The kitchen was original to the 1960s side-split: a narrow closed room with one window, a single 15-amp circuit feeding everything, and cabinets that had been painted three times over. The owners cooked constantly and wanted the kitchen to face the dining room instead of hiding from it.
The brief called for an open plan with a working island, storage that actually fit their equipment, and finishes that would hold up to daily use — not a showroom kitchen, a working one.
We removed the partition wall to the dining room, confirmed non-load-bearing after opening the ceiling, and reframed the opening with a flush header for a clean drywall return. Electrical rough-in added six new circuits: two small-appliance circuits, dedicated lines for the range, dishwasher and microwave, and under-cabinet lighting on its own switch leg — all inspected by ESA. Plumbing moved the sink to the island, which meant running new supply and a properly vented drain under the floor from the existing stack.
The challenge was the floor. The subfloor under the old kitchen was two layers of plywood over the original plank, leaving a half-inch step to the dining room. We pulled it back to the planks and rebuilt to a single level plane so the new engineered oak runs unbroken through both rooms.
The finished kitchen holds custom flat-panel cabinetry to the ceiling, a ten-foot quartz island with seating for four, and a full-height pantry wall — and the sightline now runs from the stove straight through to the back garden.