We purchased a Cape Cod home and love its traditional floor plan and charm. Small changes have allowed us to retain its character that the former owners loved.

We found that the breezeway between the kitchen/laundry back door to the garage collected leaves and was too narrow for seating. Our contractor, Bob Penny of Hawk Meadow Homecraft in Bellingham, WA, designed and built a wonderful new space for us. I am posting photos for the first time and hope that they give ideas to others.

We salvaged the original siding and placed it on the new exterior. Due to building requirements, the sliding door is double pane, the vinyl windows are triple pane and the skylights are quadruple pane. As much as we hoped for aluminum clad wood windows, the budget did not allow the cost. The floor is a tile brick and cost about $5 per square foot. We left the wooden ceiling as is but freshened up the paint and used can converters to allow us to install schoolhouse fixtures. We left the sliding doors to the family room in place due to pets and grandchildren but they can be removed at a later date to allow open flow.

One of our next projects is to open up the former back kitchen/laundry door and laundry room into the sun room. We will make it into a butler's pantry. We plan to hide the washer and dryer with custom built cabinets and granite that are the same as those in the adjoining kitchen. We will remove a pocket door to open up the kitchen to the butler's pantry and sun room to allow flow.