These clients bought a house two years ago and finally had enough of their old dysfunctional kitchen. They wished to have something new and exciting. They really wanted a freestanding island where they could sit down and have their meals. One of the most important wishes was to keep it sharp and clean; incorporating stained glass was another requirement (and, of course, staying within the budget).
Its original form, with unattractive cabinets and a dropped bulkhead, had a limited the storage space and the pleasure to work in the most important room in the house. There was no room to fit an island and when the clients had guests, their narrow doorway which lead into the dining room made it very inconvenient to serve food. The fridge always felt out of place and a small table with chairs was blocking the walkway into the family room. An insufficient amount of drawers and poor cabinet planning kept a constant mass in the kitchen area. The kitchen felt closed and out of order.
Our new design incorporated a breakfast area, creating a better planned L-shaped kitchen that created a better flow from each room. To accomplish this flow and create a functional island, one of the walls separating the dining room had to be removed. The fridge was relocated and put in between the two shaker style columns which were designed to bond with the rest of the kitchens shaker doors and mouldings. Decorative shaker posts were used for the sink which was brought forward to break the straight line of the countertop and give it some more character as well as bring the attention to its stylish faucet. Two decorative columns on each side of the island made it stand out as a separate piece of furniture. The island was made out of pot drawers and an open cabinets with slide out baskets for fruits, making it easy to find and always available for their kids.
The decorative hood was kept simple, having one decorative stained glass window that connected the hood with the upper corner cabinet and over the window arch. Left and right upper and base cabinets beside the hood had pull out shelves for oil and spice storage. The magic corner unit was placed in the blind base cabinet for better use of storage space.
For the care of the environment and keeping the kitchen green, the finishing was done with a water-base chocolate stain. Customers really like the glazing effect, so water-based black glaze was applied on top and finished with lacquer.
The project was completed according to the planned time of eight weeks which left the homeowners pleased with the end result of both the look and function.