By Nina Patel. When two homeowners approached Kary Ewalt of Anthony Wilder Design/Build to do a kitchen remodel, they had several goals in mind. The most important was to include features to accommodate the 5-foot, 9-inch wife and 6-foot-tall husband.
Ewalt measured Lois Alperstein's hips and hands and watched her work at the counter. They agreed that 39 inches -- 3 inches over the 36-inch standard -- would be the most comfortable for both Alperstein and her husband. As a result, the dishwasher and stove installations are higher, and Ewalt also raised the wall ovens.
The family also wanted a warm, inviting kitchen that would be comfortable for the kids to do schoolwork and help prepare meals, as well as a space appropriate for entertaining. "I wanted to bring in the outdoors and add light," Alperstein says. "We wanted to sit at our kitchen table and feel like we were in the garden."
The team chose custom cabinetry because Alperstein did not like the selection of stock and semi-custom cabinet manufacturers. Picking the custom line meant Alperstein could choose the perfect finish, details, and trim and allowed Ewalt to maximize the storage space.
"We chose a custom color on the central island area to make it look more like furniture," Ewalt says. "We made three or four samples of the color and looked at them under different lights, night and day."
- The sink in the original kitchen faced a wall. By moving the main sink to the island, designer Kary Ewalt was able to give the homeowners a view of the family room and garden beyond.
- The island also holds two dishwashers, one on either side of the sink, which the homeowner says makes for quick clean up.
- The designer used a dramatic arched opening to connect the kitchen to the family room.
- Moving the entry of the family room a few feet over, the designer says, allowed her to accommodate this narrow built-in cabinet for additional storage.
