Compact Doesn't Mean Confined Kitchen

The design goal was to open up the kitchen to the outdoors and transfer her family’s meals from the cramped eating space in the kitchen to the adjacent dining room. She worked with the designers, who removed walls and reconfigured cabinets to create a compact, functional and beautiful kitchen.

This renovated kitchen uses a simple yet sophisticated color scheme, pairing black honed granite counters with white cabinets and stainless-steel appliances.

Walls were removed from three rooms — the mudroom, butler’s pantry and the original kitchen workspace — to create the new kitchen floor plan. Additionally, the small eating area was eliminated and incorporated into the new, U-shaped workspace.

The adjacent dining room is now the site of the family’s meals. It is connected to the kitchen by patio doors that match the doors leading to the courtyard. Once dusty and deserted, the dining room is now used for all the family’s meals after the informal eating space in the kitchen was eliminated.

Because the size of the kitchen is compact, the new custom island is compact also. The square island has a small prep sink, shelves for cookbooks, and a drawer and cupboard for storage. There is room along one side for two barstools.

The use of color and materials in the kitchen was deliberately kept to a minimum to avoid a cluttered, crowded look. The cabinets are pristine white, many of them fitted with glass panels on the front and side. The counters are black honed granite, and all the appliances are stainless steel. The antique pine floors add a touch of warmth to the sophisticated palette.

The coffered ceiling adds dimension and architectural detailing to the compact kitchen.