Mid-Century Spacial Reorganization

 Project Type: Spacial Reorganization
Location: Portland, Oregon

Existing Conditions (Kitchen):

This mid-century home is in need of some serious spacial reorganization.  Two areas will be looked at: the kitchen and master bedroom suite.  Let’s first take a look at the kitchen.  The diagram of the kitchen and family room illustrate the “T” shape that has been created in the kitchen.  There is limited flexibility with moving walls. The space behind the oven is a staircase down to the basement and due to budgetary constraints, this stair is fixed.  Thus we are left with this “L” shaped space to work with.  The room to the right of the kitchen is the dining room.

Kitchen Base

As you can probably immediately see, the kitchen has issues.  The refrigerator is tucked in the corner by the door to the carport.  The kitchen is essentially a hallway.  Everything is narrow- the space between the sink and range, and then between the pantry and the bar.  When sitting at the bar it feels like your face is over the range.  The space between the kitchen and family room feels awkward and underutilized.

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View from family room back to the kitchen. The space is dark mainly due to the dark-stained paneling on the walls and ceiling.

Proposed Concepts (Kitchen):

Three difference concepts were proposed for the kitchen, each increasing in complexity and presumably in cost.

The first concept below merely rotates the range 90 degrees and places it against the wall.  This begins to open up the kitchen.

Kitchen Option 1

The next option below really begins to open up the space and pull the boundary of the kitchen closer to the family room.  The refrigerator is brought back into the kitchen.  The range is moved to the staircase wall.  This creates a triangular relationship between range, refrigerator, and sink.  The bar is placed between the family room and kitchen.  We’re not in love with the placement of the bar, but feel like it’s the best place to put it.  But the kitchen is still a hallway-we’ve got to fix this.

Kitchen Option 2

 

The third option punches through the wall next to the stairwell relieving the kitchen of it’s dual role of being a hallway  and.. a kitchen.

Kitchen Option 3

 

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Root_Kitchen_06

 

Root_Kitchen_05

 

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Root_Kitchen_02

Root_Kitchen_01

Existing Conditions (Master Suite):

 

DiagramIn the diagram above left, note that the circuitous circulation route to get into the master bedroom.  One must enter the living room, go through the master vanity, then back into the master bedroom.  There is no access to the master bedroom via the main circulation spine that runs through the house.  The first step was to re-establish and simplify the circulation through this area as shown on the right, above.

Proposed Concepts (Master Suite):

Master Bedroom Option 3

The second option below significantly improves the space.  The master vanity is currently two steps down. Here we fill in the floor and move the master bedroom toward the back of the house.  Spaces are sized and tailored to meet the needs of the client.

 

Master Bedroom Option 1

Some slight modifications below…

Master Bedroom Option 2

Below images of this last concept.

Section

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We hope you enjoyed these images.  Please let us know what you think!  If you have any ideas (sketches/diagrams) for this project, please share them with us at [email protected] and we’ll post them.