Kitchen remodel in Oakton, VA: opened to the dining room, with three new windows in the brick wall

What did the homeowners want?

These homeowners already knew us. Our first job in their house was their primary and hall bathrooms, and when it was time for the kitchen, they came back to us. See their two bathrooms: the Oakton primary and hall baths →

For the kitchen, the idea was one open room: a kitchen that takes in the old dining room, with the table at the far end, more daylight, a classic look, seats at an island and a herringbone wood floor. Between the two rooms stood a wall, and soffits ran over the cabinets.

How we designed it: one long room, drawn in 3D

Sena, our designer, drew the kitchen on the old walls, then without them. The plan marks the wall between the dining room and the kitchen for removal, and the sink wall for new headers and three new windows. The range moves to its own wall, between tall glass-front cabinets, and a long island runs down the middle of the room, with the dining table beyond it.

Old walls

New plan

Then came the 3D design and the selections: Schrock semi-custom cabinets in the Jarrett door, painted in a cream called Coconut, with 39-inch wall cabinets and glass-front uppers; a painted wood hood; a farmhouse sink under the middle window; and a herringbone floor through both rooms. The homeowners chose and bought their own appliances and light fixtures, and we planned the kitchen around them.

3D design

Finished

The finished room follows the 3D design: the dining table at one end, the long island in the middle, the range wall with its wood hood at the far end and the tall refrigerator wall to the side. The homeowners chose black stone-look countertops for the final room, a strong contrast with the cream cabinets.

The wall to the dining room: out, and one long room

Demolition took the kitchen and the dining room down to the studs and the subfloor: the old cabinets, the black-and-white tile, the old hardwood, the soffits and the wall between the two rooms. In this photo the room is stripped, ready for the new framing and wiring.

The plan marked the wall as non-structural. Where the soffits had been, the new cabinets now run up to the crown.

Now the dining table sits at one end of the room and the island at the other, on one herringbone floor, as in the design above. Our crew also framed a new opening from the dining room into the living room, so the living room connects to the new kitchen and dining area too. The crown molding and baseboard were matched to the house's trim, and the kitchen and dining room were painted.

Three new windows in the brick sink wall

Opened

Inside

Finished

The plan called for new headers and three new windows on the sink wall. Our crew opened the brick wall and framed the openings with engineered-lumber (LVL) headers, a concrete lintel and concrete blocking. Three new vinyl picture windows went in, white inside and out, with grilles. Outside, the brick was closed up around them; inside, the drywall, the trim and the sconce wiring were finished around the windows. The farmhouse sink sits centered under the middle window, with the dishwasher beside it, and brass sconces now hang over the windows.

The work ran under Fairfax County building, electrical and plumbing permits, and the final inspections passed. Remodeling permits in Northern Virginia → · Fairfax County: does my project need a permit?

The range wall: a wood hood between glass-front cabinets

The range moved to a new wall, with a new gas line, and the ventilation moved with it: the painted wood hood vents outside. On each side, tall cabinets with glass doors run up to the crown, for glasses, dishes and cookbooks.

Behind the range, the backsplash is a full-height piece of the same black stone-look material as the countertops, running from the counter up to the hood.

The countertops were made and installed by our fabrication partners, under our supervision: measured on the finished cabinets, then set, with the full-height backsplash behind the range and a low backsplash along the sink wall.

In this progress photo the backsplash is in and the round opening for the hood vent is cut through it; the wood hood went up over it next.

A long island with seating, and a farmhouse sink

The island runs most of the length of the kitchen: drawer bases on the working side, a microwave drawer cabinet for the homeowners' microwave drawer, paneled sides and legs at the seating end, where the stools pull up. Power is built into the island side and into a drawer.

The farmhouse sink is a white BOCCHI Contempo, 33 by 19 inches, single bowl, under the middle window. The faucet is a Pfister Port Haven two-handle bridge faucet with a side spray, in brushed gold, with a 3/4 HP disposal below. The sink and dishwasher plumbing and the refrigerator's water line were all moved for the new layout.

Brass hardware and new light

Sena chose Rejuvenation Ball knobs and Vernon bin pulls in a brass tone for the cream cabinets. New 6-inch LED recessed lights went in on dimmers, and we hung the homeowners' own fixtures: two drum pendants over the island, a chandelier over the dining table and three sconces over the new windows.

Herringbone hardwood, finished on site to match the house

The old tile and hardwood came up in the kitchen and the dining room, and new hardwood of a matching species went down in a herringbone pattern through both rooms.

Because it was finished on site, the new floor could be filled, sanded and stained to match the hardwood in the rest of the house. Painted shoe molding finishes it along the walls and cabinets.

What happened in what order: the Oakton kitchen, step by step

Every job sets its own schedule, and your contract gives you a written estimate for yours. How our process works →

1. Design: Sena's plans on the old walls and without them, the 3D design and the selections; the kitchen contract; the cabinets ordered.
2. Demolition: the wall between the kitchen and the dining room, the soffits, the old cabinets, the tile and the old hardwood came out.
3. Structure and rough-in: the brick wall opened and the window openings framed under new headers; a new opening framed from the dining room into the living room; the plumbing moved for the sink, the dishwasher and the refrigerator; a new gas line to the range; new wiring and recessed lights; the hood duct run outside.
4. Cabinets and floor: the cabinets delivered and installed; the herringbone hardwood laid, filled, sanded and stained on site.
5. Windows: the three new picture windows set, and the brick closed up around them outside.
6. Countertops: measured on the cabinets, then installed, with the full-height backsplash behind the range.
7. Finish: the hood, the filler and scribe trim, crown and baseboard, paint, the brass hardware and the light fixtures.
8. Last: the final inspections passed.

Who built it: Sena designed the kitchen, and our crew built it; only the countertops were made by our fabrication partners, under our supervision.

Budget: about $140K–$150K.

Design decisions behind this Oakton kitchen

• Windows where the wall is brick. The new window openings were cut into a brick wall, so our crew framed them with engineered-lumber headers, a concrete lintel and concrete blocking, and the brick was closed up around the new windows outside.
• One room from two. With the wall to the dining room gone, the two rooms needed to read as one: one herringbone floor through both, crown and baseboard matched to the house, and fresh paint.
• A new home for the range. The range moved to its own wall, so it got a new gas line, and the hood was vented outside, between the tall glass-front cabinets.
• A floor that matches the house. New herringbone hardwood next to the old floors elsewhere in the house: finished on site, it was stained to match.

Oakton kitchen materials: Schrock cabinets, a farmhouse sink and herringbone wood

The exact products in this kitchen, from our order records. "Homeowner's choice" marks what the homeowners chose and bought themselves.

More photos: the Oakton kitchen and dining room, start to finish