One of the biggest challenges in remodeling this half-century-old kitchen was "transforming it into something modern with dry wall ... taking an old home, leveling it out, squaring everything out and then building from there," designer David Wheeler says.

“Where’s the cookie pan? ‘Go check the bedroom,’” says daugher-in-law Misty Wheeler, describing the storage situation for Jeannie Wheeler’s former kitchen. The 50-year-old kitchen was so small she had to store kitchen supplies in the bedrooms.

According to David Wheeler, who lives down the street, his mother’s kitchen “always looked cut-up to me,” he says, “just really dated.”

As luck would have it, David and Misty are not just Jeannie’s relatives, they also happen to be co-owners of PMI Builders. “My husband wanted to fix up the house, and we knew a good contractor,” Jeannie says, affectionately referring to her son.

Designer David Wheeler arranged for the chimney hood, which is only available in stainless steel, to be powder-coated in black to match the rest of the kitchen.

Although David is usually found working on the building side of remodeling, he can design, too. “He has a really good eye for design,” Misty says. So with some help from Randall Omoto, of Homeowners Design Center, that’s just what he did for his parents.

The design started with the appliances. Jeannie and her husband selected black appliances because of their low-maintenance appeal. “Right now, stainless is the big thing, but they didn’t want finger marks,” David says.

Also on their wish list? More square footage. More counter space. More cabinets.
David obliged and worked with them to create a design that would fit the whole family. Literally.

The Wheelers have family gatherings quite often, and their former, 64-square-foot kitchen was so small, they couldn’t fit inside. “We were all in the garage,” David says.
So he enlarged the space. “Basically, the only things that were left standing were the perimeter walls, everything else was ripped out,” David says. This added 146 square feet, more than tripling the size of the previous kitchen.

Such a large space can easily feel disconnected, so David tied in black accents throughout the room, reflecting the black appliances and bringing together one cohesive space. 

“When David did the countertops, he made sure there was a black trim,” Misty says. “When they got the cabinets, David made sure there was a little black trim. [He continued it with] the backsplash, the hood.”

With more space also came the need for more lighting. David designed several lighting centers within the space to eliminate lighting the entire kitchen when only one area needs it—also a great energy-saving measure. “The dining room has its own lighting center. The kitchen has its own lighting center,” he says. “Everything is separated, so you don’t just turn on one switch and everything goes on.”

The end result is a space the whole family can enjoy. Now, when the Wheelers get together, they can mingle indoors, instead of gathering in the garage. 

“We come over every week,” Misty says. “It’s just very inviting, relaxing, comfortable.”
Jeannie loves everything about it. She’s cooking and baking much more, too.

“It’s like a totally new house,” Jeannie says. “I love to be in it … Having the house like this makes us want to stay home more.” And they’re no longer searching for cookie pans in the bedroom.