Kitchen For Cooking

Designing a Kitchen Around How the Homeowners Cook

This kitchen remodel started with one clear priority: function for a serious home cook. Before any layouts or finishes were discussed, the homeowners selected their appliances, knowing exactly how they wanted to work in the space. From there, storage became the driving design consideration.

In the original kitchen, the wall with the sink had no upper cabinets, limiting both storage and visual balance. The goal of the renovation was to create a kitchen that felt cohesive, highly functional, and intentional, despite an unusually shaped room and a step up into the space.

Solving an Awkward Layout with Smart Cabinet Design

One of the biggest challenges was the kitchen’s layout. The step up into the room and irregular wall lines made it difficult to create a design that felt natural and visually balanced.

To solve this, Aptitude brought cabinetry around the room and introduced a custom peninsula. Instead of a shallow, traditional peninsula, it was designed at an island depth, giving it the look and presence of an island while fitting the existing footprint of the space.

This approach:

• Visually tied the kitchen together
• Added substantial storage
• Created a more intentional transition into the kitchen

Custom cabinetry allowed every inch of space to be used efficiently while maintaining clean lines and a cohesive look.

Thoughtful Transitions and Visual Balance

Because of the room’s unique shape, careful planning was required to ensure the cabinetry didn’t feel abrupt or disconnected. Floating shelves were incorporated to soften transitions between cabinet runs and walls, helping the space feel lighter and more balanced.

These details played a key role in making the kitchen feel polished and purposeful, rather than forced, despite its structural constraints.

A Kitchen Designed to Work—and Look Right

This project highlights how thoughtful planning and custom solutions can transform an oddly laid-out kitchen into a space that works seamlessly for everyday cooking. By designing around the homeowners’ habits, prioritizing storage, and carefully addressing transitions, the result is a kitchen that feels both highly functional and visually cohesive.

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