The Lighten-Up

In older traditional homes, kitchens were often considered little more than utility spaces. A tiny space where food was prepared, for serving family and guests in other more formal rooms. They were deliberately designed to keep the act (and mess) of food preparation out of sight of family life.

The kitchen in this home was even more isolated than you would normally encounter, as it was placed at the dark center of a long house on a narrow lot. The front-facing formal rooms and the rear-facing bedrooms receive all the natural light – but we could not relocate the kitchen! Instead, we went up and out in our search for light and air, adding a period-appropriate turret. The turret, centered over the island, becomes the focus of the remodeled and expanded kitchen. Reclaimed and repurposed flooring and framing, and using old beadboard as cabinets and finish work, not only lowers the carbon footprint of this project but enhances the feeling of authenticity of this kitchen. The room feels as if the materials and space have existed ever since the house was originally built. And the light-filled space has breathed a new, uplifting life into a once dark and partitioned home.

Products featured in this project