Cape coastal chic: designing a kitchen renovation
Finish selections for the renovated coastal chic kitchen
I’m so excited to share the next post in the series on our work-in-progress Cape coastal chic interior design project. Today’s post will be about the process of designing a new kitchen renovation, which also entails transforming a tiny extra bedroom into a brand new dining room.
The design process has been iterative and collaborative. I’ve had so much fun sharing and refining ideas with Lou Ann Burgess and team at iKitchens Etc. As an interior designer, working together with a knowledgeable contractor through the architectural services phase is invaluable.
Construction (demolition day!) is set to begin in just a couple of weeks. I thought now would be a fun time to write down some thoughts on this phase of the project, before we start tearing up floors and ripping down walls.
The concept for the new kitchen
Dining and kitchen, before
In the post about establishing a design style for this project, I mentioned that this ranch-style home was built in the early 90s and had not been updated in any meaningful way since then. It took some imagination to see the potential, but it was there! Structural renovations would be necessary to create spaces for more modern living and my clients’ priorities.
The original kitchen was (errrr… “is”… for a couple more weeks) a cramped U-shape, with a small dining area at the opening of the U. The dining set, with overhead light fixture, really blocked the flow of traffic. The entire 1990s kitchen felt utilitarian. Make the food here. Put it on the table there. Done.
Here in the 2020s, we all seem to appreciate spending more time in our kitchens, and my clients are no exception. They like to cook and enjoy some wine and good conversation, when they’re home alone and when they have guests. They also love to incorporate outdoor grilling into their cooking process. I sure enjoyed having barbecued ribs in their previous home, which involved cooking in the indoor oven and on the outdoor grill!
These details (which I learned to study as a user experience designer) were important inputs to the concept for the new kitchen. My goal was to create a much more inviting space, with casual seating at a peninsula, and easy access to the slider that goes to the deck (and grill).
What about a dining table?
Creating a new dining room
In this case, creating a more inviting kitchen eliminates the space previously used for a dining table, so that became the next problem to solve. My first inclination was to use a narrow dining table in the living space. This solution was possible, but it had some drawbacks:
Adding a dining area to the main living space would then take away square footage used for the living room.
It would mean the front door would lead directly to a dining area rather than a dedicated entryway.
It was Lou Ann from iKitchens who really helped push to the next iteration. She quickly identified that we could break through a wall in the living space and into a small extra bedroom to create a dedicated dining space. This idea solved the problems in my initial idea.
The tradeoff was that my clients would be losing the third bedroom on the main floor of their house. They would still retain their main bedroom suite, of course, along with a guest bedroom. And they have a large finished basement to use as an office and overflow guest sleeping if needed. It was really a no-brainer. This was the right solution!
Modeling out the space in 3D
3D model, future dining room
Getting these ideas into a layout and 3D model with furniture to scale helped get a feel for the use of space, and to weigh the pros and cons of the different ideas. “Walking” through the 3D model was truly a game-changer for my clients. They could immediately visualize the flow of their home with these future renovations.
It takes several tools for this to happen. A 2D layout shows an overhead view, or the footprint of the space, with furniture to scale in terms of length and width. A moodboard shows the look and style of the actual selections. A 3D model conveys the actual flow of the space (with representative furniture models). You can literally move through the 3D model as if you were walking in your home.
It was incredible to see and feel how the kitchen, living room, and future dining room would connect to one another and create a cohesive space. With these changes, the new home would feel much closer to a modern, open-concept floor plan.
Applying coastal chic style
Finish selections for the future dining room
As we worked through many, MANY more details of the renovation (tweaking the layout, designing a lighting plan, etc.) we also started applying our coastal chic style to the new kitchen and dining room. Choosing everything — cabinetry, hardware, countertops, lighting, flooring, rugs, and furniture — was not only super fun, but also pretty easy because we had done the work to establish our design style.
It’s taken several months to get to this point, in part because lead times on appliances and construction materials are quite long these days. But the time has been well spent, and we now enter the construction phase super well prepared and confident in our interior design solutions. The countdown to demolition is on, and I can’t wait to see this new kitchen and dining room come to life!
