dated, textured ceiling in this space!  It provides that much-needed architectural detail and dimension to this open floor plan.  By painting it a contrasting color it really helps to keep the space cozy and interesting.  

Overall, this project was so much fun to pull together and our clients could not be happier with the end result!  The new, functional layout provides a great space for their sweet family to gather and create new memories for many years to come.