The Owner called us to say he had bought an old Muskoka home, a lakefront property, which had an all-wood interior and lovely rooms clad in ancient tongue-and groove woodwork. The only part of the house he was unsure of was the kitchen; it was hopelessly out-of-date and inefficient. Could we see whether it might be gutted and updated, without changing the feeling of the house?

We saw how beautifully the tongue-and-groove theme of the house could used in a kitchen renovation, and replaced the old formica cabinets with new units in cedar. A peninsula was built to make a sitting place for guests. New concealed halogen lights were used inconspicuously to brighten the room. The rotten flooring was replaced with maple hardwood. We even managed to sneak in a stacking washer/ dryer unit in a corner cupboard.