What the Client Wanted

Enhance this Hinsdale home’s spaces to match the homeowners’ culinary aspirations as professional chefs. The aim was to enlarge the kitchen with a functional cook’s range area and island and recreate a less crowded kitchen dining area with more natural light and views to the rear yard. Lastly, we wanted more pantry space and a coffee center for more barista style brewing and preparation area.

Special Considerations

No square footage could be added on to this home on the lot size that they had. The bay window in the kitchen was a challenge using up critical wall space and the load bearing wall between the dining room and kitchen created some challenges to shifting floor space from the formal dining room to the kitchen breakfast area. The step down from the kitchen and breakfast area to the family room was creating an unwanted and limiting room division between the family room and kitchen.

Solution

Flip the kitchen with the existing breakfast room and borrow space from the oversized formal dining room to enlarge the cooking area for a professional range. We built custom cabinets into the bay for a sink and clean up area and used the much-needed floor area in the bay for practical kitchen function. This allowed the island to be for cooking and preparation without the sink taking over the much-needed island counter space. By raising the family room floor flush with the kitchen and breakfast area, we eliminated the steps and picked up floor space and flow. This included raising the fireplace hearth and relocating the existing doorway to the breakfast room where it served the outdoor patio better with more light gain.