Kitchen of the Week: Cooking Is Front and Center in This House
Architects flip a floor plan to suit a young family’s lifestyle and clean-lined, colorful style
This Washington, D.C., couple purchased a three-story 1880s row house in the Dupont Circle neighborhood for their growing family. However, earlier renovations had stripped the home of its historic details. Fortunately, the homeowners had minimalist modern tastes anyway. Architects Elizabeth Emerson and Mark Lawrence of E/L Studio found ways to adjust the layout to work for the young family’s lifestyle and tastes. One of the biggest changes was flipping the first-floor layout around, placing the kitchen front and center. Since cooking and gathering in the kitchen were important parts of life for this family, the change made them feel very much at home.
Before: The living room was at the front of the house and the kitchen at the back. “The style was generic, and the historic details had been stripped from the house during a prior renovation,” Emerson says.
In terms of layout, the homeowners wanted one that was more conducive to watching the kids in the backyard. This necessitated a better flow and a stronger connection to the outdoors.
In terms of layout, the homeowners wanted one that was more conducive to watching the kids in the backyard. This necessitated a better flow and a stronger connection to the outdoors.
After: The architects flipped the living room and kitchen and placed a dining room between the two. The style is streamlined and modern. While the clients are drawn to minimalism, they curate collections of favorite things. Emerson and Lawrence were able to get a good idea of their style by visiting their former home and seeing their artwork and furniture.
“As soon as I saw their stuff, I thought, ‘Oh, this is going to be good,’ ” Emerson says. Their possessions include iconic midcentury modern pieces, an extensive collection of Heath Ceramics dishware and the poster seen here in the new dining area. “This poster exemplifies their favorite colors,” Emerson says. It also illustrates the playful and dynamic feeling the family wanted to work into a clean-lined and relatively spare design.
“They also visited our studio and were excited about what they saw there,” Lawrence says. “We could tell we were all like-minded in terms of style and that working with them would be a good fit. The husband is a surgeon and has a super-keen, precise eye.”
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“As soon as I saw their stuff, I thought, ‘Oh, this is going to be good,’ ” Emerson says. Their possessions include iconic midcentury modern pieces, an extensive collection of Heath Ceramics dishware and the poster seen here in the new dining area. “This poster exemplifies their favorite colors,” Emerson says. It also illustrates the playful and dynamic feeling the family wanted to work into a clean-lined and relatively spare design.
“They also visited our studio and were excited about what they saw there,” Lawrence says. “We could tell we were all like-minded in terms of style and that working with them would be a good fit. The husband is a surgeon and has a super-keen, precise eye.”
Not sure where to start on your home project? Learn the basics
Before: With the style nailed down, the architects had detailed conversations about how the couple wanted the house to function for their lifestyle. “They had lived in a loft in New York City and loved that open feeling, and we also had to keep small children in mind,” Lawrence says.
This is the kitchen in its former spot. “The kitchen was jammed into the back of the house and it chopped up the connection to the yard,” Lawrence says. “There was also an awkward width between the cabinets.” In other words, the kitchen wasn’t narrow enough to function well as a galley, but it wasn’t wide enough to accommodate an island.
This is the kitchen in its former spot. “The kitchen was jammed into the back of the house and it chopped up the connection to the yard,” Lawrence says. “There was also an awkward width between the cabinets.” In other words, the kitchen wasn’t narrow enough to function well as a galley, but it wasn’t wide enough to accommodate an island.
After: Flipping the spaces around, with the kitchen in front and the living room in back, was the best solution. “They love to cook and it is central to their family life,” Emerson says. So having the kitchen front and center upon opening the front door was a natural fit for them. The architects widened the opening at the back of the house to create a bigger view of the backyard from what’s now the living room. In fact, the yard can be viewed all the way from the front entry.
They also planned the kitchen’s layout around structural elements such as the post at the end of the island. “The post was just out in the middle of the space where the kids could run into it,” Emerson says. “We positioned the kitchen island next to the post, integrating it into the design and removing it as an obstruction.”
The island, including its countertop, is white oak with a white-gray stain. The countertops are coated with a sealant. “Water just beads up on these counters,” Emerson says.
Browse counter stools in the Houzz Shop
They also planned the kitchen’s layout around structural elements such as the post at the end of the island. “The post was just out in the middle of the space where the kids could run into it,” Emerson says. “We positioned the kitchen island next to the post, integrating it into the design and removing it as an obstruction.”
The island, including its countertop, is white oak with a white-gray stain. The countertops are coated with a sealant. “Water just beads up on these counters,” Emerson says.
Browse counter stools in the Houzz Shop
“Both of the homeowners are Indian, and they love to cook traditional Indian dishes when their parents come to visit,” Emerson says. “We knew the dishes they like to prepare would require a lot of burners, so the centerpiece of the room is a large BlueStar range top.”
