The Heart(h) of the Home

The Heart(h) of the Home


View of the House 11-5-05













This will make a great office someday - Breaking through on the 2nd floor to the new bump out













Inside the new bumpt out - Looking up to the third floor where the future stairwell will be














Breaking through into Isaac's room from the new stairwell bump out














The Heart(h) of the Home

The kitchen has truly evolved from an out of the way, cordoned off corner of the house, to the central living, eating and entertainment area of the home. Like hearths of old that provided warmth and a welcoming area for family and friends to gather, our new kitchens have become the central core of family activity, often paired with a great room, and living and dining areas.
When we set out to build our new house, having a kitchen and entertaining and family room attached was of paramount importance. In our former home, a Greek Revival Victorian, the kitchen was one of the more compact rooms on the main level, adjacent to a spacious living room and dining room, but cut off by stairwells and a multitudes of doors and walls. Yet, whenever we entertained, everyone clustered in the kitchen, around the island – thankfully we had that convenience – until we made them go into the adjoining rooms for events like dinner.
Our new house came with an open plan, even before we started making changes to the architecture and the interior layouts. The entire main floor was made up of only three rooms when we moved in, which encompassed about 1600 sq. ft.: a lot of area for just three rooms. The front deckhouse was originally designed as an upside-down house with the living area up top and the bedrooms on the lower floor. The kitchen was squished into a corner of the front room, and an old study had walls that broke up this otherwise open room.
The addition had a full 36 x24’ living room right beside, which had been designed by the previous owner to accommodate two rings of Scottish dancers. We like to dance, but don’t intend on any rings forming on our watch, so we’re going to make a few more delineations in this space – but more on that later.
Back in the front of the house, the new kitchen was designed to be a grand open space with plenty of cabinets, islands, and preparation areas as well as a bar area and a breakfast area, with access to the patio for barbequing activities. The plan called for the tearing down of the remaining interior walls to provide a fluid, seamless connection between the kitchen and family room functions. We even designed several pieces with rolling castors so that the space would be even more flexible and accommodating (more details later).

The Research
Thought I had experience with kitchen design, I felt my project presented unusual circumstances for me; I could determine the budget; it would be a fairly large kitchen (approx. 16’ x 24’); the styling was wide open but would need to work with the architecture that had not yet been determined; and my choices for finishes, countertops, backsplashes, handles, appliances and fixtures would be the last word, no client to please except myself (and the family).
I began with some basic research, looking at the high end to the low end, doing a complete research project into the options that today’s homeowners have to choose from. I knew Jonathan’s preference would include all wood cabinetry, and I couldn’t blame him. Our former kitchen was an attractive, well-executed design with mid-range cabinetry that we had inherited from the previous owners who redid the kitchen and then promptly moved. The interior boxes of the cabinets were melamine-veneered chipboard, which definitely started giving out after our ten years of use. Several of the drawers fell apart and needed to be rebuilt with wood. And several of the hinges literally pulled out of the sides as the chipboard crumbled around them. Chipboard no matter what grade and quality is particulate and humidity, water splashes, cleaning solutions, usage and even dirt will make the board deteriorate over time.
So my search included only all wood construction. This delineation creates a huge separation between cabinet manufacturers, though some of the very, very high-end European designers swear by MDF (maximum density fiberboard – another version of chip board or particle board). But most low end lines have particleboard interiors, some with melamine veneer, some with wood veneer. It is sometimes possible to upgrade these lines with plywood boxes, so homeowners should ask when purchasing cabinetry.
I looked at some recommended showrooms in the Falmouth area. This would make delivery and installation, as well as compatibility of styles more probable. What you find at many kitchen centers, as I did, is a selection of manufactured lines that the particular showroom represents. They will most likely have a low, medium and high-end range to choose from. The materials, craftsmanship and detail of styling are the defining factors of their relative costs. We wanted something simple, perhaps a Shaker design with glass-fronted cabinets on top and full wood doors below. Jonathan had the notion of creating the look of his grandmother’s old kitchen in Woods Hole and I went armed with photographs to show the designers at each of these sights.
In addition to having a strong sense of the style we wanted, I also went with a layout and some sketches of the elevations. This is more than most homeowners will walk in with and I actually found myself met with skepticism by the in-house designers. Were they threatened that I might actually be able to do their job for them? I wasn’t trying to. I was only trying to communicate in the best way I knew possible, what I wanted in my kitchen.
At the low-end kitchen center, it took several tries before they actually sent me a quote. The motivation level of the salesperson was low indeed which wouldn’t enamor me to the product in the long run. The product lines were very traditional and the finishes I found to be a bit on the tacky side – dull surfaces with strange brown hues that you couldn’t quite place. Asking about custom alternations of any kind was met with scowls. So I moved on.
At the mid-range shop they were more accommodating and wanted to demonstrate why their product lines could be adapted to my every need. They were also more than willing to create their own design drawings (in essence recreating mine), which is a service they offer to all clientele. For the most part you have to view the drawings at their showroom and if you want to take them home, you need to pay them for the design – usually between $1,000 and $2,000 depending upon the shop. This does however go toward the purchase price of the cabinetry if you decide to order the kitchen from them.
I found some decent quality cabinets there. You could request all wood plywood boxes for the interior of the cabinets and you had a broad range of very attractive finishes. Glass panels were available in a range of styles –with or without mullions, frosted, striated etc. – and could be incorporated into many of their existing styles.
I decided to use these folks as my back up system if the high end proved too expensive or too difficult and fussy – a very real issue.
On to the high end where you can let all your dream kitchens come true…







I want to give this area my full attention, so I am going to continue this story when I next post – give me a few days. But I’ve included some of the initial design concepts as well as photos of the new interior that waits refinishing.









The kitchen to be