Our homeowners built their impressive five bedroom, five and a half bathroom Overland Park, Kansas home in 2005. Parts of the home, including the kitchen, no longer reflected their style. With two of their three children already off at college and the third not far behind, now was the time to create a functional, streamlined modern kitchen to reflect their evolving interior style.
The homeowners first remodel project came in 2010 when they hired us to complete and renovate their unfinished basement. Thrilled with the final product, the client made only one call when they were ready to update and modernize their traditional kitchen…and we were happy to answer!
The homeowners explained that their biggest wish was to “do more with less.” Less clutter and fewer cabinets. More space and more style. Less busy. More simplicity. This kitchen project was nominated for REMY and took home the Gold & All Star for Kitchen Remodel!
The Existing Kitchen
The Plans
In the existing layout, the mudroom and laundry room were half the space of the kitchen. There wasn’t a bathroom for guests to use on the first floor. The caddy corner island created an L-shape. The pantry located right behind it caused high traffic in this area and cut off the flow of the kitchen. The homeowners knew it was time for a change.
Kitchen layout
Caddy corner islands are great for kitchens that don’t have a lot of space; however, for this kitchen, the island wasn’t right. The multiple cabinets cut into the path between the sink, stove, and refrigerator, while the pantry location caused even more traffic in a small space.
The combination of dark cabinets, black granite, and cream colored walls made the kitchen look dated. It didn’t quite match our client’s design preference of industrial meets modern. The passageway between the oversized island and the refrigerator and microwave/oven was narrow to pass through and needed to be widened.
Dining, Living & Mudroom
The dining area already had great natural light with traditional windows on the north and east exterior walls. However, the family wanted to update the entire space from traditional to industrial design.
Passthrough archways were a design element used in many homes 10-15 years ago, Today, they sometimes look dated and visually bring the ceiling heights down making rooms feel smaller and darker.
The existing mudroom space had great storage with multiple cabinets and drawers, but as the client’s two older children were leaving for college that amount of storage wasn’t necessary. It was time to update for a clean, modern look and to match the kitchen renovation.
Leslie Hatfield on our Design took the homeowners wish list and created a new floor plan. The new plan took advantage of the large space with a simple feel. Ben Bass and his team took those plans and made the kitchen into a reality.
An Industrial Meets Modern Kitchen
New Modern Kitchen
The beautiful waterfall island counter in Cambria Brittanica is stunning and lightens up the space. The island’s second tier in Ellipse Stone brings in an industrial element. We also lightened the cabinets combining Eclipse frameless cabinets in Natural Elm on the lowers with polar white finish upper cabinets. The backsplash on the range oven allowed us to add a bit of color, incorporating a herringbone pattern and using Mews by Mutina in lead color.
Moving the stove and oven to the same wall and off the island helped free up counter space and opened up the passageway.
The centered island made room for a better flow. Moving the range to the same wall as the refrigerator freed up space on the island for the family and guests to gather around when entertaining.
For the window above the sink, we squared off the drywall above the window and kept the steel-frame window for a slim-profile frame within the arch to match the dining area’s industrial window treatment.
A Fabulous Modern Dining Room, Mudroom and Powder Bathroom
New trim was added to the dining area, to tie in the existing window. It was painted to match the new beam between the living room and kitchen. These unobstructed views blur the boundaries between indoors and out.
The dated arch between the kitchen and family room is gone. The Schloegel team added the black industrial beam and custom created the panels with glass on each side. Another nod to both industrial and modern.
The newly painted door leading to the garage matches the range backsplash as well as the herringbone pattern used on the floor. We also added stained shiplap to the mudroom wall.
One of the biggest functional limitations of the home was that there was only one bathroom on the first floor. The bathroom happened to be the primarybathroom. By reconfiguring the floor plan, we were able to cut into the oversized laundry room and transform part of it into a powder room. This gives the client and their guests’ easy access to a bathroom, without it being a part of the kitchen space.
Loving this modern kitchen and thinking about a change in your kitchen? Give us a call to talk to a Schloegel expert.