Closing off the center hallway also created a stronger sense of arrival in the front entry. Before, when you opened the front door, your eye would be drawn down the center hallway to the back of the house. Now, as you enter, your arrival is framed by an art wall in front of you, a herringbone patterned wood floor below, a coffered ceiling above, and two half walls with columns to your right and left, which demarcate the entry from the adjacent living spaces.
All Projects Newton, MA
Flipping The Floor Plan
Interiors
Kitchens
When these clients contacted us about redoing their kitchen, we already had a long-term relationship. Over the course of two decades, we had completed several projects together ranging from air sealing, insulation and HVAC upgrades, to renovating their primary bedroom suite.
Jump to GalleryFlipping the floor plan
Yet the kitchen was also a major path from the front to the back of the house, with frequent foot traffic passing through the work triangle. Initially we tried reconfiguring the kitchen within its existing location. After exploring multiple options all of which came up short, our estimator, Cador Pricejones, who we don’t normally look to for design inspiration, asked, “What if we try moving the kitchen to where the dining room is?” With this question, Architect Frank Dill embarked on a new, more promising design strategy.
Before
After
Expanding the kitchen
The newly relocated kitchen has 25% more lineal feet of cabinetry and 30% more lineal feet of counter than the old kitchen. It also has lovely views of the gardens, a large island, and more direct access to the back deck and driveway.
Before
After
The former kitchen has become an extended, casual living room, with generous seating and built-ins displaying artfully arranged books and collectibles. Natural light streams in from the windows of the adjacent mudroom. The mudroom, too, was fully renovated with a new tile floor and a large coat closet featuring exquisitely refinished antique doors.