Interior Residential Conversion of a Kitchen and Small Bedroom

This interior residential remodeling is in south Oak Park, Illinois, a near western suburb of Chicago. The design solution addresses a common challenge in the modest sized bungalow and farmhouse layouts typical of the early-20th century vintage residences.

The original kitchen in this house was plagued by a plethora of doors, tall windows and passage openings into adjacent rooms - nine such wall openings into one room! This made for a lack of function and efficiency in the original kitchen where counters, cabinets and appliances were segmented with no continuous walls.

The solution was to take the adjacent under-utilized storage/bedroom and abutting pantry and to recreate the kitchen into those spaces. The former storage room and pantry had higher windowsills and overall had fewer wall openings. The former kitchen space has been repurposed as a reading room and social space adjacent to the kitchen. Improvements included relocating the back door and developing the much-needed entry and storage space in an unheated reconfigured existing porch adjacent to the new kitchen location. Additionally, the former steep stairway to the second floor and bedroom level was improved with a gracious landing that re-orients the users towards the new kitchen and seating area.