So first things first, I seldom embrace open concept in historic homes. While I have for a few client projects and in full transparency did in My 1914 Bungalow, honestly, I’m not typically a fan of it for historic homes. The original floor plans of most historic homes have several well defined rooms often with French or pocket doors separating them. This adds to the cozy feel of older homes and is what makes them special. So, when I realized that the previous owners of the Queen Anne had already torn out the wall between the kitchen and dining room and added the proper structural supports, I had a decision to make. Reframe to have smaller rooms or embrace the open concept they started. Here’s how I chose the latter of the two choices but made sure to add enough old house character to make it work.
The Before
When I first walked through the Queen Anne, this is what I saw in the kitchen and dining room.
The wall between the two rooms had been removed and a structural system had been added. While I did rework the floor plan for two other areas in the house, I decided to move forward with the open concept here so long as I could blend the two spaces in a way that felt meaningful.
The Design Plan
After several drafts for the kitchen, I finally landed on one that carved out a walk-in pantry along the back wall of the house. This not only provided much needed storage, but also gave me a wall in which to anchor half of the cabinetry with a custom hood as the focal point.
Once the wall and drywall went up, I marked everything out to make certain I loved the design plan before ordering the kitchen cabinets. This plan also allowed for a large bar area along the space between the kitchen and dining room which will be great for entertaining.
The other piece of this puzzle was to install a board and batten along the lower half of the adjacent dining room. By doing this, I could paint the board and batten walls the same color as the kitchen cabinets to blend the two spaces. With the basics of the plan in place, here’s how we renovated these two rooms while embracing the open concept.
A Few Details Worth Mentioning
The Pine Flooring
Before we look at both spaces, I wanted to mention the pine flooring. When we removed the laminate covering the floors, much of the floor was in salvageable shape. However, with the gaps in the floor from where the former walls had been, there wasn’t enough to patch. With that in mind we carefully removed all of the pine flooring in the kitchen and saved to patch areas in the rest of the house. We installed all new pine floors in the kitchen and once stained, the old and new floors are a pretty closet match.
The Original Windows
The original windows in the kitchen were tall and below where the lower cabinets and countertops would land. In order to use this wall for cabinetry, we had to change that. I had my talented carpenter resize the original windows so that they were shorter and still could be used. I realize it was only through his talented craftsmanship that we were able to do this but it was really important to me. Now the windows land at the perfect place and the new homeowners can look out the window while they are at the kitchen sink.
The Original Beadboard
Typical of an early 1900’s house, the Queen Anne had beadboard along the bottom of the original kitchen. Since cabinetry would cover this, we carefully removed it and as you’ll soon see we reused it as the backsplash for the new kitchen. It’s really important to me to be able to preserve or reuse original materials as best we can even though I realize today’s homeowners want modern conveniences. Extra steps like this are difference makers in bridging the old and the new.
The Kitchen
Once the floors were installed, the windows resized, and the walls were up and painted, it was time to create the kitchen. I chose a beautiful deep shade of blue, Benjamin Moore Blue Note, for all of the custom cabinets with champagne gold hardware. The next step was to install the white quartz countertops with a farmhouse sink and a polished chrome vintage faucet.
The Custom Range Hood
I feel like the custom range hood deserves a post of it’s on but for now I’d love to share with you the process of building this great focal point. Along the range wall I really wanted to make a statement and designed a custom hood that my carpenter built for me. I designed the hood and then simply gave it to him to build.
It sits on top of the countertop and and after adding drywall and plaster, we added a piece of salvage wood saved during demolition for an accent piece along the front and sides. The wood tones really warm up the space and breaks up the white of the hood. On either side of the hood we hung brass vintage sconces which have a lantern like feel to them.
To make up for the loss of upper cabinets on either side of the hood I ran the refrigerator wall cabinets all the way down to the countertop great for hiding small appliances. I then added the repurposed beadboard I had saved as the new backsplash with a top rail and pegs and painted it the same color of dark blue.
To finish up, we added vintage pendants over the island and a wall sconce and wood shelves in between the windows. Overall this kitchen turned out far more beautiful than I had envisioned and yet it has a timeless elegance to it as well.
The Pantry
Behind the range wall you’ll find the walk-in pantry with salvage doors I found in another part of the house. I then added wood shelves with brackets along the left wall for plenty of extra storage.
The Dining Room
While the shape of the room remained the same, we did change the look of it with the new board and batten. We ran this along all of the walls in the dining room and painted it along with the fireplace mantel the same dark shade of blue to tie into the kitchen effortlessly.
While I might not have chosen open concept, I think we made it work with the design and some of the old house details we were able to reincorporate. This kitchen is one of my all-time favorites and I look forward to the new homeowners hosting guests for years to come.
KITCHEN AND DINING ROOM SOURCES:
Farmhouse Chandelier
Schoolhouse Pendant Lights
Schoolhouse Wall Sconce
Antique Wall Sconces
Bridge Facuet
Farmhouse Sink
Champagne Cabinet Knobs
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