California Kitchen Renovation with a View

Photo: Jeff Lipsky

A California couple redesigns their kitchen to erase the barriers between inside and out. By Susan Heeger

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Redo with a View

Photo: Jeff Lipsky

When Kim Baer and Michael Sieverts hired architect Scott Prentice for a renovation, their goals were practical, not pricey: They simply wanted to enjoy spending more time in their kitchen. Their top priorities were a better-organized space, environmentally friendly design, and easier access to the backyard.

With its airy plan, open doors, and glass walls framing garden and sky, the kitchen is now a happy neighborhood hangout. From spring to fall, the weather is mild enough to roll up the glass garage door off the dining room and invite the neighbors—and the outside—in.

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Freestanding Fridge Looks Built In

Photo: Jeff Lipsky

In search of a refrigerator with a bottom freezer drawer to replace their side-by-side model, Baer and Sieverts rejected a top-of-the-line built-in choice that would have been the right counter-depth fit. To accommodate their less-expensive freestanding KitchenAid, Prentice designed a frame for the fridge that tricks the eye into seeing it as flush with the countertops.

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Space-Saving Storage

Photo: Jeff Lipsky

Baer and Sieverts wanted to minimize clutter and expand storage, so Prentice gave them extra-large, under-the-counter cabinets with a clever shelving system—Häfele Magic Corner. When you swing open a cabinet door, which itself holds shelves on its reverse side, a lower platform fitted with more shelves slides into the space vacated by the open door.

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Countertop Appliances are Conveniently Close

Photo: Jeff Lipsky

The original kitchen had little storage, and what was there loomed mostly out of Baer's reach (she's just under 5 feet). A countertop appliance garage corrals much-used machines like the juicer and food processor. The cabinet, fitted with sliding doors, doubles as a partition between kitchen and living room.

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Downsized Dishwasher

Photo: Jeff Lipsky

For their household of two, Baer and Sieverts chose a two-drawer, Fisher & Paykel dishwasher, which uses a third less energy and half the water of their former conventional model. On ordinary days, the couple washes one drawerful of dishes at a time rather than waiting to fill a whole machine. But when they're entertaining, both drawers combine to handle a full load.

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Room to Grow

Photo: Jeff Lipsky

Redwood timbers from the old back deck were recycled to build raised beds for a kitchen garden. Sieverts, who tends the beds and does much of the cooking, likes to combine harvesting with entertaining. "Let's pick dinner!" he tells guests. The garden's winter-spring kale, chard, broccoli, and lettuces give way to tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants in summer.

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Double the Dining Space

Photo: Jeff Lipsky

To provide more options for outdoor dining and lounging, landscape architect Rob Steiner replaced a small deck with a larger one built of an Indonesian hardwood. A gate links the Baer-Sieverts' backyard to their next-door neighbors' house; children Sam, Abbie, Shai, and Jakie Grossman (ages 12, 11, 9, and 5) often come over for after-school snacks.

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California Kitchen Renovation with a View

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Redo with a View

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Freestanding Fridge Looks Built In

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Space-Saving Storage

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Countertop Appliances are Conveniently Close

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Downsized Dishwasher

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Room to Grow

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Double the Dining Space

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California Kitchen Renovation with a View

1 of 8

Redo with a View

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Freestanding Fridge Looks Built In

2 of 8

3 of 8

Space-Saving Storage

3 of 8

4 of 8

Countertop Appliances are Conveniently Close

4 of 8

5 of 8

Downsized Dishwasher

5 of 8

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Room to Grow

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Double the Dining Space

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