The Story of a Kitchen (Alamo Kitchen)

• Winner of San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of NARI (National Association of the
  Remodeling Industry) award for Residential Kitchen over 100K - 2006
• Winner of NARI - 2006 Regional Contractor of the Year Award for Residential
  Kitchen over 100K

After adding a second story to our flat-roof home, pushing up clerestory windows in the living
room, and remodeling the family room adjacent to the kitchen, it was time to bring the kitchen in
line with the rest of the house. The newly landscaped Asian style front yard flowed through the
windowed walls of the living room into its contemporary Asian decor. In contrast, the kitchen
was outdated, inefficient, and oppressive. Our goal was to open up the kitchen space and give it
a modern, clean look with Asian overtones.

The original kitchen was fraught with problems:

• Limited work space at the single sink.
• Narrow walkways on all sides of the island, with congestion when we were entertaining.
• The 7'9" ceiling height was low and oppressive, with yellowed fluorescent lighting panels.
• Limited storage space and cluttered counter tops, with no storage for appliances.
• A cluttered bulletin board over the doors serving the mechanical room for the heater and water heater.
• A limited view of the backyard swimming pool and tall trees.
• Dark, outdated cabinetry which did not meld with the adjacent family room.
• Poor flow of traffic for our customary buffet style of entertaining.
• No space for recycling and daily mail.

Existing kitchen:

Click on an image to view enlarged.

				Existing floorplan.
No work space to the side of the sink. Difficult access from the dishwasher to the storage areas. Countertop cluttered.		Refrigerator protrudes into the narrow walkway. Poor storage options.
Only available work space. Limited view of backyard. Large, low beam divides the kitchen from the family room.		Island cluttered with daily mail. Limited pantry storage. Mechanical Room doors with bulletin board.

New kitchen...