Kitchen Views' Blog

The Molnar’s New Kitchen. Image © Kitchen Views

John & Ingrid Molnar couldn’t help but marvel at the end result of their brand new chef-friendly kitchen. But it was quite a process to get to this point. It took nearly two years of online research and interviewing various designers before the Molnars found their perfect designer at the Kitchen Views showroom in Berlin, MA.

What made the Molnars choose Kitchen Views? John says it was all about their designer’s ability to listen. Others they had met with were always trying to sell them a package. Their Kitchen Views designer helped them to find a solution for their requirements. That solution was to open up their small kitchen into the living room and take over the space of the former dining room. This created a new open space and a much larger kitchen.

Ingrid was especially inspired by the Berlin, MA showroom and one of the countertops there. The multi-level countertop on the center island in the final kitchen was inspired by one of those countertops. Also the top used in the island cooking area is intentionally different than that on the perimeter, to make those areas clearly and visually separate.

John Molnar kidding around in the old kitchen with a family friend. Image © Kitchen Views

In the old kitchen, people were always bumping into one another. The new center island allows a place for people to congregate even while John and Ingrid are cooking. Another useful feature in the new kitchen was having two sinks, one for washing and one for prep. In the old kitchen, the sink had to serve both of these purposes. Having two separate sinks means John and Ingrid are not in each other’s way.

Close-up of the prep sink. Image © Kitchen Views

In the old kitchen, you couldn’t even open the refrigerator door at the same time as the oven! The new kitchen greatly improved the space’s workflow. As Ingrid says, it’s important to keep lines of communication open when they’re both cooking at the same time. The old kitchen made that very difficult. The new kitchen has great sight lines and even allows the kids to sit at the lower level doing their homework or hanging out while their parents cook.

With the new layout, there was one challenge that had to do with the placement of the new stove. The oven was made into a built-in to improve the work flow. But the gas lines wouldn’t work where they wanted the new cooktop in the center island. Fortunately, the solution became another one of John’s favorite parts of the new kitchen. Rather than moving to propane, they decided that an electric induction cooktop was the solution. It boils water in 90 seconds, John says. It’s a lot more efficient than his old stove.

Beyond the improved workflow, the center island also allows for plenty of storage, for cooking implements and spices alike. No more having to run around the kitchen gathering supplies. Everything needed is easily at hand.

The Molnar’s story is a perfect example of having a designer who is happy to listen to you and work out a plan to create solutions for your own specific needs. Don’t settle for a standard package deal. Find a designer who can make your kitchen renovation story into a dream come true.

Here’s a video of John and Ingrid Molnar talking to Kitchen Views about their kitchen:

Kitchen Views
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