When Katy and Ray Paumier were in the market for a family home, their goals were straightforward: a front porch and a Village of Granville location which would allow them to bicycle to the office and walk everywhere else. They found what they were looking for in a house built in 1900 on a quaint, tree-lined street.
“We loved the house, but the kitchen was too small and outdated—the last time it was renovated was the 1970s,” says Katy. “We have two young boys, we’re both from large families and entertaining is a priority, so having a kitchen that could handle all of that was important,” she adds. The Paumiers also wanted the design of the new kitchen to stay true to the old house character, a theme seen throughout all of the home remodeling ideas that they put in place.
But first, more space had to be created. They considered building an addition but, because of different roof lines and angles, had trouble visualizing it. Then Katy realized that they could use their existing footprint by flipping the kitchen with the dining room. “Back in the early 1900s, the dining room was a very important room, so it was large. Our kitchen and dining rooms adjoin, so we just reversed their functions,” Katy explains.
The Paumiers hired Granville-based Travis Ketron of Ketron Custom Builders for the job. The Paumiers had used the company for a window replacement project and were impressed with their attention to detail. “As with any old home there are challenges and we were very pleased with the work they did,” says Katy.
The first order of business was to widen the doorway in the shared wall between the kitchen and dining rooms to create a more spacious feel. A 2’ 6” wide door opening was expanded to 10’ and its height was raised to be consistent with other openings in the house. The process requires care, says Ketron. “This house has a very straightforward structural system where the center wall bears a lot of weight. The challenge was to make sure that nothing else moved throughout the house since it was carrying the load of two floors above it.”
They ended up gutting both rooms. “We straightened walls, put in new wiring, insulated, and caulked every seam and line which all make for a tighter house,” Ketron says.
“Our house has become much more energy-efficient,” Katy notes.
An unexpected benefit of having the walls opened up was allowing them to run beer tap lines from the kitchen to a kegerator in the basement. “I didn’t want to cut holes in the granite for this, and now the lines disappear through the wall,” says Katy. She notes with a laugh that she is the resident beer aficionado. They added a KitchenAid beverage center which stores wines and chilled pint glasses.
It was important to the Paumiers that the style of the renovated dining room and kitchen stay consistent with the style of the house. The color scheme for the walls and granite was inspired by the hues in tiles of the fireplace surround in their sitting room.
The walnut cabinets have a beaded inset for a turn-of-the-century feel. The cabinets were built by Cooley Custom Cabinetry in Plain City. “Because we’re small business owners ourselves, we try to keep everything local and support companies in the area,” Katy explains.
Swapping the function of the two rooms also required changing the windows. The existing dining room had a traditional 5’ high window, too tall to work with a kitchen countertop. Conversely, the old kitchen had a short, squat window that didn’t look right in the new dining room. New windows were installed to better suit the revamped spaces.
“We paid close attention to finishing details inside and out,” says Ketron. “In order to match the old trim we had knives made to authentically craft matching trim, which is all stained red oak,” he adds. A new floor of 3” distressed red and white oak planks was installed to match the existing floor in the family room.
Now the Paumiers have plentiful entertaining space.”We love having friends over now that we have the perfect setting. We can have six or seven cooks in the kitchen at one time and not be crowded,” Katy says, adding, “We’ve been finished for about a year and we wouldn’t change one thing.”