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Health & Fitness

What do you do to update a 1950's ranch kitchen and make it function for today's family?

Like most of us, this homeowner wanted a clean, modern and more functional space where family and friends could gather informally. To accomplish this, we opened the space up by removing most of the wall between the kitchen and family room with its grill and looming brick wall.

As part of the design process, samples are collected for all the material options and reviewed with the homeowners. I like to do this in their home, so we can see how the new materials will relate to their taste and other color choices in adjacent rooms. For this project, they included woods for the cabinets, flooring, countertop materials, backsplash tiles and paint colors.

We reviewed several options for the cabinet: stained or painted wood. Custom birch wood cabinets were selected to add warmth to the room.  Along the perimeter walls a light speckled Caesarstone countertop provides a durable work surface with ease of maintenance. The porcelain tile backsplash picks up the rich red/ brown tones and adds silver highlights that complement the stainless appliances. The contrasting brown/black Caesarstone on the expansive, two level island provides prep surfaces as well as an informal counter seating area. The use of 2 countertop colors adds visual interest to the space.

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The flooring options included cork, hardwood, natural stones and porcelain tiles. Cork was their first choice for softness under foot and ease of maintenance. But we could not find the exact color that they wanted. I expanded the selections again to find something in the warm brown color that they wanted. This led us to the wood-grain porcelain floor tiles. This is a perfect foundation to compliment the warm colors of the kitchen. The low maintenance flooring is great for active families with dogs, and compliments the look of this kitchen with a modern flair.

Lighting was an important aspect of this remodel. A new skylight was created using the hole in the roof from the old grill. We installed new LED down lights in the ceiling, three LED glass pendants over the breakfast bar, and LED under-cabinet strip lights for tasks on the countertop areas. The two reed glass door cabinets also received interior LED strip lights. This provides white light that is energy efficient and will last for many years.

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As you can see, the transformation is functional and timeless. The homeowners’ colorful accent pieces instantly add vibrancy to complete the transformation.  It is possible to make an older kitchen more functional and aesthetically pleasing for today’s families. The choices and options are many, but it can be accomplished by determine how your family functions and designing a plan to accommodate your specific needs.

Mary Broerman, CCIDC is a local resident and owner of MDB Design Group, a full-service interior design firm specializing in kitchen and bath remodeling. MDB Design Group is sensitive to each client’s unique architectural requirements and life style. This results in a joint vision between designer and client that reflects function, beauty and harmony. Mary Broerman, CCIDC is a California Certified Interior Design # 2124.

 Visit us at our website www.mdbdesigngroup.com. Email: mdbdesign@earthlink.net.

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