Cottonwood Rd. — Wellesley

The Cottonwood Rd. kitchen had a center island that was three inches too narrow on both sides for two people to pass each other with a tray. The owners wanted the island moved twenty-four inches toward the range wall and a panel-ready refrigerator-and-freezer pair on the long run. We traced the plumbing stack, cut a new drain run in the basement ceiling, and re-set the sink in the new island.

Cabinets are a painted inset in a warm off-white with a brushed-brass cup pull and a knob on every door. Counters are a honed Cambria, seamed under the cooktop so the seam sits in a quiet spot. The backsplash is a hand-glazed two-by-eight in a vertical stack, which gives the wall some texture without patterning the whole room. A Wolf induction range, a Sub-Zero panel-ready fridge column and freezer column, a Cove dishwasher.

The family stayed in the house the whole eight weeks. We set up a two-burner hot plate and a sink station in the laundry room, covered the hardwoods in Ram Board plus Masonite, and kept demo debris in a roll-off staged outside the garage. The island move picked up the three inches on each side they wanted.