Designer Lisa Davenport reveals the mystery behind a recent project.

 

“The best way to keep a secret is to pretend there isn’t one.” ~Margaret Atwood

I took Margaret’s quote and worked it into a design recently for a client’s kitchen.  Yes, you read that correctly, I created a secret and then pretended there wasn’t one there!  Last spring when long time clients Todd and Carol announced it was time to renovate their obsolete and antiquated kitchen, I embraced the challenge.

Honestly, I look at this original kitchen today and can’t believe it’s where we started…little scary isn’t it?  Todd and Carol wanted a lot of kitchen in this very small space.  The design needed to embrace and further expand the open floor plan we started a few years ago in the adjoining living room and dining room.

Adjacent to the kitchen (to the right in the above picture) is a beautiful three season sunroom, full of light and gorgeous views of Carol’s studio and wooded landscape.  This view and the streaming fresh sunlight needed to pour into the new kitchen in great masses…which meant losing a wall of cabinets and counters.  In a kitchen with only three walls, one of which is filled with doors to the foyer and basement, this presented a challenge.  So…challenge accepted!

I opened the wall between the kitchen and the sunroom by inserting a large window.  I closed the entry to the foyer and hid the entry to the basement … suddenly I had a spacious island, a kitchen filled with light, and an open floor plan…oh and that secret…it’s the basement door I pretended wasn’t there.  Wait for it….

Newly renovated kitchen for Todd & Carol … enjoying the view through the sunroom

 

Second view of the newly renovated kitchen. No foyer entry…and no basement entry?

As you can see from this last snapshot the basement door appears gone! How does one access the basement now? I’m glad you asked!

Open the Instagram above to see the talent behind the execution.  Stephen Sowa of Nayaug & Co. LLC  shows you exactly how Todd and Carol head down to the basement now!

Lisa Davenport is principal designer and owner of Lisa Davenport Designs, a full-service firm based in Durham, Conn., and with additional offices in Naples, Fla. (lisadavenportdesigns.com)