Chore to Pleasure

Moving the kitchen from an awkward corner into the middle of the room made all the difference for an attorney who completely remodeled her red brick Cape Cod in Silver Spring, Maryland. Finding room for everything was tricky, but Jennifer Gilmer of Jennifer Gilmer Kitchen & Bath Ltd. was up to the challenge and kept the galley style but reworked it into an entirely new space. "The space lent itself to better functioning as a galley, not lots of corners," she says.

Gilmer created a softer angle on the right side of the ceiling to match the other, removing the hard angle filled with dead space, and giving the room a more human scale. A large bay box window bumped out enough space for a Wolf 36-inch induction cooktop and introduced the opportunity to install deeper walnut cabinetry with angled backs to utilize the space above for storage. An island that initially didn't seem possible to fit was then possible with a shallow profile on the sink wall. The sophisticated walnut paneling conceals a 27-inch Sub-Zero Integrated refrigerator, and Sub-Zero refrigerator drawers near the island's sink add convenience near the cooktop. "Getting to the cooktop from the main sink was blocked by the island—the solution was to place a smaller prep sink on the island near the cooktop," explains Gilmer.

Today the homeowner enjoys a new breakfast room in the corner where her old kitchen used to be, sunlight from the window lighting her morning paper, and looks forward to entertaining her friends and business colleagues more than ever. She can't believe that of the whole house, she chose to remodel the kitchen last. "I cook five times more!" she says. "This has changed my whole perspective: from chore to pleasure!"