The kitchen

The part of the project that bears most of Leslie's stamp is her kitchen. She recalls how, even at the first meeting with Kerry and KBRD designer Angela Holloway, she knew just what she wanted. "I had cut out pictures, over all those years," she said. "More than anything else, I was consistent in my vision of the kitchen cabinets."

Leslie got what she wanted. In addition to their aesthetic appeal, the cabinets' features of glass fronts and pull-out drawers make her life easier. "I find that I use everything more," she says. "It's really no trouble to pull out the big mixer, use it and put it back."

Leslie also wanted a sink big enough to accommodate large pots and pans, and even the occasional flowerpot. She has that now, with an apron-front, farmhouse style porcelain sink. Because the faucet is mounted high on the back of the sink, rather than on the counter level, it's also easy to keep the sink area clean. "There's no way for water to run outside the sink," she says.

Another unique feature in the kitchen is the countertop, which is a soft Formica surface made to look like linen. It's edged with a stainless steel strip, which is typical of houses built in the 1950s, as Leslie's was.

Feeling like home

Because of her attachment to the house and because of the ages of her sons, it was important to Leslie that the house still feel familiar when the addition was complete. To that end, special efforts were made to incorporate original elements. The arch between the living room and old dining room remained, as did the wood paneling that once lined the dining room walls. "Had we lost that, it wouldn't have felt like home," Leslie says. Another special touch is the vintage 1950s swirled pattern on the new ceiling, which mirrors the original swirled plaster walls and ceiling.

Leslie also worked hard to ensure that sons Zach, 14, and Walter, 9, had a hand in the process. "We talked about the project in terms that were fun," she says, recalling how the family described the color of the new aluminum siding as being the brown of chocolate milk. "It made the remodeling process more of an adventure to them, instead of Mom's latest project."

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