Oak Park family builds a dream kitchen

Most homeowners consider the kitchen to be the heart of their home. The kitchen is where daily meals are prepared, stories are shared and memories are made. Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas cookies and birthday cakes all begin in the kitchen.

When Paul and Mary Beth Erickson decided to remodel the kitchen in their 88-year-old Oak Park home, they weren't exactly sure how they wanted it done. But Mary Beth, an avid baker, knew she wanted all the features necessary for baking cookies, pies, cakes and other goodies. Mary Beth and her daughter, Becky, enjoy baking together.

The Ericksons turned to Katlia Construction of Des Plaines (www.Katlia.com) to design and install their new galley-style kitchen. Katlia's personnel offered a variety of design concepts and materials that met the homeowner's specific wants and needs without breaking the bank.

The project began with the demolition of the original kitchen. As is common in older homes, surprises are often found when opening walls.

"We discovered that an addition to the home, probably installed in the 1960s, was hanging by a few screws," said Mark Paulson, Katlia's senior home remodeling adviser. "We quickly reinforced and reattached the addition, bringing it up to code and making it secure."

Fortunately no other surprises were found after the demolition resumed. Once the room was stripped to the bare walls, the existing oak floors were leveled, sanded and refinished, providing a solid foundation on which to build the new kitchen. New, upgraded plumbing and electrical wiring were also installed at this time.

The primary visual focus of a kitchen is its cabinetry. The homeowners chose Kraft Maid maple wood cabinets with a cinnamon finish. The cabinets extend to the ceiling and are topped with matching crown moldings.

Double glue chip glass in the cabinet doors looks period-correct. Adorning the cabinets are hardware from J.A. Cordova. The new cabinets provided desperately needed additional storage space, a common request among homeowners planning such a project.

"Storage space is always at the top of the list when remodeling a kitchen in an older home," Paulson said. "These days, people typically have more countertop appliances, sets of dishes and kitchen gadgets than their parents and grandparents did, so the need for storage space is much greater.

"Whenever possible, we take full advantage of empty space by filling it with additional cabinetry, but we are careful to blend the cabinetry into the design without overwhelming the room," he said.

In this kitchen, a Lazy Susan was installed and pullout drawers provide easy access to pots and pans. In-cabinet vertical dividers for baking sheets and other bakeware were also added. All the doors feature soft-close hardware.

The unique backsplash was created using tiles from Trans-Ceramica's French Clay collection. The tiles are 4-by-12-inches in a gray color called Fume and are installed in a classic subway pattern. The colorful decorative tiles above the range are from Motawi Tile Works.

Granite counters remain popular in today's modern kitchens. Thankfully, granite has come down in price making it more affordable than ever. In the Ericksons' kitchen, the wide, flat granite countertops with an eased edge provide the ideal surface for rolling dough.

The homeowners selected a stainless steel, double bowl undermount sink and a pullout faucet. Appliances are stainless steel. The exhaust hood quickly removes cooking fumes from the kitchen and includes lighting for the cooking area.

The new kitchen is illuminated with can lights in the ceiling, undercabinet task lighting and two pendant lights above the breakfast bar. Natural light has been added to the room by relocating and enlarging an existing window, and by removing a section of the wall that opened the kitchen to the adjoining family room.

When the construction was finished, the walls were treated to several coats of Sherwin-Williams' October Bounty paint in a sunny yellow color that contrasts nicely with the cabinetry.

The entire project required about six weeks to complete, and the end result was well worth the wait. The Ericksons find they are entertaining more often now that they have a fully functional kitchen that looks as good as it works.

One of Mary Beth's favorite features is the new breakfast bar that doubles as a serving area when entertaining family and guests. Her other favorite feature? It's the dishwasher.

"This is the first time I have had a dishwasher in 20 years!," she said.

As is typical with most home remodeling projects, the new kitchen has inspired the homeowners to make improvements to other rooms in their home. Next on the list is a remodeling of the master bedroom.

• David Lewis is a publicist and features writer based in Morton Grove.