By today’s standards, homes built in the 1950s often lack many of the spacious amenities new construction offers. Granted, what homes of that era didn’t provide in space, they made up for with stellar construction and fine architectural details; also, older homes tend to be set in neighborhoods with lush canopies of mature shade trees.
Luckily, the dearth of space, while not necessarily an easy fix, can be deftly reenvisioned by designers like Megan Pisano of Megan Pisano Design in Chatham.
Christine and Ed Walz of Madison turned to Pisano to revamp their 1954 home. Spacious in its own right, the four-bedroom, four-bath home had a small, albeit eat-in, kitchen but no formal dining room.
Number one on the homeowners’ wish list was “creating a larger, more functional kitchen with an open concept—without making the home feel completely exposed.”
In addition to an expanded kitchen, the Walzes wanted a dining room that “felt intentional and truly usable for everyday living and entertaining,” Pisano says. To accomplish this, the designer and her team were tasked with modifying the home’s original footprint to expand the kitchen and reimagine the former sunroom as the new dining space, and in doing so, create a new flow and functionality for the entire main floor.
An outdated four-season sunporch became a dining room with an abundance of windows, broad millwork and showstopping aviary-themed wallpaper. Photos: Meghan Balcom
A complete first-floor demolition was needed to make way for the new plan. Pisano’s team salvaged what was possible, like the home’s original wood floors in the family room, which were revived and then stained a rich shade called Aged Barrel to match new wooden floors in the dining room and kitchen.
Upgraded stainless steel appliances, white marble countertops, a farmhouse sink and bell-shaped pendants overhead afford the style and functionality the Walzes were looking for. The unified dark flooring in the now spacious kitchen grounds the white-on-white look, as does the sleek, oversize island, finished in a complementary dark shade. Around the island, rope-backed chairs with a playful, geometric look provide seating in the gathering space.
A dated kitchen gets a modern makeover. Photos: Meghan Balcom
Maintaining the home’s character was an important consideration that affected a range of decisions, such as how to handle dual openings to rooms. “We knew the space needed one larger architectural arch to feel cohesive,” says Pisano. “The tricky part was determining the exact placement, so the rooms felt connected without compromising structure or function.”
A complementary palette allows the updated family room to visually flow into the kitchen. Photo: Meghan Balcom
In the end, two millwork arches from the kitchen—one to the dining room, the other to the family room—make for seamless transitions. The wainscotting along the dining room’s generous new windows further uphold the home’s architectural integrity.
Modernizing the new dining room is a showstopping wallpaper, Canopy in Blue Birds by Schumacher, that ushers in a bold, sunny tone. “I’m so glad the clients trusted me with this vision,” Pisano says, adding that she loved the wallpaper design so much, her mom made her a matching skirt.
Designer Megan Pisano’s mother fashioned a skirt for her in Schumacher fabric to match the walls. Photo: Meghan Balcom
The globe pendant lights and low-profile table and chairs, were selected, as all the furnishings were, through Pisano’s trade sources, are contemporary.
“We wanted the space to have a pop of black, but still be open and airy—that’s why we incorporated the black, white and blue,” Pisano says of the neutral palette that pulls it all together, unifying the main floor.
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