The Marin Kitchen Study

Scope

Open-Concept Kitchen Remodel

Location

Marin County, California

Status

Completed

Delivery

Design-build, single contract

The Brief

Marin houses are bought for their settings and renovated for their kitchens. This one had the setting handled — what it lacked was a kitchen that could hold the household. The existing room worked alone, walled off from the living spaces and from the daylight the rest of the house enjoyed.

The assignment: open the plan, and make the kitchen the room the house organizes itself around.

The Approach

The wall between kitchen and living space came out, and with it the distinction between cooking and company. The new room runs on one long working axis — island, range wall, and full-height storage in a single composition that reads calm from the living side and works hard from the cook’s side.

• The open layout. Removing the dividing partition joined kitchen, dining, and living into one continuous space with shared light from both exposures.
• The island. Sized for prep, homework, and the kind of standing-around that ends up being the whole party.
• The quiet palette. Flat-front cabinetry and a restrained counter-and-backsplash pairing keep the room legible — the architecture of the space does the talking.

The Result

A kitchen that holds the center of the house instead of hiding at the edge of it. The plan flows, the light carries, and the room that used to end conversations now starts them.

Project Credits

Considering a similar project?

WDC designs and builds kitchens across San Francisco, Marin, and the East Bay under one contract — one team from drawings through punch list. Request a consultation or call (415) 416-5494.