Most kitchens you see in magazines and online are kitchens the average person is not going to fit into their modest home. In fact, what you see online as far as kitchens go would probably take up much of the square footage of an entire home. Yet, simple is usually best.

These Ashburnham, MA homeowners have a basic ranch that is 30 plus years old. They have lived there for 15 years and have done some really nice modifications. However, they never thought their kitchen could look much better and particularly have a layout that helps when entertaining friends and extended family.

As you can see from the “before” photos, the former layout had a peninsula bar with seating on the back. The problem was the seating was right in front of a bathroom door and a door to the outside porch. Talk about a traffic jam! Another problem area was that the sink in front of the window had the dishwasher on the adjacent wall. When the dishwasher was open, you couldn’t stand at the sink. The range had similar issues, yet the homeowners just felt there was not much that could be done to fix the situation. An island would not fit… or so they thought.

Kitchen Associates came in and changed the layout completely. We designed the new layout with an island that has seating for 4. Traffic flow to the outside and the bathroom is much improved. The island is much more user friendly for food prep and entertaining. Note the drawers for pots and pans, Tupperware and other kitchen items. The pantry cabinet with roll out shelves, the spice pull-out and the base corner cabinet all create more than enough storage options. There is also a new place for the TV. When prepping dinner or sitting down for lunch or a snack they can check the news, weather or see who’s winning the ball game.

These homeowners now they feel like the modest ranch they own is like a castle fit for a king and queen, all because of the difference a layout makes!

Brand: Brookhaven

Door Style: Freemont Raised Panel

Finish: Sandstone II with Dark Glaze on Maple

Countertop: Granite “Bahama White”

Hardware: Amerock

Designer: Jay Sponenberg