A winning recipe

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Tom and Becky Vincent loved everything about the farmhousestyle home nestled on a quiet street in Murrysville. Everything, that is, except the one room where they knew they and their two children would spend most of their time.

“It was horrendous,” Mr. Vincent says of the cramped and outdated kitchen shoehorned into an awkward U shape at the rear of the house.

If the fluorescent light box and pink ceramic tile floors weren’t bad enough, it also sported cabinets the color of ripe avocado. And that tiny, isolated dining room? It discouraged even the most outgoing guests from mingling during get-togethers.

“It was a sticking point because we love to eat, cook and entertain,” says Mr. Vincent. “The kitchen is the heart of the house.”

Then again, the house had an awesome wrap-around porch. So they bought it in 2010, knowing they’d eventually get around to remodeling the kitchen.

The results of the couple’s twomonth renovation project last summer made them winners of the PG’s Renovation Inspiration Contest, younger residential category (for houses 25 years old or less). Established in 2006, the competition is judged by staffers of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and Design Center Pittsburgh and honors nspirational rehabs of homes and businesses in Western Pennsylvania.

Now stylish and super userfriendly, the new kitchen has clean lines and a cool, contemporary color palette. Both of the Vincents