Couple’s Dream Kitchen Comes to Life
ALTHOUGH SHE GREW UP IN DETROIT, MICHIGAN, HEDDA HART-DELARA SPENT CHILDHOOD SUMMERS WITH FAMILY ON CAYUGA LAKE IN THE FINGER LAKES REGION OF NEW YORK. TO HER, IT WAS A MAGICAL AND PEACEFUL PLACE.
When she and her husband, Justin DeLara, were looking to move from Chicago with their two small children, they were drawn to Pittsford, New York, with its top schools, beautiful homes, and natural, lush setting.
“We wanted to get out of the big city, near greenery, and a slower pace of life,” she said. “We also didn’t want a cookie-cutter house. We wanted one with character.”
Design Resources
They found a traditional home with plenty of character in a quaint neighborhood. Built in 1978 with five bedrooms and five bathrooms, it easily accommodates offices for Hart-DeLara and DeLara, who both work from home, and bedrooms and a playroom for their 9-yearold daughter and 6-year-old son.
However, the house needed updates, particularly the kitchen.
They hired Chris Hennessey, owner of CKH Architecture, to create the renovation plans.
An online moms’ group referred them to Oaks Inc., a Rochester area home improvement company with several branches, including Kitchens by Oaks, which handles interior design and construction of kitchens and bathrooms.
Although the kitchen appliances and cabinets were probably considered high-end at the time the Hart-DeLara house was built, they were definitely showing their age, Hart-DeLara noted.
In addition, the original layout wasted valuable space.
“There was an almost unusable covered porch attached to the kitchen and the ceiling height was lost to soffit upon soffit,” said Makenna Joseph, the Kitchens by Oaks designer who worked with the couple to fine tune their vision of an airy, contemporary kitchen and adjoining areas. Within three months, they became a reality.
To open up the space, the renovation crew knocked out the porch and pantry to gain almost 60 additional square feet of living space. Joseph worked with the couple to design a mud room, laundry room and powder room off the kitchen, the perfect space for a young family.
“They built these really cool cubbies in the mudroom, which I helped design,” Hart-DeLara said. “It’s something I really wanted with little kids.”
In the kitchen, they installed twotoned shaker cabinets painted in Harbor Blue and contrasting Dove White, both from Kraftmaid Vantage. They replicated the blue in the kitchen island and the adjoining wet bar.
They chose Noble Azul quartz countertops, which have a light blue veining, and newly trending white appliances. They worked with Messner Flooring in Pittsford to install a dark hardwood floor, which provides a nice contrast to the white and blue.
“Everything looks so clean and bright,” Joseph said. “It turned out even better than I had imagined, especially when you see how it works with other aspects of the house. With the added functionality, the space is completely different.”
The couple is also thrilled with how the renovations turned out in an area of the house where they spend the bulk of their time.
“What I liked about Oaks is that all the employees work in-house, and they provide every element of a remodel that you need,” Hart-DeLara said. “They even have a dumpster service as part of the company, which we appreciated. It’s a true one-stop shop.”