META 2007 Award Winner – Residential Kitchen $30,000 - $60,000

Award Entry Description:
The clients wanted to update a small (133 SF) kitchen in their 2 bedroom house. They wanted to keep the washing machine in the kitchen (but not a dryer) near the back door and have space for a small dining table; to retain the ceiling light fixtures; add a built-in dish washer, a microwave, an apron sink, a 36” wide refrigerator and a wine bottle rack. They did not want to redo the tile floor, but had some tile pieces for patching if necessary.

The kitchen had previously had a wall to the adjacent laundry space removed but not much else had been done since it was built in the 1950’s. Two areas within the kitchen were ripe for removal: a corner enclosure of the original heating equipment and a pantry/closet (see plan).

Before pictures showing enclosed spaces which the remodel will remove.

The design removed both enclosed areas and replaced them with finished walls, cabinets and countertops. This opened the kitchen up visually. A recessed shelf (probably an old built in ironing board) in the wall was covered over. The rest of the kitchen remained intact, including a large horizontal window above the laundry.

With enclosures gone, kitchen expands with more counterspace and storage. It even has room for a clothes washer.

The cabinet design had to account for a doorway that would not allow a standard 24” deep base, so an angular 21”-24” transition cabinet was added next to a 21” deep cabinet to the left of the range. The cabinet design included a lazy susan corner base, full extension drawers, 42” tall wall cabinets and an over-the-range microwave-hood.

Originally the washing machine was almost obstructing the back door. We repositioned the plumbing for the washer to move it away from the door and added a 27” wide base cabinet between it and the door. On the wall opposite we installed 21” deep pantry and base cabinets to clear the back door and wall cabinets with a wine bottle rack.

We added 3 recessed 26-watt compact fluorescent fixtures positioned over the countertop and low voltage xenon under cabinet lighting, separately switched.

To maximize natural light coming into the kitchen and enhance visual space, no cabinets were added on the window wall. The client chose a full overlay door style for the maple cabinets that is evocative of the inset door style, with a champagne and chocolate glaze finish.

To maintain budget goals, the client had prefabricated granite countertops installed over the cabinets and the apron sink. Only about 5 square feet of tiling had to be added to cover the floor.

The original knob and tube wiring was updated and 2 outlets were added for adjacent rooms. We were surprised to learn that the added plumbing for the washer had to be cast iron, since the project was in unincorporated San Mateo County. Since the new plumbing was under a window and not near an existing vent, we used an “island” vent.

While plumbing the apron sink, the porcelain cracked and we had to extract and replace the sink without disturbing the granite.

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