Vacation Home Kitchen Remodel

23 Feb Vacation Home Kitchen Remodel

Over the past few years I have been lucky enough to work on several vacation homes. Each has presented themselves with unique challenges. Long-time clients of mine asked me to tackle their vacation home kitchen remodel. Together we created a design that was functional yet fit into not only the rest of the house but took full advantage of the location.

The kitchen was outdated; it had a lot of wood paneling, which made the whole room feel heavy and woodsy rather than light and lake-y. My clients and I both thought a modern design would be best. The kitchen was part of one large space, including a living and dining area, but it looked mismatched and incongruous. I focused my design on creating clean lines and a lighter feel using lots of bright white. The challenge was that my clients were attached to the original wood paneling, so I had to find a way to break it up and tie it together.  The solution we settled on was to combine stained and painted cabinets. I chose quarter sawn oak for the base cabinets and stained them to match the existing paneling. I ran the grain horizontally for a more modern look that again created a separation between the paneling and cabinets. The white cabinets are bright and clean looking and provide a nice contrast with the wood. The final piece of the puzzle was to add glass tile to the backsplash to bring in a watery touch in a soft blue-green.

We kept the overall layout; it had worked well for them for many years but by using custom cabinetry we were able to make some adjustments that increased the kitchen’s functionality. The main changes we made were to move the cooktop into the corner, increase the use of drawers and redesign the bar.  We wanted to make sure that everything had a home so we could de-clutter the countertops and keep a clean look.

We spent a lot of time discussing how best to tweak the bar area. My clients entertain constantly over the summer and craft cocktails are part of the fun. We included a sink, ice maker, freezer drawers and wine frig to make bartending easy and accessible. We used floating shelves to display their alcohol and glassware.

We used the cabinetry to hide everything from sight—the pantry is hidden behind cabinet doors and we added panels to the appliance panels so they look very integrated. We added an appliance garage to hide their toaster, blender that they use a lot but did not want to see when not in use.

Minor layout changes included rebuilding the island, moving the cooktop to the corner, and expanding their home bar. Some years back, we had the floor retiled, knowing we were going to do a major remodel in the future. This approach allowed us to rebuild the island easily when my clients were ready to move forward. We didn’t move the island to a different spot; we rebuilt it to include the main sink. They bought a new table, but kept their dining chairs and the big white light globes, which have been a family favorite forever. To illuminate all corners of the kitchen, we added more canned lights under the bulkhead that runs around the perimeter of the kitchen, and under cabinet lighting on the floating shelves.

We replaced the countertops with quartz and changed all the cabinet hardware to brushed nickel. We kept the globe pendants over the kitchen table. They were also family favorites and really fit in nicely with the new design. We added under cabinet lighting and lit the bottom of the floating shelves to serve as both task and ambient lighting.

When we extended the bar area, we added a sink, floating shelves, and quite a few appliances: a dishwasher, icemaker, wine fridge, and two freezer drawers for making large ice cubes. The floating shelves solved the design challenge of the kitchen bulkhead stopping in that corner. There was no way to wrap the cabinets without looking strange. The shelves made that transition smoother, and the fact that they were open made it easy for my client, who is a gourmet drink mixer, to access everything he needs easily.

My clients love their kitchen make over. It now fits seamlessly into the overall living space and is not only functional but relaxing and inviting.