It took Peter and Helen Thornton more than 20 years to get exactly the kitchen they wanted, and they’re happy they waited.
"We needed to get to this point in our lives, to understand our wants and needs, and have the resources – human and financial – to accomplish it," Helen Thornton said.
The project was a big spend, integrating work to refresh their home's exterior.
"We had done some, but not much, enhancement in our 24 years here," Thornton said, discussing their 1976 Colonial in Whitehouse Station. With all said and done, the combined project cost exceeded $200,000.
“We viewed this expense as bundling all the ‘all-along’ expenses we could have been doing,” she said. By doing the interior and exterior work as a single, phased project, they enjoyed the benefit of having everything done at once within a comprehensive design.
Over the years, however, they had been doing the mental work that resulted in quick decision-making once the time came to move forward.
On June 16, 2017, they went to what was then Somerville Aluminum (now Bellari) expecting to simply research exterior siding options. Instead they spent three hours in the showroom, having conversations that, ultimately, would lead to signed contracts to renovate both their home's exterior and their kitchen.
"We'd been talking for years about what to do and how to do it," Helen Thornton said. "We recognized that our (renovation) phases were dependent upon each other since we needed to replace and potentially redesign windows and doors, and didn't want to rework anything."
With the necessary permits in hand, work began outside the following August. The first phase involved installing maintenance-free materials to replace everything on the outside of their home except the roof, she said. "We also added a much-desired portico."
A few months later, work began inside. "Since we kept the same footprint, we had the luxury of selecting great quality products like custom cabinetry to take advantage of every square inch of our limited space," she said.
Features include 20-inch porcelain floor tiles, granite counters, improved lighting and crown molding. They selected Kitchen Aid appliances, including a counter-depth refrigerator.
"Through these changes, I estimate that we have 30 percent more storage space in the kitchen," she said. "We also have much better work spaces."
Benefiting both interior and exterior are the kitchen’s new plate glass windows.
The reconfigured cabinetry layout also gives the kitchen a sense of increased spaciousness without an expansion. Cabinets on either side of the sink window had previously blocked light and views. In the new layout, there is an open shelf on one side of the window, but nearby cabinets were only installed on a back wall around the range hood.
To increase cabinet space, the couple had a pantry area converted to a small niche that can be used as a coffee prep area with cabinet storage above and below. A wide opening between the kitchen and the family room was narrowed to make room for a large, floor-to-ceiling unit of custom storage and display cabinets.
Another creative installation has cabinetry wrapped around the couple’s stainless steel refrigerator. Above, long, shallow cabinets were outfitted to hold sheet pans and other slender bakingware. On the side, a broom closet holds aprons and cleaning supplies.
Improved illumination includes new lights above the sink, under the cabinets, recessed in the ceiling and above their enlarged peninsula. The granite surface area that tops the peninsula cabinetry was expanded with a rounded edge that extends beyond the base to rest atop columnar legs.
Crown molding adds an architectural element to soffits that conceal heating ducts, air vents and plumbing, Peter Thornton said. They couple actually had soffits installed in other areas of the kitchen to unify the design.
They ignored advice from those who told them they needed to incorporate the gray features that are now trendy, he added.
“That wasn’t for us,” he said of the kitchen they painted in a creamy white that complements their cherry wood cabinets. “We made this kitchen the kitchen we wanted.”
Helen Thornton adds that they tried to honor the house by using high-quality materials.
“We feel like we’ve ‘done right’ by our gracious home, which has done right by us all these years,” she said.
Our home has great bones and a wonderful layout, but it was in desperate need of every kind of refurbishing and updating, inside and out. After much deliberation about whether to stay or sell, we decided we love the house and the area, and so we wanted to renovate."
What they renovated
The kitchen of a 1976 Colonial-style home in Whitehouse Station was completely renovated. The work was done as a second phase of related exterior work that involved replacement of siding, windows and doors. The floor of the home's foyer also was replaced.
Who did the work
Bellari (formerly Somerville Aluminum) of Branchburg
How long it took
About six months, in two phases, from June to December 2017
What they spent
About $220,000 total, with $140,000 for exterior work and windows; $80,000 for the kitchen and other interior work.
Where they splurged
On custom cabinetry and luxury materials
How they saved
By not expanding their home's footprint, and by doing their own painting.
What they did themselves
"We painted the moldings, walls, doors and stairs in the kitchen and foyer – time which was built into Bellari's project plan," Peter Thornton said. "They provided the moldings to us ahead of time, at our request, so that most of the painting could be done ahead of time. Once installed, all I had to do was touch up the nail spots."
What they like most
“We see the renovations we’ve made in the same light as those who thought to restore the great Colonial homes from the 1700s and 1800s,” Helen Thornton said. “Hopefully, our changes will allow the families who call our place home in the future a great place to raise their children.”
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
908-484-1600
Service Areas
