Photos courtesy of Marshall Evans Photography
Twelve years ago, Karen Burkhart, her husband Matt and their two young children lived in a new home on a quiet cul-de-sac in Powell. One day, it occurred to Burkhart, as she was traveling down to Upper Arlington for what seemed like the seventh time that day, that it made little sense to live in Powell when their life largely revolved around Upper Arlington. Burkhart’s husband, Matt, was working downtown at the time and would even make the trip simply to get his haircuts at Kingsdale shopping center.
“We just needed to live where we are going to end up spending most of our time,” says Burkhart. “So we began looking for homes in the Upper Arlington area that were comparable in size and functionality.”
It was a challenge to find a house that was comparable in size and functionality to their Powell home, and it required some compromise to find the space that suited the whole family.
The Burkharts ended up purchasing a property they were most comfortable with in on McCoy Street, the compromise being they would be living on a busier street unlike the quiet cul-de-sac, but it’s what they wanted.
The home, originally built in the 1960s, desperately needed an update.
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“It had wallpaper, green painted wood trim, laminate kitchen countertop and the drawers nearly fell out when opened,” Burkhart says.
Marshall Evan
For the uninitiated, remodeling a home can be a slow process that takes time and money. But the Burkharts never expected to wait 10 years before remodeling their kitchen.
“That’s how long it took for us to get to a point where he had gotten the other things mostly taken care of,” Burkhart says. “The kitchen was our final frontier.”
The Burhkarts initially considered different options such as resurfacing the cabinets and potentially leaving a wall in place that had been marked for removal. They tabulated these considerations for about a year and a half and finally, once they were over the initial sticker shock of the endeavor, things came together quickly.
Marshall Evan
The Burkharts chose The Cleary Company and designer Laura Watson to complete the project.
“The first time I met Laura I just felt really comfortable with her and felt like she had really good design ideas,” Burkhart says. “She was able to give me the confidence that I needed to make that contractor selection.”
This project included remodeling the Burkhart’s kitchen, dining room and family room. Designer Laura Watson ASID, UDCP reworked the footprint of the kitchen to provide better functionality and made room for a large center island which was the priority on the wish list.
Nathan Collins is the managing editor. Feedback welcome at ncollins@cityscenemediagroup.com.
