Pam Stewart Ross Design

DEBBIE AND BOB'S MAIN FLOOR

The kitchen is the heart of the home and Debbie and Bob's kitchen works overtime! Removing the upper cabinets over the penisula will open up the space and make this small kitchen feel bigger. It will also provide more work space for several cooks to be in the kitchen at once.

There is usually one element in a room that stands out and in this kitchen it is the screen door. I love it, but the swing door gets in the way of the cabinets. I suggest replacing it with a sliding door to maintain its character, but make it more functional.

Something to keep in  mind when the owners  replace the doors and windows, and possibly the cedar shakes, is now is the time to change the locations of the existing doors and windows to work with any interior renovations being done.

I recommend converting the existing main floor bedroom into a pantry AND a bunk room; this will provide extra storage for the kitchen while still maintaining sleeping for two guests.  To do this though, the front window needs to be moved to allow for a wall to separate the bedroom into two rooms. Below is a suggested floor plan for the renovated kitchen.

I moved the fridge to the other side of the galley kitchen, moved the washer and dryer to the hall closet, installed an over the range microwave and added a doorway to the pantry. An alternative to this floor plan is to keep the existing closet as a broom closet and divide the bedroom in half, one side for the pantry and the other side for a bigger laundry. But you would lose a bedroom.

By moving the fridge and removing the upper cabinets you get a 12 foot peninsula - perfect for entertaining.

Below are the suggested elevation plans for the kitchen cabinets.

In the living room, I suggest adding built-in cupboards on each side of the fireplace. They could store bike helmets and shoes. It might also be a good place to "hide" the TV, instead of hanging the TV on the fireplace.

The drawing below shows the storage cupboards, but I think you could build them both 68 inches wide; this would fill in the entire wall to the left of the fireplace to provide more storage for coats, and on the right side provide visual weight for balance.

The mezzanine level, in the picture below, could be used as a library, just add a matching book case on the other side and a reading chair (or a window seat). Alternatively, you could add a table in front of the window (previously a door) for games or putting together puzzles.

Ideas of home libraries are below:

I haven't addressed the upstairs bedrooms or bathrooms. There are four bedrooms, but to make a bigger master you would need to reduce that to three bedrooms which the owners are not comfortable with at this time. The bathroom updates involve replacing the fixtures, but the footprints remain the same. In one bathroom the plumbing will be moved to an interior wall to prevent freezing in the winter.