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Nedohon and Steven Golsch are old hands at redoing
kitchens. The day before their most recent renovation,
they put together a five-course brunch for 40 in their
garden. At 5:30 the next morning, the two were wrapping
crystal, emptying cabinets, and carting off furniture.
By 11 o'clock, their kitchen was gutted right down to
the studs.
"At
least" says Nedohon, "we didn't
have to clean up after the party."
The kitchen
renovation was their third in ten years. Nedohon, a
WorldCom finance director, and Golsch, a Radio One
corporate director, wanted a larger, more inviting,
light-filled space that linked the outside of their
Arlington home with the inside.
A gregarious
and accomplished chef, Nedohon wanted to face his guests
and enjoy the garden view while he cooked.
"I really
needed a well functioning kitchen," he says.
"The deal here is that anyone can select a recipe
from any of our cookbooks and say, 'I'd like that!"
and as household chef, I have to cook it!"
Working with Bob
Kay, Owner of the Kitchen & Bath Factory in
Arlington, Nedohon and Golsch created two
food-preparation areas. The new area includes a second
sink and garbage disposal to simplify cleanup. To bring
in more natural light, they replaced three double-hung
windows with one large bay window.
"Once we
had addressed the challenges and finalized a layout, we
applied masking tape to the floor in the configuration
of our future kitchen," Nedohon says. "Then we
spent two months using the space to see if it
worked." Only after the plan passed the test did
renovations begin.
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Exit the old
vinyl floor, '70s paneling, and dark cabinets, and enter
a maple floor, sea-green granite counters, and cherry
cabinets with low-voltage halogen task lights
underneath. The curve of the counter rewards the eye,
while a "periscopic vent" inside the island's
cooktop allows Nedohon an unobstructed view, rising of
ruse only when a button is pushed.
The
installation of cabinets and counters, new windows, and
a wood floor took about three weeks. The cabinetry and
granite counters accounted for about $17,000 of the
kitchen's $60,000 total cost.
"Our
average kitchen runs $20,000 to $30,000 and takes ten
days or so from start to finish," Kay says.
"Once we measure, we can turn Corian around in four
days and granite in sic."
Kay usually
meets with clients three times to complete layout and
selection. To save money and eliminate the middleman,
his clients often contract directly with independent
carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and other
tradespeople that regularly work with the Kitchen
& Bath Factory.
A few years
later, would an experience kitchen renovator like
Nedohon have done anything differently? "If we'd
had room," he says "I would have liked an ice
machine, a second dishwasher, and a second oven with six
burners and a warming tray."
Both Nedohon's
reality and his wish list reflect a trend in new
construction, according to Gopal Ahluwalia, research
director for the National Association of Home Builders.
One of anything is not enough anymore. Today people want
two sinks, two ovens, two dishwashers, and in the most
high-end homes, two kitchens.
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