Timberlake, Chapin, South Carolina

This kitchen is in Chapin, five minutes from my own front door, and it is a useful example of what a gut renovation is actually for. We took the room back to nothing. New cabinetry, new pantry, new lighting, new window treatments, a custom hood. Everything except the floor.

The floor stayed, and that single decision is the reason the room works. It had age in it, the kind of worn and settled quality that cannot be specified or ordered in. The custom cabinetry was designed around what remained rather than imposed upon it, with finishes selected against the tone of the existing floor and proportions set to the room as we found it. The custom hood anchors the range wall. The pantry was planned for how this family actually cooks, and new banquette cushions and window treatments soften a room that is otherwise full of hard surfaces.

Knowing what to keep is the hardest part of a renovation, and it is where I spend the most time on every kitchen I take on in Chapin and around Lake Murray.