Built in 1973 as a passive solar home on five acres, the floor plan is open and spacious, but with clutter and time, the kitchen and bath were no longer being used to their full potential.

The Kitchen

The kitchen is visually exposed to the living room, dining room, and kitchenette making the owner’s hobby of canning problematic due to the “clutter” it entails during the harvest season. As a result, the goal for this project was to increase storage and limit the exposure of the kitchen to the rest of the house without causing it to feel enclosed. Additionally, limiting the movement of utilities and load bearing walls saved on the budget, and maintained the expansive views to the outdoor pond, tree farm, and gardens.

The solution was to create overlapping zones of space so as to define but not enclose. Modern open shelving for storing and showing the past season’s bounty, while limiting direct views into the kitchen were incorporated. Functional and aesthetic lighting was used to brighten up the feel of the kitchen while overlapping the various zones. Using an open shelving concept and thoughtful lighting, this kitchen becomes a bright dynamic space that is both defined, yet open.

The Bathroom

The objective of the bathroom renovation was to add a sink in the existing lavatory, provide more storage and separate the existing hand washing area from the adjacent billiard room. The solution was to add a small nitch with a hand washing sink and under cabinet storage in the lavatory. This also allowed for a built-in bookshelf in the adjacent bedroom. In the hand washing area, a frosted acrylic panel was elegantly suspended between the vanity and billiard room. The frosted screen was designed with a sandblasted Mondrian pattern on each side, providing layered transparencies of light. This significantly limited the views between the rooms without sacrificing the openness of the two areas. This created an elegant solution to an odd series of spaces, while also making a beautiful and dynamic piece of art work.