White on the Spot

Retirees Steve and Maureen, were looking to be closer to their son and beautiful granddaughter. Tucson, with its 360 days of sunshine seemed like a perfect place to call home and relax so they sold their Boston home and bought a 1980’s eastside townhome. The kitchen was a galley style in the middle of the house and had low ceilings. It felt very secluded from the rest of the house. The cabinets had been painted a dark clay color and the counters were black and heavy with outdated appliances.

Project Images

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We explored removing the entire load bearing wall between the living room and kitchen, but it left a lack of function in both rooms as well as consuming a large sum of the budget. By simply taking a 3x3 section of the wall near the foyer we could achieve connectivity between arriving guests and the living room and maintain kitchen storage and the entertainment wall for the living room. Next, we looked into raising the soffits which lead to discovering we could raise nearly the entire ceiling to gain more storage and gain volume. Maureen had brought only her most contemporary furniture with them so it was decided to transform the style from traditional to Mid Century Modern. White high gloss cabinets with a terrazzo influenced Quartz counter surface acted as the foundation. We paired it with porcelain plank flooring, new sleek stainless steel appliances and a classic subway tile backsplash. A replica light fixture over the West Elm breakfast table and waterfall edges at cabinet ends were just a few of the special touches that completed the transformation.