better living | the kitchen dilemma

Opening up inside spaces

BY SUZANNE SPROUL

KITCHENS are the heart of today’s home, but many are too small and uninviting. That was the case in this Chino Hills home. So to add flow to what was already functional, the couple hired HartmanBaldwin design/build of Claremont to transform the space.

The solution was to remove two load-bearing walls: one from the dining-living room space and the other from the breakfast nook-family room area. Steel beams were installed for support. The space then was reconfigured, leaving a smaller living room area in one corner, the family room in the other and the kitchen in the final one. The result is an expansive place for family and friends to gather, mingle and spend hours of fun together.

Problem: Kitchen “trapped” within the house, making entertaining difficult.

Description: The owners of a two-story 1980s tract home in Chino Hills loved their home, but not the kitchen. The wife is a gourmet cook and loves to entertain. The couple decided something had to go - the walls.

Architectural solution: Two load-bearing walls were taken out, opening the space to appear twice its original size.

Now the kitchen is where the family spends almost all of its time regularly and during holidays and get-togethers.

“This is a common problem in many houses, particularly tract houses. The kitchens are blocked off by walls and compartmentalized from the family room and the outside. More and more Southern California homeowners, who live where the weather is wonderful most of the year, want them connected, allowing for an ideal flow pattern and making it easy to use. The kitchen then becomes command central,” said Devon Hartman, company principal.

“The ideal situation is to have a kitchen centrally located to the family room, since most living rooms aren’t used anymore,” he added.

Not one extra square foot was added to the house, but the downstairs has been visually transformed, said Pat Stout, architect and project manager.

“What we ended up doing was capturing a part of the living room, which wasn’t being used, and then extending out into the kitchen, opening it up on two sides.

“The kitchen now is open to the entire first floor and features a 42-inch-high bar counter around its perimeter. It is now what we call a presentation element, and the overall impact is very dramatic.”

The final unifying element is the 18-inch porcelain tiles that cover the entire first floor. Area rugs further define the space.

- PHOTOS BY THERESE TRAN