Designer Karen Swanson Created a Gentle- And Perform-Stuffed Dwelling

Information

Photograph by Greg Premru

“Karen all the time needed to get her arms on our kitchen,” laughs kitchen designer Karen Swanson’s shopper and longtime good friend. She and her husband, now empty nesters, lived of their circa 1870s Manchester-by-the-Sea dwelling for 20 years earlier than significantly contemplating Swanson’s concepts for remodeling its disjointed plan. “They’ve probably the most stunning views of the harbor, however there have been actually no usable rooms that confronted it,” Swanson says.

By eradicating partitions between the kitchen, butler’s pantry, and very slender solar porch, Swanson created a collection of light- and function-filled areas that sweep throughout the again of the home. Some fine-tuning improved the move to surrounding rooms as properly. Swanson launched the couple to designers Jayme Kennerknecht and Courtney Dana to flesh out the finishes, fixtures, and furnishings. “We infused the interiors with a contemporary aesthetic that merges new and outdated parts in a cool, enjoyable approach,” Kennerknecht says.

Photograph by Greg Premru

Construct in a Bar

Seizing the central location of the outdated butler’s pantry, Swanson wrapped it in cabinetry filled with function. Eighteen-inch-wide doorways cover a dishwasher and an ice machine on one facet, the place a Grohe faucet dispenses filtered water with bubbles or with out. There’s conventional storage and a beverage fridge on the opposite facet, together with a glass-fronted tower cupboard that rests upon the blackened metal countertop. “The bar retains individuals out of the kitchen however retains the particular person within the kitchen linked to their friends,” Swanson explains.

Let the Structure Lead

Quite than regard the structural column between the breakfast nook and household room as an obstacle, the group built-in it seamlessly into the plan—utilizing it as a information to divide the house with a half wall. “It was a pure placement for the room divider,” Kennerknecht says. With the push of a button, a 65-inch tv rises out of the paneled divider. The display screen can face the sectional within the household room or pivot 180 levels to face the kitchen, the place the house owner usually finds herself making ready meals solo.

Photograph by Greg Premru

Embrace Leisure

With the brand new flooring plan established, the couple realized that their front room had develop into irrelevant. The answer? Flip it right into a billiard room. The crisp traces of the California Home pool desk echo these of the black soapstone fire encompass that Kennerknecht designed. “It flows proper off the household room, banquette, and bar, so individuals can hang around or get a drink whereas others play pool,” the house owner says.

Photograph by Greg Premru

Meld Trendy and Cherished Parts

To attach the ethereal areas within the again with the extra conventional rooms up entrance—notably the formal eating room—the designers launched furnishings with clear traces, assertion lighting, and surprising sample and coloration. The unique carved door with leaded glass and the couple’s Outdated World eating desk stay; the smoky tone of the room’s millwork enhances the European sensibility. “The place we broke the principles for mixing new and outdated made for the particular moments,” Dana observes.

Architect
Breuker Design

Builder 
Filias Building

Inside Designer 
Kennerknecht Design Group

Kitchen Designer 
New England Design Works