Location: Ladue, MO
In the lovely city of Ladue, our clients bought their home and knew they wanted to upgrade the kitchen right away. The young couple just had a baby and needed the outdated, oddly shaped kitchen to suit their growing family's needs.
As it stood, the kitchen was too small for the young couple to hang out, cook, and live in. With a new baby, this outdated kitchen shape made things much harder for them. So in their new kitchen, they wanted to bump out the outer kitchen and take up more space for the kitchen. They also wanted to optimize the room they had and get rid of the empty, unusable space that was being wasted. They also did a lot of meal prep and planning, so they wanted a spot to do that in the kitchen and have a place to keep all her cookbooks in one space.
The renderings we offered showed our clients what the space was going to look like so they could make changes. Without the renderings, they might have had to make changes last minute during construction and slow things down.
The way the previous owners remodeled this home was quirky and didn't function well for our clients. The house is broken up, and the kitchen work triangle that we look for wasn't anywhere to be found. Homeowners now want more of an open floor plan so they can be in the kitchen and still socialize or keep an eye on the kids. So we had to take this oddly designed space and create a whole new floor plan!
In addition to the design challenges, this was our first project during the COVID pandemic. Everything was still very new, and rules and regulations changed every day. All the calls and planning were done by phone to be as safe as possible and in-person meetings were done only when absolutely necessary. Of course, this made everything move much slower. Making selections was difficult, and we had to start the project later than initially planned. In addition, other companies were closing, and supply chains really started messing up our timelines.
We bumped out the kitchen wall to expand the room and took up the rest of the space for more kitchen workspace. The kitchen went from a U-shape to a now expansive L-shape. This gained them more cabinets, counter space, and room for their appliances to fit easily. When removing the wall, we did have to add a beam to keep the home's structure safe, but it was easily hidden in the ceiling and is hardly noticeable now. The old refrigerator space is now her meal prep area with a desk and open shelving to display her favorite cookbooks. Where the old pantry was is now where they have a table with seating for casual dining.
Our clients like to have clean countertops, so we created unique and optimized storage in the kitchen cabinets to keep the counters clear of clutter. For example, because of the amazing windows that let in natural light, they didn't have a lot of upper cabinets for dishes. So we added heavy-duty drawers to hold all their dishes with a bottom pegboard to keep things organized. In addition, we built them a large open spice rack to display and easily find their spices instead of stuffing them in a drawer and never remembering what they have.
The dishwasher is in the island and perfectly placed so they can stand at the washer and put all their dishes away without walking across the kitchen. When designing a space, it's crucial to think about aesthetics and functionality. Now the kitchen has a perfect work triangle to ensure that using the kitchen is effortless and efficient.
Excellent interior design is all about the details, and the small elements within this kitchen make it the ideal design for our client's specific needs. For example, the countertops are quartz, so they don't have to mess with sealing it, and the bullnose edge is soft and won't hurt little heads as they get tall enough to bump into it.
The tile backsplash is made by Walker Zanger and is a durable and high-end tile option that flowers perfectly with the rest of the kitchen design. The maple cabinets by Wellborn have a light stain because our clients wanted a natural look to go with the lighter elements within the design. And lastly, the floor is made of white tile laid in the herringbone pattern. The white color brightens the space, while the herringbone pattern adds elegance to the room.
While COVID made the conditions of this remodel not ideal, our clients were happy with their new space and are excited to enjoy it with their growing family.
