Modifying the kitchen in a 1940s home on Kensington Avenue was a challenge for John Cronly of Hampden Hill Custom Building. Cronly’s objective was to increase storage and open the home’s first-floor layout, so he and his team installed new appliances with clean lines, marble countertops and Shaker-style cabinetry and constructed an eat-in alcove. An archway was constructed to connect the kitchen with the living room – a graceful opening that matched an existing arch on the same wall. “Now the house makes a big circle, with much better flow,” Cronly says.
A white subway-tile backsplash, recessed can lighting, glass pendants over the eat-in area and LED under-cabinet lighting brighten the formerly dark space. Ceramic tiles laid in a herringbone pattern and radiant heat warm the floor.
The new layout allows for more kitchen storage and the addition of a front hallway closet. The “in-with-the-bright, out-with-the-tight” goals of the homeowners were accomplished with this renovation.
Merit Award: DesignLine Home Transformations with trade partner Thos. Somerville Co.