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Room for Three (and More) Bob and Pam McConachie’s “little” home renovation turned into something quite larger—1,800 square feet larger, to be exact.

"I love my new kitchen," Pam says. "We entertain a lot because we can. Some of my best memories are sitting at the center island, making pasta with my sister and her husband. And I really like the way the kitchen is laid out. There's a designate area for each part of the meal process: a cooking area here, a clean-up area there, and a refrigeration area over on the other side of the kitchen. Plus, the cherry cabinets look classic." Decorative turnings, legs, and trim pieces in the kitchen add even more fine details to the design.

The island was designed so it was functional as a second prep and clean up area. On one end is a Franke sink and a KitchenAid dishwasher (model KUDS01FKPA). The eating area at the other end of the island was specifically designed so that the seats would be facing each other (therefore making it more conducive for conversation), and it would act as a second table area more so than a snack bar.

“When we first moved in, we did some renovating, knowing that we were going to do a major remodel eventually, but the extent of the remodel was not what we originally planned,” Pam says. “I hadn’t expected to add on so much square footage! All I wanted to do was get the laundry room out of the basement!”

Bob jokes, “Most people I work with that renovate their homes tweak the floor plan and ultimately, reduce the total cost. Each time we tweaked our plans, the costs went up. But I’m glad that we did it this way: we didn’t want to waste any space and we wanted to do it right.”

One of the design details in the kitchen is the range, range hood, and surrounding cabinetry. "We created an arched drywall area to enclose the cooking center," says Ms. Drury. "The two end walls were needed for mechanical reasons, and the arch not only served a functional purpose, it accented the cooking area."

The range hood, a Viking model DCWH4844SS, was chosen because of its performance and good looks. The 48-inch wide chimney wall hood has an interior blower with a separate on/off switch that allows Bob and Pam to leave the blower at their favorite setting. It is finished in stainless-steel and brass.

Getting Started

The McConachie family— Bob, Pam, and their daughter Katherine— moved into their Colonial-style home in Oak Brook, IL, in 1995, and quickly fell in love with the area, the neighborhood , and all that Oak Brook has to offer, which includes spacious, prestigious residential areas, close proximity to downtown Chicago, and a wonderful school district, which was one of the McConachie’s biggest priorities. Plus, Pam grew up in Oak Brook and always wanted to move back to the area.

“We bought the house with the intention of staying,” Pam says. “I like the neighborhood. I like how our home is set back far from the street. I feel like we have privacy, even though we have wonderful neighbors on either side.”
But the house did need some work. “We waited 6 years before we began,” Pam says. “But after 6 years we were ready for some changes.”

One reason: their love of cooking. “I’m half Greek and half Italian, and we cook,” Pam says. “We really enjoy it, and it was difficult to cook in our old kitchen,” which had a U-shaped work and eating area, with a refrigerator on one side of the kitchen and an old electric cooktop on the other side. “I didn’t like to cook on that cooktop,” Pam says. “The same burner would keep going out, so we finally stopped repairing it.”

Another reason for the renovation: to move the laundry room out of their basement. “Our old basement laundry room was called the dungeon, because it was an unfinished part of the basement, and I wanted it out of there and on a main level,” says Pam.

With those ideas in mind, the thought process was to “push” the house out into their large back yard. The back of the house was torn down, and replaced with a new kitchen, a new eating area with a fireplace, a powder room, a walk-in pantry, a coat closet, a new laundry room, an office, and an outdoor patio area and landscaped yard. From start to finish, the entire project took about 9 months. As Bob owns his own construction company, he served as general contractor.

“Looking back, 9 months is a long time,” Pam says. “I didn’t have a kitchen for 6 months. But there were several things that made the process easier. Bob being in charge certainly was one.”

Another aspect was working with kitchen designer Gail Drury of Drury Design Kitchen & Bath Studio in Glen Ellyn, IL. “Gail is great to work with,” Pam says. “She’ll do anything for you in terms of working through difficult issues to make sure that you get what you want.”

Ms. Drury recognized the types of challenges that the McConachie’s would face with the renovation of the kitchen, in particular.

