Anyone who's ever hosted a party in an old Norfolk, Virginia, split-level home knows the challenges: The tiny kitchen can seem like there's not enough prep space, and there's also never enough room for people to gather.
To improve their Falls Church home's gathering space, Jeff and Cadence Weber decided to remodel their kitchen. Working with Fairfax-based Design Pro Remodeling, designer Susan Sutter knocked down a wall between the living room and dining room to change the flow. Climbing the stairs to the main floor, you'll find a large kitchen island that serves as the focal point of the space, where Jeff, an amateur chef, prepares food and drinks for parties.
“When he's in the kitchen cooking or mixing drinks, he's not hiding behind a wall, so by taking down the wall, he can be more involved in entertaining and hosting guests,” says Sutter, owner and principal designer of Susan Sutter Interiors.
Paradise Island
“Honestly, the island was the biggest change because it not only gives us more storage space, but it also gives us more space to display things,” Jeff says. “It's like a common landing area for us to serve things. It's a place to prepare and serve, and then it's wide open to the rest of the room.”
The island is a Kemper Marimac narrow-rail cabinet in marine blue with Calacatta Raza Quartz tops that match the surrounding Morel cabinetry. On one side is a Zephyr French-door wine and beverage cooler, and on the other is a pull-out tray for the essentials of an amateur bartologist. No longer do we have to store everything on a bar cart that rattles every time we walk by.
“One of my favorite things is the tiki cabinet. It's one of the cabinets on the island that houses my collection of rums and liquors for drinks,” says Jeff, who owns more than 30 bottles of booze. “When I pull out the drawers, I'm like, 'Wow, it's all so organized and where is everything?' It makes me so happy.”
Spice it up
Jeff loves to cook. New appliances include a 36″ Monogram induction cooktop with a 42″ range hood, a GE convection wall oven, and a GE built-in microwave convection oven, which is handy when foods require different baking times or temperatures. The large cooktop allows for cooking more food at once or using larger pots.
Spices and cooking oils also have their own shelves. “You can just pop them in and out and get to them right away, without having to reorganize or rummage around,” Jeff says. “Before, you might have had to take a bunch of stuff out to get to the thing you want.”
Adding hiding places
Cadence says she worried that an open floor plan would make the kitchen visible to guests; their holiday parties typically draw more than 70 people. “When people come over, how messy will it be? Of course, there's the fun and the mess of entertaining. For me, I loved the big sink because it gave me a place to hide things,” Cadence says.
The 45-inch Ruvati workstation sink sits beneath a large pass-through window that opens onto the adjacent deck, making cleanup a breeze. “It's wide, so you can really do a variety of things,” Sutter says. “You can chop, slice or dice while drying dishes. It can also double as an ice container; if you're hosting a party, you can fill it with ice from the pellet ice machine and serve drinks and bottles.”
The 15-inch high-capacity GE Nugget Ice Maker was something Sutter suggested and the couple considered because of its price tag, but it ended up saving them time. They no longer had to make ice a week before a party, they no longer had to worry about running out of ice, and they no longer had to crush ice with Lewis bags to make exotic drinks. “That was probably the biggest splurge,” Jeff says. “But at the time, I was thinking, 'If we're going to do this, I wish we had a virtually infinite supply of ice.'”
No more Tetris
The renovation also opened up more storage space in the kitchen, and Cadence says she no longer plays Tetris to tidy things. For example, she was surprised when she finally collected her tea bags. “They were shoved in all sorts of places,” she says, adding that now all her tea supplies and mugs are organized. “They're right next to where I keep the kettle. It's really nice to have it all together.”
Small appliances and other items no longer clutter the countertops. “Previously, I kept all my cookware in jars on the countertop because if it was tucked away somewhere, it was a pain to get to it. It's nice to have a place to hide everything but still have it very open and accessible,” she says.
“Seeing a lot of stuff can be stressful for us,” Jeff says, “so we like it open, uncluttered and clean.”
With a little less stress, the party is a lot more fun. “People are like, 'Oh my gosh, the whole upstairs feels so much bigger now,'” Cadence says.
Feature image: Markus Melborn MW Concepts
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