Left: The kitchen floor during demo. Water damage under the window ate through the exterior.
Right: Completely renovated kitchen

Our Sunshine on Sears project began as a straight forward kitchen and full bath renovation, with a powder room added to the existing space. The Passyunk Square home, built in the 1950s, had a two-story addition built by the previous homeowner. That addition caused some huge problems with this renovation.

We anticipated issues with the addition since the architect discovered that permits were never pulled for its construction. What was uncovered during demolition was much worse than expected. In fact, this was the worst demolition surprise I’ve run into so far in my career, and there are always surprises during demo. The two story addition was sitting on dirt instead of a foundation, joists above were significantly undersized, and they nailed into the studs. In short, this addition was nowhere near structurally sound. A structural engineer needed to be brought in to evaluate the situation and we needed to resubmit for permit–this was now a completely different project that required underpinning.

While we were waiting for new permits (for additional, structural scope) to be approved, the general contractor was allowed to finish the new powder room and full bathroom renovation. Thank goodness! As soon as the new permits were approved, the work in the kitchen could finally get back on track.

After the bones of the home were remedied, the renovation got back on track. The cabinetry layout in the kitchen changed multiple times since we weren’t sure what the final finished size of the kitchen would be after all the new, code-compliant, insulation, framing and drywall was complete. Kitchens are always a game of inches, but this was by far the tightest kitchen we have designed up to this point. Previously, when you walked into the kitchen all the cabinetry was on the back wall and to the right in an L-shape. To the left there was only room for a refrigerator in the corner and it faced the back door instead of into the usable part of the kitchen. Check out the ‘before’ photos here. We shifted the location of the back door and kitchen, now allowing for a full wall of storage. The refrigerator is now centered in the storage wall and faces into the kitchen for easier access. All of the other appliances were selected with space and efficiency in mind. The dishwasher is only 18” wide, perfect for a small space and few dishes to clean. Under the gas cooktop is a 24” steam and convection wall oven.

A new frosted door and slider window now flood this room with light, making it feel much more spacious. I have yet to meet a client that likes their corner kitchen sink, and this was no exception. We relocated and replaced the old stainless steel sink with a new dune-colored cast iron sink that now lives under the window. Minimal matte gray cabinetry is complimented by a glossy deep green backsplash, warm cherry butcher block countertops, and an earthy, high-variation, terrazzo tile floor.

Our client hated hosting guests with just one full bath on the second floor. We fit a new powder room on the first level, but we had some existing bump outs that we needed to work around. Before construction started, the contractor did some exploratory demo and discovered that there was ductwork running through these channels. It didn’t really influence the design, as we accounted for the worst-case scenario. It would have been nice to avoid a bump out in the powder room, but we centered the sink and toilet in the design so that the layout felt more intentional.

I feel that powder rooms are a great place to experiment with bolder materials and finishes. These walls are enveloped in a charming, large-scale wallpaper featuring canary yellow birds in the clouds. We knew about this wallcovering for years, we just needed to find the right project for it! Our client loves yellow—it reminds her of some art deco styled buildings from her time in Miami. A more traditionally styled sink and cross handle faucet contrast the bold walls.

The renovated full bath.
Photo: Rebecca McAlpin

Yellow accents can be found in the fully renovated full bathroom as well. The centerpiece is a custom-painted, wall-mounted cast iron vintage style sink and bridge faucet. The backdrop is a crisp white tile and canary accent tile wainscot that wraps around the room. The shower is minimal, with a single glass panel to contain any water from the handshower. A shower niche keeps bottles off of the porcelain mosaic shower floor.

This project literally took years. We started working with our client back in 2019, but there were three major delays. When we were about ready to interview contractors, Covid happened. The project got put on hold for quite some time because the client wasn’t comfortable having a ton of people in the home (understandably). In 2023, our client was comfortable to finally execute her project. But once construction started…well, you now know what we found after demolition. Then once the drywall was complete in the kitchen and we could get final measurements, we ordered cabinets—that took another 8 weeks. At that point, 2 months felt like a drop in the bucket. It took a loooong time to get there, but the improvements made to our client’s forever home were well worth it!

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Case Study: Sunshine on Sears