Pennington Open-Plan Kitchen

This Pennington home had a kitchen that functioned in isolation — an L-shaped room separated from the family space by a half-wall and a doorway that made the home feel fragmented. The clients cooked together every evening and needed a kitchen that could hold a family conversation while doing it.

We removed the separating half-wall and widened the opening to the living area, then rebuilt the kitchen around a 9-foot center island that now anchors both the cooking zone and the informal dining. Light oak shaker cabinetry was chosen for its warmth and craftsmanship — pairs of black steel pendant lights echo the cabinet hardware and ground the space without darkening it.

The new layout connects seamlessly to the dining room beyond, and the kitchen's honed limestone countertops carry through to the island waterfall — a single unified material from one end of the room to the other. Completed at week 8, two days ahead of schedule.