Now There's Room to Roam Stylish Remodels Turn Cramped Bungalow Kitchens into Airy Living Spaces

[Paper Boy]

Source: Daily News; Los Angeles, Calif.
Publication date: May 5, 2007
By Sandra Barrera

Catherine Berman used to hate having to drop whatever she was doing in her cramped bungalow kitchen to go nag her kids about homework.

A wall separated the spare, isolated kitchen from the family room where her son and daughter, now 15 and 20, congregated after school.

"I would have to circle through the breakfast room to the dining room and down the hallway and say, 'Do your homework!' while something was burning on the stove," the 51-year-old Pasadena mom recalls.

"All I really wanted to do was a punch a hole in the wall."

A simple plan for the 21st century

So Berman was thrilled when Georgie Kajer of Pasadena-based Kajer Architects suggested opening up the antiquated floor plan to flow with the rest of the 1926 Mediterranean Revival-style home.

Small, awkward service spaces relegated to the back of starter, bungalow homes were the norm back when Berman's house was built. But the bungalow template so popular in the early 1900s no longer reflects how people live today.

That means conscientious renovations that preserve the period details of these kitchens while adding valuable square footage or reconfiguring for modern use are big business these days. They're also the subject of a new book that spotlights bungalow kitchen remodels from California to Maine.

"The kitchen is more than just a place to cook in," says Peter LaBau, author of "The New Bungalow Kitchen" (Taunton; $30). "It's a place to entertain and to socialize in."

Two Pasadena homes are featured in LaBau's book, including Berman's now 2 1/2-year-old open, modest-size kitchen remodel with its early-20th-century-inspired embellishments and new Viking appliances.

Marrying the old and new is the key to bringing any bungalow kitchen into the 21st century, says Jerry Sole, an independent bungalow designer and consultant based in Pasadena.

"Modern people want to live and work in a kitchen that feels like a bungalow, but they also want modern convenience," Sole says.

One way to achieve the look, he says, is by masking major appliances with custom cabinet fronts.

"Remember, bungalows were meant to be first homes, so they put a lot of built-in features in them so that people didn't have to go out and buy a lot of furniture.

"So the details are simple and easy to re-create," he says.

Sole learned all the rules and tricks firsthand when he renovated his own bungalow kitchen a decade ago.

At the time, he was living in a custom 1910 Craftsman in the landmark Pasadena district called Bungalow Heaven.

Because Sole loved to cook and did so professionally as a caterer, he decided to add on to what was then a tiny kitchen. The update created quite a stir when he opened his doors as part of the annual Bungalow Heaven Home Tour.

"I'm proud to say the lines were always longest in front of my house," he says. "People are genuinely interested in seeing how you might go about remodeling a kitchen in an existing bungalow."

In Berman's kitchen, there are no cabinet panels masking the stainless steel appliances, and recessed lights dot the ceiling. But these modern luxuries are hardly initially noticeable. All eyes go to the centerpiece pull-down, adjustable lighting fixture that Berman picked up for $1,000 at Reborn Antiques in Los Angeles.

"My husband wigged out on the price, but I had to get it," she says. "I'd been struggling with finding the perfect lighting fixture because it's so dominant in the room, and you don't want to botch it."

Behind it on the wall, a stunning geometric tile backsplash dictates the color scheme for the rest of the kitchen, from the white upper custom cabinets, sage lower custom cabinets and island, and dark-stained wood accents throughout.

Bringing it all together

Hardwood flooring seamlessly ties the kitchen together with its adjoining rooms, including the once-inaccessible family room. Half of the family room closet was made into a pantry that sits behind a wood door with three panels of seeded glass.

A similarly styled hideaway door separates the laundry room from the newly reconfigured mudroom, which connects the kitchen to the backyard.

Back in the kitchen, decorative brackets supporting the upper cabinets replicate the curved design found on the built-in china cabinet in the breakfast room.

"Her house has such a rich architectural vocabulary that we were just riffing off of that," Kajer says. "She had already redone her bathrooms, and they're beautiful. And the kitchen is just a logical extension of what was already happening there.

"We didn't invent anything with Catherine's kitchen," she says. "We just looked carefully and responded in kind to the scale and proportion of the bones of the original house."

Three casement windows above the sink are about all that's left of the original kitchen, which was small, with its appliances scattered about the room. A previous owner had even covered the ceiling in plaid-and-paisley wallpaper, which the new owners then painted over in cottage white.

Subdued tones, angular lines and textured surfaces now define its character.

"The biggest compliment to me is for someone to come in and say, 'I can't tell what's original and what's not,' " Berman says. "That's what I like to hear."

Sandra Barrera, (818) 713-3728

sandra.barrera@dailynews.com

How to keep it authentic

Bungalow homeowners are design-savvy these days.

With so many magazines, Web sites and TV shows geared toward restoration and remodeling, adhering to the early-20th-century architectural spirit of one's home has never been easier.

More and more retailers are popping up to supply people with historically appropriate design elements, from kitchen counters to decorative glass. And you'll find plenty dealing in antiques, too.

"Take the time and trouble to fold in some period accent pieces that breathe life into a place," design consultant Jerry Sole says.

Here are some professional tips on how to get that "New Bungalow" look:

LIGHTING: Place an antique pendant lamp or chandelier where it's visible, but have the real source of light come from recessed or art lighting fixtures.

HARDWARE: Replace all the doorknobs and cover plates, hinges, latches, cabinet pulls and knobs with period-appropriate reproductions or antiques.

COLOR: Choose colors found in nature.

BREAKFAST NOOK: For an alternative to the traditional built-in tabletop and bench mounted in an alcove, try a freestanding table with built-in bench seating in a well-lit corner of the kitchen.

TRIM: Replace moulding with period trim. White wood was classic bungalow style.

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