The exposed brick from a covered chimney became the focal point of this kitchen. This is the story of how we got there.
This 1940’s house had an open living room/ dining room space which was a bit unusual for that time. Since the kitchen was small, we knew we wanted to open up whatever walls we could to bring more light and function to it. We knew we had to keep the wall on the right intact for upper and lower cabinets to be installed against. By taking the top part of the wall on the other side between the dining room and kitchen down made room for a bar top that we attached to the pony wall.
The beautiful anchor to the rooms became the exposed chimney which added a charming detail. Below I’ve added a snippet from a previous blog post “My Kitchen Confidential” (June 14, 2019) it explains in more detail about the way we re-worked the kitchen.
Finding Space
This kitchen has quite a bit to offer for a 10 ½ X 9 foot small space. Here we maximized cabinet space, offered high end finishes such as granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances including an open range hood from Wayfair.
Exposed Brick
Once the wall dividing the dining room and kitchen was removed we came across the chimney. We loved the exposed brick and decided it needed to be a focal point in the kitchen. Also by not covering it up we gained an inch of space in width and length.
When removing the wall we carefully removed the oak door jamb between the kitchen and dining room. When creating the opening to the split level living space we were able to recycle the door jam. Its a good idea to reuse pieces and parts whenever you can. The bonus was that the oak matched the kitchen window trim as well as the wood work in the other rooms creating a cohesive look.
Before & After
Drag the circle left and right to view before and after in full detail.
