More and Better Space in McLean Hamlet: Kitchen Renovation and Addition

When the homeowner first contacted us, it was to create a new covered front entry way to accommodate a family friendly foyer and add a screened porch off the kitchen.  However, when we started to do our design analysis of needs, lifestyle, etc. it became clear they needed more comprehensive renovation to make the house what they wanted. Unfortunately, within the past five years, the client had a family room addition and cosmetic kitchen facelift done, but they were not happy with the results once the project was finished. It appears that the former designer did not really do a needs analysis to help them see that the new space would create bottlenecks in the house flow. For instance, they love to grill. So, the designer had a little deck built off the new family room that had the grill on it. But to access the deck, the homeowner needed to go through the entire house to get to it. As a result, they never grilled. Since they intended for this to be home for the rest of their lives, we designed a holistic plan to make the house work better for them. A home addition was designed and built to allow for better circulation; expanding and renovating the kitchen space, adding a sun room with screened porch beneath; and repurposing several rooms in the home.

While there are just three members in this family; they do have frequent house guests, including a grandmother that has elongated stays in the home. Therefore, they wanted a sun room to augment their family room so that there could be multiple casual living spaces on the first floor.

They wanted to update the kitchen to accommodate two cooks and they wanted increased efficiency for this two wage earner family that at times, needs to throw dinner together quickly.

The homeowner wanted to change the look of the kitchen significantly getting rid of the stained darker cabinets and wanted to be sure to have separate drawers and refrigerator access for the children.

The home needed to accommodate two home office areas; one private and one more centrally located in the home to manage work and kids at the same time.

Although the homeowner originally only wanted a screened porch, in the end, she decided she wanted both a screened porch and a sun room; so we created a screened porch under the sun room addition.

The client wanted a new outdoor deck with grilling area adjacent to the kitchen.

Lastly, they needed a space for kids to throw their back packs, etc. when they came in the front door. A new family foyer was created off the main foyer.

The client and her family are very pleased with the renewed home. The home’s new circulation flows well and the new spaces provide the functionality the client wanted. We also made the whole home lighter and brighter with new color schemes, lighter materials, skylights and lots of windows.