Melrose Kitchen with Exposed Chimney and Bath

In this Melrose home, the kitchen was closed off from the dining room, with the laundry in the kitchen, laminate counters and open shelves doing the work of cabinets. A load-bearing wall stood between the two rooms, so our first plans flagged the structural support that would be needed, down to the basement, before anything could open up.

We measured and drew the existing first floor and worked through three layout versions. The wall came out, a beam now carries the load, and the old brick chimney stands exposed as a column between the kitchen and the dining room. White shaker cabinets line the walls, with a tall pantry cabinet beside the chimney, and a dark-stained island holds the gas cooking and ovens under a stainless island hood, with cookbook shelves on one end and seating at its rounded end. Granite counters, hardwood floors, new windows and a glass back door finish the room, with a bench and coat hooks by the door. We also added a half bath on the first floor.

A few years later the family came back to us for the second-floor bathroom. We took it down to the studs, set a flush engineered beam under the floor above with posts to the foundation, and rebuilt the room around an alcove tub with a tiled surround, a natural maple double vanity, a hex mosaic tile floor and two cast iron radiators recessed into the walls. Six replacement windows went in across the bath and bedrooms at the same time. We designed both projects and managed them from plans through construction.