Old Dogs and New Kitchens

My black dog, Kemper, is aging rapidy. Almost 14, best as we can tell from what they told us at the Women's Humane Society when we got her, her hips are giving out, eyes are going, can't (or won't) hear me when I call. We used to go for long walks every night, but she barely makes it around the corner now, and God forbid I try to cross the road with traffic coming!. She is still a sweetheart, but we have do things differently and can't do the grand efforts we once did. We have to rethink what we do with what we have.

Stay with me here, but this brings me to my next point, working with what we have (and of course, accessibility, which I talked about in another post, below).

In this area, most of houses are fairly old, ranging from the building booms in the 30's, post war 40's and the 60's. Many folks contact me for additions, citing unworkable or crowded plans, especially as the kids grow up. The first thing I usually do is to look at what the existing structure and plan will allow and see what is possible in the existing shell.

Basic rule, it is often a heck of a lot cheaper to remodel than to add on with new structure. To that end I share 3 examples.

First, a current project is in a small colonial, typical to this area. Very small. There is a reasonable shed-roofed addition out the back off the kitchen. The clients, a young couple, want to renovate the kitchen from the old dark interior room it is. We went through almost 15 versions, each modifying a previous one. I tried to keep an eat-in area with a table and possibly a large window seat, and we considered breaking out the back for a larger mudroom. We also had to accommodate the greyhounds, of course!

As it evolved, a host of other issues came up and we are now extending the kitchen far into the addition, opening the walls into the dining room to give more use to a formerly vestigial space, and creating a wide open wall from there to the living room (see also the green Craftsman house on my website, and phot below). Using the dining room better meant we did not have to have a 2nd eating area so close to the kitchen, could better use a peninnsula for casual seating, and revamp a laundry and mudroom area. The old house now has flow and light! Sure a few beams, a lot of drywall and total chaos for a while, but radical changes to the existing house, no new foundations, no loss of yard, no wierd hallways, and no cutting off older rooms from the outside.

The 2nd example is a modest kitchen in a regular colonial, center hall, kitchen in the back. A previous remodeling had added a family room and utilty wing and inadvertently turned the kitchen into a glorified hallway. The owners are old friends and were doing it themselves, so essentially planned on simply replicating the old layout. A friend with a strong design sense (the interiors of the same green Craftsman on my site) stopped over and looking at some closets and odd walls left over from the old remodeling, suggested removing closets and revamping the layout. Suddenly there is prep space, the fridge is banished from a central location and there is room for the wife to let her husband stay in the room trying to be helpful...

Small steps with in the existing footprint, great results.

The last project was bigger, in theat it involved the whole house. A 60's ranch, which, because they are so deep, have a high ridge which allows 2nd floor expansion. We opened up the dining room wall, renovated the kitchen by combining utility space with the old kitchen, added a master suite on the 2nd floor and added trim details and windows to change the character of the house. All within the existing footprint.

And all of these allow full living on the same level, allowing effective use as we age. So consider what you have and how it can work better within those limitations, before you add on.

And be sure to plant something pretty at the end of the yard, like a dogwood, for a goal to walk to when you can't get across the street anymore.