Steal Ideas From Our Best Kitchen Transformations

It's tried-and-true advice: Live in a space for a while before you remodel it. For Alicia and Craig Collins, waiting a long while (11 years!) seems to have paid off big-time. The couple put up with the shoddy galley kitchen in their 1930 Spanish Revival–style house for over a decade.

Bad enough were the worn cabinets and awkward layout, but the room also lacked the kind of details found throughout their home, which has arched doorways, wrought-iron work, and an art-tile fireplace surround. Alicia, an avid cook, craved a top-notch range, and with the family having grown to include three children, they needed more food storage. Kitchen designer Dana Jones's solution delivered both without adding on. By incorporating a butler's pantry—just one cabinet and a swinging door between the kitchen and the dining room—she gave the room an extra 50 square feet, allowing for more counter space, a snack peninsula, two sinks, an alcove for the pro-style range, and a double refrigerator-freezer.

See more in A Practical Kitchen Design With Period Appeal.