“Whenever you come into this house, the kids and their friends from the neighborhood are hanging out. This is a wonderfully fun household,” says Judy Dawson, of Designer Kitchens and Baths. “But, the space was too tight.”

The homeowners tagged Dawson, a certified kitchen designer, to free the kitchen from its time warp. Her first design challenge was to physically (and visually) open up the 8-by-10-foot, U-shape layout. She needed to make room for two cooks, increase the natural flow of air and sunlight, and accommodate the active lifestyle of a young family.

The simple remedy was to reassign two feet of the entryway hall’s six feet of “dead space” to the kitchen—accomplished by moving a wall shared by the two rooms. The result was dramatic. The kitchen’s footprint didn’t change much, but visual appreciation did. “The extra two feet allowed us to change the whole configuration of the kitchen,” Dawson says.

Next, Dawson needed to make use of the tropical environment. She added a vaulted ceiling, a couple of bay windows, updated louvers and lean-looking casements from Coastal Windows. The new bay window over the sink allows natural light to flow in and greatly improves the natural flow of air in the room. Solar fans in the attic and kitchen combat the rising hot air. The vaulted ceiling “gives the room a really expansive feel,” Dawson says.

The original dark cabinets, hung from the ceiling, gave the kitchen a cave-like feel. “If you want an open kitchen, you can’t have overhead cabinets,” Dawson says. But how do you accomplish an airy feeling in a small kitchen, without sacrificing storage?

Dawson’s strategy was to clear the countertops by using the limited space in unusual ways. Her space-making remedies included full-extension pullout drawers to hold pots, pans and dishes, and a spice drawer with a 52-bottle capacity. It’s “much more efficient and ergonomic” to lift these items up to the counter than the other way around, Dawson explains. “The kids can all reach it—and when you’re older, you can, too!”

To create visual continuity with the rest of the home, she installed a warm-hued African hardwood floor throughout the kitchen, the front entryway and into the living area. For finishing touches, a stainless-steel hood and a resplendent piece of natural-color granite with garnet accents worked beautifully. Granite from Stoneworld made a perfect backsplash. The same stone pattern was carried into the living room, where it was utilized to build a matching buffet and wet bar. “I like the eclectic naturalness of materials,” Dawson says.

“When you have that much character in a space,” she adds, “you don’t want cabinets everywhere and cluttered walls. You must allow the simplicity of the design to shine through.”