Washingtonian Magazine: Cooking Up A Great Kitchen

By Ellen Upton Schofield
Washingtonian Magazine

When three homeowners wanted to give a fresh look to their kitchens, they turned to designers with an eye for good taste

4624 LEE HIGHWAY
ARLINGTON, VA 22207
Phone: (703) 522-7337
Fax: (703) 522-7129

Jim 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.

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 cook top 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 six.”

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 trades people 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.

Copyright © 1999 by The Washingtonian Magazine. Used in permission.