This Elegant Philadelphia Kitchen Has a Secret Pantry and Storage Galore

Architect and designer Mindy O’Connor (the principal and creative wellspring of Philadelphia’s Melinda Kelson O’Connor Architecture & Interiors) is a home whisperer. She specializes in nudging her clients’ spaces into their loveliest, most functional forms — and that talent transformed this handsome-but-outdated 1910 Colonial in Chestnut Hill. “This home always felt very loved, busy and comfortable because of the family that owns it,” Mindy says. “But it had a completely disconnected kitchen and dining space, as well as inadequate storage and a confusing entry. It lacked cohesion and flow between rooms and had no real front door.”

Mindy’s well-considered edits and thoughtful design gave the home new life. “I am pleased that it still feels busy and comfortable, but now we can add elegant and beautiful to the descriptors,” she says. “And even more, it works as a functional set of connected spaces that are perfect for living and entertaining.” Follow along as she explains just how she made that happen. And see how her ideas can transform your headquarters.

The home’s formal “front” façade originally faced the side yard rather than the street, so its befuddling “main entrance” from the driveway was a back door to the kitchen. Mindy solved the identity crisis by designing an addition with a new “front door,” which was no easy feat. “We worked hard on creating the right openings in the entry foyer to make sure that we created a circular flow throughout the home and got rid of the back door problem the house previously had,” she explained. She and her team also created a circular flow between the kitchen, dining and den spaces by letting massive cased openings serve as their connection points. That Herculean effort gave the finished home a much more intuitive connection to the outside world — and let it breathe.

Architects’ hand-executed blueprints, drawings and designs tell their subjects’ stories in a way that’s both practical and easy on the eyes — and the renderings Mindy chose to display usher visitors into this home with style. “The client was fortunate to acquire the [grounds’] plans from a previous homeowner, and we were excited to display two of the original plans in the entrance as a fun introduction to the house and how it has changed over time,” she says. “The fact that the original drawings are printed in a deep blue made this decision even more perfect for the client (who loves all things blue) and fit the larger design palette perfectly.” Mindy used a grass cloth wall treatment in a subtle gray to add both warmth and formality to the space.

Mindy defined the landing at the foot of the stairs with both a warm, graphic area rug and a one-of-a-kind overhead fixture — and she used the latter to introduce a theme she revisits elsewhere in the home. “We customized this ceiling light ourselves by lining the inside of a drum shade fixture with a blue wall covering (by Christopher Farr) that we also used to line the upstairs hall,” she says. This decorative detail adds a lot of life to the large, traditional entry and ties the space together with the upstairs hall. We love how that turned out!”