Galley Kitchen Becomes Great Room

A growing family in this San Jose home were tired of their galley kitchen, closed off from the bright family room area which had views of their back yard. With the help of their contractor, they had already determined that a small segment of kitchen wall could easily be removed, as it wasn’t structural. They felt that removing this portion of a wall may allow them to create a small seating area in their kitchen, but they wondered what other options may exist, so they enlisted my help.

I presented them with two options — one option being very close to what they had envisioned, and another bolder plan (#1) they had never considered. In option #1, I pushed the kitchen’s center-of-mass further into the great room, by adding a new island, with seating for three, and even a second kitchen sink. This required rejiggering the great room’s furniture layout in ways that felt unfamiliar to them. Initially, the family felt squeamish about making such large changes, but when offered hard data showing the increased kitchen cabinet space in plan #1 they became sold. The family quickly completed the project and were delighted to have a kitchen island they never dreamed was possible!