living

Photos courtesy of Dave Fox Design Build Remodelers and Kristen Kravitz

Beachy Keen Kitchen

Balanced décor, extra space makes kitchen feel new

When Kristen Kravitz bought her Westerville home over a year ago, she knew she wanted to renovate the kitchen even before moving in.

The kitchen of this 1970 split level was a very old, dark and cramped space. Not only was the space in desperate need of an update, it needed an entryway from the garage, too.

The cabinets, which were painted a dark navy blue and white, were almost as old as the house itself and were riddled with cracks, causing them to start to fall apart.

As the single mother of two kids, Kravitz says the outdated space just wasn’t going to work for her busy family. Over the past few months – with the help of Dave Fox Design – the space has been transformed into a more open and inviting room with a sitting area addition that makes for a spacious kitchen.

Coastal Kitchen

Kravitz says the two things in the most urgent need of correcting were the lack of counter space and a closet that cut into the room.

By removing the closet, Kravitz says, Dave Fox opened up the space and allowed her to add more cabinets and an island, solving her counter space problem.

“I actually added a ton of storage space both in between the closet and the mudroom, and then all the pantry space around the refrigerator,” Kravitz says. “There’s also a microwave drawer in the island, which is nice because it doesn’t take up any counter space, then it’s not kind of an eyesore over the stove.” Kravitz knew she wanted her cabinets to be teal – hoping to achieve a beachy and coastal look – so she worked with the Dave Fox team to find accent colors that would complement them without making the space look too busy.

For the countertops, they landed on a simple white design with subtle silver and gold veins throughout. Kravitz says these colors help tie in the other details – such as the stainless steel appliances – without drawing your attention directly to one thing.

The previous owner had recently replaced the appliances, so Kravitz tried to keep as many as she could to help her save money on the renovation. She was able to keep the stove and dishwasher but had to get a new refrigerator, giving the old one a new home in the garage.

To help balance out the cool tones, Kravitz says she gave the floor, center island and shelves above the sink a warm, wood coloring to contrast the cabinets.

New Addition

The new addition just off the kitchen added almost 100 square feet to the house, and Kravitz says the new space has really changed how her family uses the room.

Kravitz says they now have a space to store things as they enter the house and an extra room off the kitchen that can serve multiple purposes.

“I wanted to add on a sitting area off the kitchen,” Kravitz says, “... to be able to just sit and have a cup of tea or wine. The kids (also) have an art table there so they can play and do art and creative projects while I’m in the kitchen.”

One of Kravitz’s favorite parts of the addition is the three new windows which bring more light into the space. With the positioning of the windows, Kravitz says it not only gives her beautiful views when the sun rises and sets, but she can also see right into her backyard.

“I love being able to be in the kitchen and have a clear view out to the backyard and to see what the kids are getting up to or just to be able to appreciate the fall leaves and all of that,” she says.

After completing this year-long renovation and getting the kitchen of her dreams, Kravitz has turned her sights to future projects.

While she hopes to eventually update her bathrooms, Kravitz says this spring she plans to turn her attention outside with the hope of adding a deck off the new back door Dave Fox installed.

“I’m already starting to think about the landscaping and the gardens around the deck and plot those out,” Kravitz says. “We purposely left some portion of the back covered so that the eventual deck will have both the covered area as well as an open area, which I’m really excited about.”

Rachel Karas is an editor at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at rkaras@cityscenemediagroup.com.