This heritage home remodel creates a lighter, brighter kitchen with loads of storage and prep space, room for comfortable counter seating and an open transition into the dining room for a free-flowing living space. In the adjacent half-bath, beautiful millwork and a stunning custom tile installation honor the home’s rich history.
While the homeowner loved her beautiful 1817 home with its old-school character, the cramped kitchen needed more functional space for practical everyday living. Her wish list included a light-filled kitchen with convenient storage, room for seating and fresh new surfaces and appliances. The project scope grew to include the adjacent powder room—a remodel that restored the bathroom to its historic glory.
The Kitchen: Before
The dark, dated kitchen had been remodeled since its original build yet still needed a current refresh. The room felt smaller than its footprint due to the drop ceiling and soffits above the cabinets. Functionally, there was a lack of lighting, no pantry and limited counter and storage space which created visual clutter that overwhelmed the room. The narrow door opening between the kitchen and dining room was limiting and uninviting, creating a sharp division in the living areas.
Check out this amazing before and after. Click and drag the line on the image below.
The Kitchen: Design
The new kitchen layout includes a large passthrough between the dining room and kitchen, opening the living space and allowing for a peninsula with seating. By removing the drop ceiling and soffits in the kitchen, full-size upper cabinets reach the ceiling, maximizing storage. Finally, moving the entrance of the half bathroom in the adjacent hallway off the kitchen creates space for a large pantry.
The Kitchen: After
To create a custom look in the new kitchen, we used stock Waypoint cabinets with a semi-custom installation with a countertop cabinet built to keep the homeowner’s mixer and other necessities at arm’s reach. Rollouts and inserts in the drawers and cabinets maximize storage. During the demo, we uncovered an old milk shoot which we kept in place, creating a unique display nook.
The new peninsula between the kitchen and dining room includes lower cabinetry storage and counter-height seating on the dining side. Custom-built, frameless oak cabinetry on the peninsula’s backside matches the home’s original woodwork for a cohesive finish.
Corian quartz countertops in London Sky with a clean waterfall edge on the peninsula create contrast with the kitchen’s light green-grey cabinets and existing oak millwork. High-gloss hexagon tiles for the backsplash—Wow Zellige, Hexa White, 4×5, Virginia Tile—keep the space light and bright. The homeowner chose the Blanco Undermount Sink, Super Single Bowl with a sleek faucet: Brizo Luxe Gold Litze with a knurled handle.
By borrowing space from a back hallway near the powder room, we gained square footage to build a floor-to-ceiling custom pantry for even more easy-access storage. A nod to the home’s history, classic tile adds pop to the updated kitchen floor (Form Sand Compass Deco, 8×8, Virginia Tile). The same tile runs down the back hallway, creating continuity between the spaces. Finally, undercabinet lighting, a vintage-inspired overhead fan and recessed can lights finish the room.
Half Bathroom: Before
The old, outdated powder room in the hallway near the kitchen needed a major facelift to bring the space up to par with the rest of the home. While our team was at work on the kitchen renovation, the homeowner had us update the small bathroom simultaneously. Her vision for the new space was a cleaner, more contemporary bathroom with a warm, historic feel.
Half Bathroom: After
Based on the kitchen reno, we repositioned the bathroom door, stripped the room down to the studs and reframed, rewired and replumbed. The centerpiece of the new bathroom is the custom tile flooring inspired by the original penny tile in the home’s foyer. We created the unique mosaic tile design by sourcing tile from Dover Floor & Tile Center:
Outside Border: (6″-12″) Soho Canvas White Hexagon Mosaic 1-Inch Matte
Middle Section: Soho White/Soft Sage Hexagon Mosaic with Dot 1-Inch Matte
Solid Border: (4″-6″) Soho Soft Sage Hexagon Mosaic – 1″ or 2″
Additional powder room updates include custom woodwork—wainscoting, a flush cabinet door for the existing alcove above the toilet and trim to match the home’s generous millwork profile—plus new fixtures.
