I still remember when this call came in. It was a referral from another client. In fact, they shared a fence line with our past clients. This new client had purchased the house several years prior and done a full gut to the mechanicals. All new wiring. New plumbing. New sheetrock. Everywhere EXCEPT the kitchen, which they saved for a future project. And now was the time.
I love projects for people who have lived several years in their home. They’re such experts at how they use the space, and how they don’t. What works and what doesn’t. They knew, for instance, that having a powder bathroom on that end of the house was useless to their lifestyle. No one ever used it. And they walked through that exterior door to their backyard…approximately never.
She had her sights set on a “back kitchen.” It was our job to make this vision work, and find a new home for the laundry room.
Sometimes to move forward with the best plan, you sadly have to start by going backwards. In this case, we had to undo a few things they’d done when they first bought the house in order to find a good home for laundry. Namely, we reversed a tray ceiling. The clients were true champs about it!
Getting the laundry out of the way allowed us to really lock into a great flowing space for the kitchen and butler’s pantry ! In the kitchen, we opened up the space by removing the peninsula that divided the room in half and, instead, anchored the layout with a large island. And the former powder bathroom and laundry room provided the perfect adjacent space to house the butler’s pantry, or “back kitchen.”
The former playroom was reclaimed as the new dining room, allowing the former dining room to be converted into a mudroom, laundry room and formal foyer.
A dedicated mudroom wasn’t high on their original priority list, but we made a solid case and they agreed it would be a big win.
The fun challenge with this project was the relationship of the main kitchen to the butler’s pantry. In the same way your outfits don’t need to “match” in a family Christmas card photo, but they still have to “go together” in a way that compliments. We wanted to carry themes from the kitchen to the butler’s pantry, and still give it its own identity.
The butler’s pantry is a hot-ticket item so let’s focus on that. In today’s world, the term “butlery” or “scullery” are used interchangeably but, for us, the most important thing to consider in the functional design was how the homeowners planned to use the secondary kitchen space.
In this case, visuals were everything. We had a very clutter-free minded client and she not only wanted everything to have a home, she preferred if most things found their home outside of her sightline!
So, pantry items like canned goods are tucked away in cabinetry back there along with a secondary sink and dishwasher. And brace yourselves, she even allowed her husband to hide an unsightly microwave behind the cabinet doors!!
Also hidden away are two freezer drawers, wall ovens, a 2nd trash pullout and additional tray storage.
Shoutout to our incredible rendering software - look how realistic these are compared to how the actual project turned out!
With clear visibility right off the main kitchen, and no doors, any guest would have a full view into this space. So, the aesthetic design was critical. This was not a throw-away room! Design decisions like v-groove paneling, accent sconces and natural light contribute to making this a desired location rather than a second-rate space. Walnut countertops and dark-painted cabinetry provide a clear divide from the main kitchen while adding visual interest (or as we say, an opportunity to “surprise and delight!”).
I love this project for a few stand-out reasons. First, it was the tail-end of Covid delays, and I am proud to say that despite this project being riddled with ABSURD delays and issues with the window vendor (who shall remain nameless!!) these clients kept their patience, and I somehow managed to find a great friend by the end of the project. From a stranger, to a client to a family that my family now vacations with! A true testament to these clients’ resilience and good humor!
Second, I love that we were able to execute the original vision that the client had. Maybe they didn’t know exactly how to make it all work, but they had a clear idea in their head of how the space would best function for their family and we were able to translate that into an executable plan.
Third, isn’t it just so pretty??
