One Decision Saved This Homeowner $9,000 on Her Kitchen Transformation
Designer Gina Gutierrez, of Gina Rachelle Design, drew up seven different kitchen layouts for her client, Lisa, an aesthetician living in the Bay Area, before settling on the right one. The part they kept getting stuck on? The supporting wall that divided the 150-square-foot space and the living room. Gutierrez played around with the idea of a partially open floor plan with a peninsula, among other arrangements, but when the homeowner gave her the green light to spend a little more, the choice became clear: They would call in a structural engineer, install a beam, and open everything up. “With only one window in there, the space was actually quite dark,” recalls Gutierrez (and the linoleum floors weren’t helping the...