A fresh kitchen facelift

The idea made good design sense: The existing cooktop was visible from both family room and adjacent dining room—along with the chaos of cookpots, dishes and splashes. As well, Erin wanted to organize the kitchen layout around a single focal point, and she and the couple had agreed that should be the six-burner, double-oven stainless steel Viking range. So, with figurative fingers crossed, they resolutely moved the range to the kitchen’s interior wall, and extended the wall 12 inches to further define the 9-by-14-foot kitchen area—a minor enhancement that caused friends to query, "Did you add more space?"

Now, the messes are hidden from view and the range is just steps away from the sink and fridge. But what about the game? Erin’s simple compromise makes it work for Gavan: a small flat-screen TV mounted on the wall just to the left of the range.