ARLINGTON HEIGHTS KITCHEN REMODEL

kitchen design and remodeling project located in Arlington Heights Illinois 60004

PROJECT TYPE:

KITCHEN REMODEL

DESIGNER:

CHRISTINA CATALANO

LOCATION:

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS

PROJECT TYPE:

KITCHEN REMODEL

DESIGNER:

CHRISTINA CATALANO

LOCATION:

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS

KITCHEN REMODEL OVERVIEW

Bill and Jenny have lived in their Arlington Heights home for many years and had been anticipating a remodel of their first floor for some time. Their children are now grown and having children of their own. With grandkids visiting often, hosting numerous events and gatherings, and Jenny’s love for baking and cooking, their home was not functioning like they needed. 

They wanted to be able to feel like they could see all of their guests without having to go to another room. There were a few different proposed floor plans and ideas that were evaluated before coming to a final decision on their layout. Their main goal was to open up their kitchen, dining room and living room so that they could do the entertaining they had hoped for, while maintaining their budget.

Kitchen and bath designer located in Arlington Heights Illinois

KITCHEN DESIGN OBJECTIVES

OPEN FLOOR PLAN

Create an open floor plan to be able to entertain their guests and enjoy their family all together and not in segregated rooms.

IMPROVE THE FUNCTION

Be able to be prep and cook in their kitchen while enjoying company with their guests. Create personally designed cabinetry storage needs and a working kitchen for an avid baker and cook.

BRIGHTEN THE SPACE

Capture more natural light by opening the walls.

BEFORE THE KITCHEN REMODEL

Photo of Arlington Heights kitchen remodel prior to renovation
Photo of Arlington Heights kitchen remodel prior to renovation
Photo of Arlington Heights kitchen remodel prior to renovation

The old Kitchen was closed off to other areas of their home, especially the dining room, which made it hard for them to entertain. They struggled to extend their table to the length they needed, so they could accommodate their guests when they host parties. 

KITCHEN DESIGN CONCEPT
kitchen design rendering for Arlington Heights renovation
kitchen design rendering for Arlington Heights renovation
kitchen design rendering for Arlington Heights renovation
kitchen design rendering for Arlington Heights renovation

With the space being completely open, but long and narrow, we optimized the exterior wall to house the main kitchen sink and range. We wanted to keep them in a relatively close proximity, but far enough so that they were not crowded. The double island made so much sense in their layout for a few reasons. It allows the homeowner to have multiple ways to get around their kitchen, without having to walk around what could have been a very long island. It also functions very well for hosting large gatherings in their home. One Island is used mostly for prep and the other for seating and serving.

Jenny also needed a place to house and display her  many cookbooks, which was incorporated into the end of the seated island. The refrigerator wall was a creative custom design that created the look of full height cabinetry, when in reality the open arched shelf disguised their header. The dining room cabinetry created a beautiful visual at the end of their open concept home. We created a design that housed their serving pieces below and elevated the look by adding decorative glass cabinetry above where they could display their nice dishes and sentimental items. We removed the old railing that was in their kitchen overlooking their family room. We replaced it with a beautiful storage cabinet that would house toys and games for their grandkids. 

DURING THE KITCHEN REMODEL
Photo of kitchen cabinet installation
Photo of newly installed drywall during kitchen construction
Photo of kitchen backsplash tile installation under range hood
Photo of kitchen being remodeled in Arlington Heights Illinois
Photo of kitchen being remodeled in Arlington Heights Illinois

FURTHER KITCHEN DETAILS

The soffits and walls were inspected prior to finalizing plans and ordering materials to assure feasibility. The wall between their kitchen and dining room was non load bearing. It did have a return vent that needed to be rerouted, but in perspective, it was an easy removal. The biggest challenges during our inspection was finding that the plumbing from their upstairs bathroom ran through their soffits and across the length of their kitchen, down through the load bearing wall of their home. Many of the pipes were able to be rerouted so that we could remove their soffits, however it did inhibit us from being able to install a flush header in their load bearing wall, so that we could remove the soffit effect on that wall, since the toilet stack was intruding.

With a creative design on the refrigeration wall, I was able to disguise the look of their header within the cabinetry and make it look purposeful. We also opened up the wall between their Dining Room and Living room in which was load bearing. It was a 5’ walkway that we increased to a 10’ opening by installing a new dropped LVL header. The removal of that wall required us to reroute supply and return vents running to the second floor. Without any rework on the second floor, I was able to find a solution. We removed the railing between their kitchen and family room in which were at different floor levels. 

We installed a beautiful built in cabinet that would be accessed from the family room, but had a wainscot panel on the kitchen side. The height was made so that the countertop was level with the other countertops in their kitchen which required the cabinets to be taller than the wainscot panel. There was water damage in their bay window that was caused by a leaky exterior soffit/facia. That leak was addressed and the bay window area was given a face lift with an added custom built in bench. 

The flooring throughout their home was set at different levels and since the wall between their kitchen and dining room was being removed the floors needed to be addressed. We removed all of their flooring throughout their first floor and installed all new 4” White Oak Hardwood for a seamless look. 

We converted their powder room into a full bath so that guests would be able to use it when they stayed, right off of the guest bedroom. In order to do so, we removed a wet bar that was in their quest bedroom and converted that area into a walk in shower. The ceiling in their powder room was only 7’ and in order for us to raise it to 8’ like the rest of their home, we had to reroute ductwork for the fan and dryer vent and well as minor electrical and plumbing. We were able to find a creative solution to be able to move the vents and connect both the dryer vent and fan to the existing exit to their exterior. 

Kitchen and bath designer located in Arlington Heights Illinois
MATERIALS IN THIS KITCHEN DESIGN
Photo of kitchen backsplash tile installation under range hood

Perimeter – Shiloh semi custom, Inset style cabinetry in Polar White painted finish 

Island – Shiloh semi custom Inset style cabinetry in Repose Grey painted finish

Dinning Room – Shiloh semi custom beaded Inset style cabinetry on Alder wood species finished in White Sands

Kitchen – Vicostone Argento Polished

Dining & Family Room – Vadara Calacatta Dorada Nuovo Polished 

Sonoma Tile – 2×8 Penthouse Crackle Ceramic tile

Stone Impressions – Chapman Almond on Cararra

Oak hardwood flooring

Leyton Pull in Satin Bronze

Kitchenaid