Marcy and Ken Markowitz loved to cook and entertain but the kitchen in their Potomac home was small, dark and cramped. The original kitchen in the 1984 house featured a breakfast nook sectioned off from the cooking area. It contained white Formica counters, an electric stove, and green- and white-checkered floor tile. A massive screened-in porch kept out the natural light.
“We knew we had to fix it when we moved in,” said Marcy. “It was pitch dark in there. Things started breaking and the countertops were beginning to separate. It was becoming dysfunctional.”
With three young children, the couple started to dream about their ideal kitchen. Marcy refers to herself as the “weekday chef” whose passion is baking and Ken as the “weekend chef.” They saw a neighborhood kitchen the Levine Group had designed in the French Country style and selected them to remodel theirs.
“Marcy and Ken were transitional in style. We didn’t want to be too staid or too traditional,” said Levine Group architect Kevin Winkler. “The new kitchen is quite the hub of the house. Before, it was the dead end.”
Winkler worked on a plan with Marcy and Ken that involved raising the ceiling in the eating area to bring in light. The attic space above was converted into a south-facing shed “dormer” or “tower” with multiple windows that wash the kitchen in light. They dropped a white LeKlint pendant light over a long wooden kitchen table for the evenings.
The spacious center island, covered in brown antique granite, features a Dacor cook top and double oven. The Greenfield flat-panel maple cabinets and light colors helped update the style. The defining aspect of the kitchen area, the mirrored glass backsplash with wood grain rectangles, accentuated the contemporary theme.
“It ended up being more contemporary than I thought it would,” Marcy said.
She now has a baking station with pull-out drawers, there’s a cabinet with accordion slots for cutting boards, a spice drawer, pocket doors, and plenty of space for Ken to prep at the same time.
“During the renovation, we set up a temporary kitchen on the porch. We wrote on every cabinet and each box of utensils had a label for where it would go,” Marcy said. “My daughter Hannah is now baking with me.”
The end result produced a 2009 COTY Award finalist for Levine Group in the category of kitchens over $150,000.
Resources
The Levine Group Silver Spring, Md.
301-585.4848
http://thelevinegroup.com
Greenfield Cabinetry http://www.greenfieldcabinetsandtops.com/wood.htm
Dacor Kitchen Appliances http://www.dacor.com/Our-Products/Cooktops.aspx
