Residential » Interiors: Taylor Street, Millbrae, CA

Like many early 20th century homes built in the Bay Area, this modest home suffered from a kitchen that was isolated from the main living areas. The architectural program given by the present owners was to completely replace the kitchen, improving dated finishes and creating functionality suited to more modern sensibilities. The most important criteria for the design, however, was that the resulting kitchen feel seamlessly integrated into the architecture of the home.

Taking a cue from the barrel-vaulted ceiling of the living room, new arched openings were created which serve to link adjacent rooms together. The larger openings allow rooms to feel more expansive by "borrowing" space from the adjacent rooms. The kitchen plan was completely re-oriented to maximize efficient movement through the house while providing much larger kitchen work areas. Tile and woodwork details were selected to harmonize with other elements in the house, unifying the new and existing areas.

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