Kitchen remodel was what growing UA family needed

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When John and Tiffany DeWitt decided to renovate their kitchen last year, they knew that more than just their kitchen would be changing.

Halfway through the four-month process, they welcomed their third child to the family.

John, Tiffany and their children – Morgan, Luke and new addition Josie – live in an old farmhouse that was built in 1918 in Upper Arlington. They chose the home because of its unique “old house” charm, a back yard that provides some seclusion and a location that gave them walking access to the library, parks, restaurants and a grocery store. The only room that was not updated in the home was the one room that the DeWitts knew would have the biggest impact on how they would use their home: the kitchen.

That’s when they enlisted Dave Fox Design Build Remodelers to help them bring their vision of a kitchen that, in Tiffany’s words, was to be “truly the centerpiece of the house.” Their goal was “to use the kitchen as a place for our family to eat, hang out and enjoy each other’s company,” she says.

Despite the challenges that bringing home an infant to a house without a functional kitchen posed, the DeWitts knew renovating their kitchen would be worth it, and it has been.

“We love to cook and entertain,” says Tiffany. “The renovation allows us to experience both in a new way.”

One of the biggest decisions the DeWitts had to make resulted in their favorite part of the renovation. They debated between installing a granite or butcher block top on the island, and in the end, they chose the butcher block. Their reasoning was that it was consistent with the house’s farmhouse feel, and they continued this motif by replacing, rather than redoing, the floor in order to have it match the original flooring throughout the rest of the home.

Renovation timelines often challenge both the homeowners and the contractor, but the DeWitts credit their contractor for easing this potential pain point.

“The Dave Fox team did a great job walking us through the remodeling process and staying on the timeline proposed. Their crew was very skilled and seemed to become a part of our family,” says Tiffany. “Open communication and allowing your designer to know your unique personality can really help create a vision that will make you smile every time you walk into the room.”

Because kitchen renovations are such a big commitment, with or without a new baby, the DeWitts recommend that homeowners, in order to truly get what they want out of the renovation, do their homework to find a contractor who can turn their ideas into reality.

Bob Valasek is a contributing writer. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.

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