“The biggest challenge in this kitchen was that they were building an addition and the existing sink wall was being bumped out to create a new eating area,” Ms. Drury says.

“I wanted a sink placed where I could see out the window,” Pam adds. “I’m at the sink all of the time, and I wanted a view of the outdoors.”

But the sink wall was load-bearing, so the McConachie’s were confined to a certain size maximum opening between the kitchen and eating area. “My solution was to have cabinets down to the countertop on either side of the opening framing it,” Ms. Drury says. “Between the two cabinets, in front of the opening, I placed additional glass door cabinets on either side of the actual pass through-area for added storage.”

The McConachie’s also placed some high-end appliances in their new 365-square-foot kitchen; almost all of them are from Viking Range, with the exception being their two dishwashers.

“My brother-in-law is a trained chef, and he has always liked Viking appliances,” Pam says. “Our whole family loves to cook, and what better way to do it than with a Viking cook top and oven? I had all of my Viking appliances picked out, and then I gave the list to Gail and said, ‘Here, fit them in this space! This is what we want!”

The Viking 36-inch gas range, model VGRC385, is known for its large capacity—exactly what the McConachie’s wanted. “It was important to have an oven that could fit any size cookie sheet or pan,” Pam says. “I was o.k. with having two ovens, but often, the total oven size for both is smaller than one large oven.”
In addition to the large capacity oven—4.7 cubic feet—the stainless-steel range has six, 15,000-BTU burners, which help Pam boil homemade pasta or simmer delicate sauces for parties.

To the left of the range are a stainless-steel built-in wall oven and warming drawer, both from Viking.

The wall oven and warming drawer are important cooking appliances, says Pam, when she wants to prepare a relatively quick meal or keep food warm for her daughter Katherine, who is often busy with extracurricular activities.

“I was completely sold on the oven, but not on the warming drawer,” she says. “But I’m glad that I have both.”

The Viking stainless-steel gas oven, model VGSO186SS, is a true commercial-type oven, with features such as infrared broiling and convection baking. The 36-inch oven has 3.3 cubic feet of overall space.

On the opposite end of the kitchen, but with easy access to the cooking appliances and the sink, are two Viking 36-inch bottom-mount refrigerator/freezers, model VCBB362RSS, placed side by side. The refrigerator/freezers provide 20.3 cubic feet total space—15.2 in the refrigerator and 5.1 in the freezer and with two of them, the McConachie’s rarely run out of space. “We need more refrigerator space than we do freezer space,” Bob says. “Having two refrigerators eliminates that problem.”

Pam adds, “People say: ‘You have two refrigerators? How many people live here?’” But this eliminates having a refrigerator in our basement.”

As with the other parts of the kitchen, there were design elements that went into the placement of the refrigerators/freezers. “They were built in such a way as to make them appear to be framed in by cabinetry,” Ms. Drury says. “Two tall pullout pantries flanked each side, and a piece of decorative carved molding spanned across the top of the units to complete the look.”

"I do use the warming drawer," Pam says. "I use it for parties, especially at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I rely on it to keep all of my side dishes warm. Keeping dishes warm is 'out of sight, out of mind,' when you have a warming drawer," she says. The Viking electric warming drawer, model VEWD162SS, has temperature settings from 90 to 250 degrees F to accommodate all types of food. Across from the wall oven and warming drawer, in the island, is a second KitchenAid dishwasher (the other one is next to the kitchen sink).

Fond Memories

The McConachie’s look back at the renovation with fond memories and much laughter.

“We lived through this renovation,” Pam says, “and we’re proud of it. Each day the plumber would show up right after our daughter went to school and turn off the water for the day. Then everyone else would show up, work all day, and leave by 3:30 or 4pm. So there were many long days of numerous people in this house. We did laundry at my Mom’s house, and we spent several weekend’s at my grandmother’s home, because we needed a break. I remember sitting in the unfinished eating area with my coat on after it was insulated, drinking my coffee from McDonald’s, and thinking ‘Will this ever end?’”

“But it did end,” Bob interjects, “and it was worth it. With a project like this, you have to realize that it will end.” More Editorials