Arlington Kitchen + Dining Room Renovation

This started as two very small and cramped rooms — a kitchen and a dining room in a 1920s gambrel colonial. How it looked when we started.

The colors were vibrant and happy. At one point, the client loved the purple and chartreuse. It felt dramatic, fun, a little quirky.

But over time, what she wanted changed. As a professional in health care, she was busy! She wanted to walk in the door and have a feeling of calm. A haven from her busy work life.

That's where we began.

Her daughter loves to bake. There was not enough counter space or storage, and stuff tended to overflow. It wasn't a functioning kitchen. So we closed up some openings, rethought all the windows and added some new windows for better light, and most importantly, we removed the wall between the two rooms. The goal was simple: make the space work — and make it beautiful.

We added as much storage as possible and rethought how the dining table sits in the room, pushing it to the side to improve flow.

The palette came from things she already loved — her glass collection and the pine trees seen outside the windows. It's a pine green plus a jewel-tone palette. The trick was balancing dark, medium, and light, with green being the dominant color but toned way down to create calm. That way, the jewel tones in the drapes and glassware could take a back seat — just a hint

The final result feels lighter, calmer, and like a breath of fresh air. And yes, it’s the same house!