The architects gathered that the couple were drawn to blues and terra cottas from the poster and their Heath Ceramics collection. They suggested a deep blue found in some of the ceramic pieces for the cabinet color. This was a decision made early in the design process, so they planned the other materials to work with that hue. And they provided the couple with open shelving on either side of the range hood to display their collection.
The architects gathered that the couple were drawn to blues and terra cottas from the poster and their Heath Ceramics collection. They suggested a deep blue found in some of the ceramic pieces for the cabinet color. This was a decision made early in the design process, so they planned the other materials to work with that hue. And they provided the couple with open shelving on either side of the range hood to display their collection.
The crisp, minimalist lines and dark color of the cabinetry create a great backdrop for the rest of the kitchen. And using finger pulls instead of hardware lends a simple, clean and unadorned look. The custom-colored gray-blue concrete countertops and backsplash work beautifully with the dark blue tones of the cabinets.
Lights under the recessed shelves and range hood and above the large pantry cabinet provide additional layers of light in the space.
Lights under the recessed shelves and range hood and above the large pantry cabinet provide additional layers of light in the space.
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After: The architects made the most of the bay, turning it into a light-filled breakfast nook where the family can watch the world stroll by on the sidewalk. Built-in seating wraps the bay and the adjacent wall for a continuous look. The shallower bench on the right is a good spot to remove shoes and place bags after entering the house. The neutral blush tone chosen for the upholstery plays off the ceramics collection, and the architects repeated this hue throughout the house.
A classic midcentury tulip table keeps the area free of “the slum of legs” that iconic architect Eero Saarinen bemoaned when he created the table in the 1950s. The marble top introduces just the right dollop of pattern and a beautiful natural material, and the pendant light adds a playful acorn-like shape overhead. “There are three distinct seating areas,” Emerson says. “The bay is for breakfast and quick meals. The island is for family cooking time and hanging out after school. The dining room is for larger full-family meals.”
Find the right pendant light for your space
A classic midcentury tulip table keeps the area free of “the slum of legs” that iconic architect Eero Saarinen bemoaned when he created the table in the 1950s. The marble top introduces just the right dollop of pattern and a beautiful natural material, and the pendant light adds a playful acorn-like shape overhead. “There are three distinct seating areas,” Emerson says. “The bay is for breakfast and quick meals. The island is for family cooking time and hanging out after school. The dining room is for larger full-family meals.”
Find the right pendant light for your space
Here’s a look through the space from the back of the house to the front. The living room has a small bar with a concealed panel-front beverage fridge. The design of the built-ins echoes the kitchen’s white oak island and concrete countertops and backsplash.
After: Lawrence came up with a Z-shaped volume for the new staircase. “Elizabeth and I are often fixated on the stairs as an object, because they take up a lot of space,” he says. “They are also a way to bring light down between floors. We wanted the railings to be as thin and light as possible so as not to compete with the brick wall.” He used laminated sheets of plywood to craft the new guardrails and he saved the original stairs, which were in great shape.
Using a minimalist palette does not mean blank and boring. Check out the way the brick, wood and white paint work together. The playful red color on the handrail plays off an adjacent entry table (see it in the fifth photo), and it brings a jolt of energy right up the stairs to the second floor. The construction of the guardrail on the right makes you stop and think. “The rail is made of laminated sheets of plywood. We exposed it between the two edges and painted the inside blush to subtly stand out against the white,” Lawrence says.
The top floor plan shows how everything fits together. The new, wider doors on the left provide a clear view of the backyard from the entire first floor. On the right, you can see how the architects nestled the kitchen into the front of the house in a welcoming way. The lower portion of this plan shows the basement, which was also part of the whole-house renovation.
The architects were careful to limit waste during the project. “For example, the stair stringer was only 5 years old and perfectly fine, so we didn’t want to pull it out,” Lawrence says. They also stripped and restained the existing flooring and kept existing skylights. And they donated everything in the kitchen that was still in good working order to Community Forklift, a nonprofit committed to eliminating construction waste through reuse. They resell and donate the materials and so far have provided over $500,000 in free materials to neighbors in need and to local nonprofits.
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The architects were careful to limit waste during the project. “For example, the stair stringer was only 5 years old and perfectly fine, so we didn’t want to pull it out,” Lawrence says. They also stripped and restained the existing flooring and kept existing skylights. And they donated everything in the kitchen that was still in good working order to Community Forklift, a nonprofit committed to eliminating construction waste through reuse. They resell and donate the materials and so far have provided over $500,000 in free materials to neighbors in need and to local nonprofits.
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Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: Two doctors and their two toddlers
Location: Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Size: 200 square feet (19 square meters)
Architects: E/L Studio
The row house is 18 feet wide. This means its width accommodates one room plus the width of a hallway. The exterior of the home is full of historic character that was missing on the interior. The kitchen project was a crucial part of renovating the entire house. The bay seen here now serves as a cozy eat-in breakfast nook in the kitchen and provides a strong connection to the street and neighborhood.
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