By Duane St. Clair
As a house ages, the kitchen tends to shrink and feel outdated to the people who live there. The owners may want to change it, but there’s an important structural detail standing in their way.
So it was with Dwayne and Kari Justice, who reside in a 17-year-old home in northeast Westerville, a block from Hoover Reservoir. They had a 150-square-foot kitchen with an adjoining and seldom-used dining room. They wanted to tear out the wall and create a seamless, all-encompassing kitchen with a “wow” factor. But that seemingly insignificant wall was a load-bearing wall, which supported a beam holding up the second floor.
The Justices consulted several builders, all of whom told them the beam would have to be exposed, or at least its presence felt, if the wall were to be removed. They eventually contacted Ross Builders and Design of Worthington, who quickly disagreed and devised a plan to do everything the Justices wanted.
Besides an eye-catching room and a no-show beam beneath a new flat ceiling, the Justices, who are parents of four boys ages 12 to 17, wanted a fully functional and durable kitchen, says Jim Alloway, president of Ross Builders. They wanted a larger work and cooking space, more storage, larger appliances, a dining area, better traffic flow, better lighting and a wet bar.
Chief designer Alloway, company founder Jim Ross and partner Ryan Yeoman, who handles production, worked with the Justices to include everything in the rebuilding.
Dwayne says Ross was straightforward with sound advice to keep the project price down and improve the end result. For example, Ross recommended against a kitchen sink window with a round-glass above and an archway exit from the kitchen. The window idea was too dated, Dwayne says, and the arch would clash as the only one in the home.
The rebuilt and lengthened kitchen has an entirely new feel and appearance from end to end and wall to wall. Dwayne says it’s now ideal for daily family use, and it can entertain as many as 40 people and will adequately handle four high school graduation parties in the next half dozen years (the first of which will be this spring).
A highlight is the custom cabinetry, which was designed and built by The Cabinet Shop in Worthington, which encloses a professional hood vent over a six-burner stove. It isn’t a traditional home-sized vent, Alloway says. The installation includes a cold-water pot filler faucet standing at the stovetop’s rear, another feature the Justices wanted. Sculpted brick-like tiles were used to create an artistic range backsplash.
The enhanced stove shares a wall with a large, stainless steel refrigerator/freezer unit and lovely cabinetry. Tall cabinets, including pantries, surround to the refrigerator. Overall, the remodel job increased storage space by one-third, in part because the soffit was removed to allow taller wall cabinets. The cabinets have the feature of hydraulic-controlled doors and drawers so they do not slam shut.
A large island with a matching granite counter top gives the Justice family extra space for working, cooking and eating: it includes a prep sink, a counter with stool-height seating for four and a chair-height black granite apron with seating for two. The island also includes a unique microwave in a wood-paneled drawer that matches the cabinets.
An attractive ceramic tile design was incorporated into the porcelain tile floor. A large window that had been in the dining room remains as a welcome source of light in the kitchen. Ross and company also added a built-in cabinet along the interior wall with a wine rack and a small service bar. Next to it is a gas fireplace built into a corner cabinet. The fireplace was a feature Dwayne wanted to add to the ambience of the area, and he says they use all the time.
Dwayne says the company helped find affordable suppliers to keep costs down but did not take short-cuts in the plan. When it was all said and done, the craftsmanship turned out just right: Dwayne wanted no do-overs. Did the new room come out as the family hoped?
“Absolutely,” he says.
Duane St. Clair is a contributing editor for Westerville Magazine.
Ross Builders & Design LLC was named Contractor of the Year in 2008 for this kitchen project. The project won in the $60,000 to $100,000 category in an annual contest held by the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, Central Ohio Chapter.