We had so much fun and received such great feedback and questions from last year’s blog about the journey to the completion of 2009 Atlanta Symphony Decorators’ Show House; we could not resist doing it again. This year the show house is back on more familiar ground in a historic Colonial-Revival style home in Tuxedo Park versus last year’s show house in the newly opened St. Regis. Last year we chronicled the design process of one of the modern kitchens we presented, while this year we will share our adventures of designing, renovating and installing this traditional kitchen. Clearly, there will be some similarities as we approach the design process the same way no matter what the project; but this year we had some unique challenges.

This particular home means something to me. I had just started as an intern at Design Galleria in 1993 when Cliff Wang and Kathy Gregorcyk were installing a new kitchen into this home. This house was the first job site I visited and the first kitchen installation I experienced. It made gutting the kitchen especially hard but also exhilarating and exciting to see what the new guard at Design Galleria could do in the same space 17 years later.

People really do not live today much differently than they did in 1993. The original kitchen was actually still in great shape and the layout of the kitchen would still be considered appropriate for a modern family. The first thing that dates a kitchen is the appliances. We could have simply exchanged the appliances, replaced the hood and backsplash and a faucet here and there and this could have worked…but what kind of challenge is that? We wanted to do more; let’s remember, this is a show house!

Pictures of the original kitchen

The original kitchen had a 36” wide refrigerator, 36” wide freezer, 48” wide range, a warming drawer, microwave, main sink, prep sink, one dishwasher, desk and a rather small walk-in pantry. The island layout really separated the kitchen from the keeping room which was intentional, so whoever was cooking was not disturbed by all the hustle and bustle. The refrigerator and freezer were placed symmetrically on each side of the range while a desk and shallow pantry backed up to the powder room and pantry concealing a dumbwaiter to the garage. The biggest challenge in this space is the ceiling height of 8’6” with existing 6” tall beams. We are going to have to pull some ceiling elevating tricks out of our hat to make this kitchen feel taller.

Original kitchen plan

Stay tuned next week for the changes we made to the plan.

I think I figured out why Design Galleria loves to partake in show houses; we are addicted to the challenge. It is our own “Amazing Race” reality show! Although we have participated in more show houses than any other kitchen and bath design studio in the entire Southeast, this was the ultimate test. Not only did we take on a show house in a high rise while it was under construction—which was a feat in itself—but we also committed to creating 3 kitchens, 3 bars and 7 bathrooms!

If we did not already have 15 Atlanta Symphony Associates Show Houses under our belts, the pictures below would be quite scary. These pictures show the current status of the modern unit kitchen in all of its glory. It is hard to believe that interior designers start moving in their furniture, drapery and art this weekend. With the right combination of hard work, long hours and a little bit of magic, it continuously amazes me how it ALWAYS gets done.

I will let you know next week if I was able to sleep at all this week.
 

The metal surround of the custom hood could not be templated until the sloped ceiling was finished. The bronze glass hood inserts could not be templated until the metal surround was made. The lights and fan in the hood can’t be installed until the glass inserts are installed. 

Since the peninsula has a granite countertop and a stainless steel countertop butting into each other, the granite had to be templated and installed before the stainless could be templated and installed. The appliances are always one of the last items to be installed in a kitchen and require the decorative hardware so the integrated panels can be drilled for them.