Plenty of trail-blazing opportunities awaited Anderson in a home perched high up in Aiea Heights. “When I came into the house, I saw a completely unfunctional kitchen. The family could not entertain, and they were not enjoying it at all,” Anderson says. The original kitchen, squeezed next to a hallway, had barely enough room for one cook.

Anderson chose a natural palette, with deep sage accent walls, emerald granite countertops, green slate and bamboo floors to connect the indoors with the lush hillside.

First, Anderson hungrily sank her teeth into remodeling the kitchen’s layout. In fact, she was so inspired by the home’s problems that the kitchen remodel turned into an overhaul of the entire first floor. The new layout reclaimed the lanai, a space originally envisioned as a barbecue haven. But bugs and rain, two constants in the hillside clime, had made the outdoor space useless. No problem; Anderson whipped it into shape.

This gave the first floor room to breathe. “The architects were very patient. They let us take their good design and modify it,” Anderson says of Noguchi Builders. The new first floor became a great room. It is separated into three distinct areas: the centerpiece kitchen and two lounge areas. Simple columns on each side of the room delineate the spaces, and hold up the new roof.

Entering through the repositioned front door, guests are greeted by Anderson’s second solution for the kitchen challenge: an emerald granite-topped island. Without walls boxing him in, the cook can sauté, stir and blanch while entertaining guests at the bar and relaxing in the lounge areas.

The opposite side of the island holds everything that a cook needs. Pull-out spice racks, deep drawers for pots and pans, racks for cutting boards and a sink make dinner prep a breeze. All of this is centered around a brawny, Dacor gas range.

The next challenge was an unused corner. Here, Anderson designed a baking alcove that is safely out of the cook’s splatter zone. Ovens are stacked next to countertop landing space. An appliance center hides the rice cooker, toaster and blender. Plenty of storage here makes up for storage lost in the reconfiguration.

All the storage space posed another problem. Boxed in by the appliance center and storage cabinets, the corner was in danger of becoming a baking cave. Anderson had the perfect idea: brighten the area with a skylight. The builders were wary of cutting between load-supporting floor joists, but were finally persuaded by Anderson that it would work. In the end, natural light floods the kitchen, and the builders may have learned a thing or two from the kitchen designer.

One element caused no dilemma—choosing Details’ signature Downsview cabinets, in warm Golden Birdseye and Moda finishes. Anderson works exclusively with Downsview Kitchens cabinets because they offer a wide range of woods and finishes, with optional Blumotion self-closing drawers.

The homeowner asked Anderson to apply her problem-solving skills outside the kitchen as well. What might be the great room’s crowning feature is an unusual indoor appliance, one the homeowner just had to have: a hot and bubbly Jacuzzi in an adjoining lounge area now offers hours of indoor relaxation for the whole family. The homeowner had always dreamed of an indoor Jacuzzi, but not everyone thought it was a great idea.

Anderson and the homeowner forged ahead. “I knew I really wanted that Jacuzzi,” the homeowner says. “We had to open up the wall and build up under the house. We got a lot of discouragement [from the builders]. But Glenda made it happen.”