IN THE FLOW

A kitchen makeover imbues a 1920s home with a modern, open feeling.

Removing a few walls creates a new openness between a kitchen, dining room and family room in this makeover.

WHEN KRISTIN ALTENDORF SET OUT TO renovate the kitchen in her Lake Drive Tudor, she knew the project would entail much more than a cosmetic face-lift. But she was undaunted.

“It was a pretty closed-in kitchen,” Altendorf says of the original floor plan. “I opened it up big time.”

With the help of Gabor Design Build in Germantown, Altendorf took down two walls: one between the kitchen and dining room and one between the family room and kitchen, converting a four-foot hallway into additional kitchen space.

The new layout created space for a kitchen island and cleared a view from the dining room at the front of the house into the family room at the back, allowing light, and traffic, to flow throughout.

The new concept is so open that visitors don’t even need to ring the doorbell to announce their arrival.

“The UPS man comes to the door and just waves to me in the kitchen,” Altendorf says.

Altendorf was looking for a neutral, clean look in the new kitchen. The space features crowd-pleasing white cabinetry, but it’s not lacking in color or character. Brown-gray quartz countertops and glazed crackle subway tile create contrast against the cabinets, and a black kitchen island is the room’s dramatic focal point, topped with a gold-flecked granite countertop. The concrete light fixture above the island is one of Altendorf ’s favorite finishes.

A decorative inlay that was already on the dining room floor also serves as a natural transition from the kitchen into the dining area.

“It provides separation without a wall,” Altendorf says.

The remodel took months, but Altendorf feels it was worth the wait (and it was made easier by having a second kitchen in the basement, with two ovens of its own, which she used during construction). With six burners, two ovens and an open layout that encourages mingling, it’s now the perfect party space.

“I cook more now,” she says. “I didn’t like cooking before – I still don’t like cooking – but I love having everybody over and having this big island spread.”

By removing several walls, Kristin Altendorf created a unified trio of rooms, including kitchen, family room (visible on the left side of this photo) and the dining room (seen on the next spread). A new wood floor in the kitchen creates a seamless flow with the family and dining rooms.

Opposite: The new floor plan allows light from the dining room windows to help illuminate the kitchen. A slightly metallic finish on the ceiling adds a touch of glam. Top: A dishwasher and convection oven housed in the island help optimize the space. Above: Glass doors on some of the upper cabinets keep the look airy and add the convenience of being able to see what’s inside. Right: Before the renovation, the placement of the breakfast bar off to one side made the space less welcoming for guests.