Dated Kitchen Goes Modern With A 16-feet Wide Garage Door

As young parents Jessica and John Graham began to settle into their newly acquired Northlake, Georgia, home, they realized that its outdated style impacted their lifestyle more than they wanted. And they had kitchen envy. As Jessica tells it, whenever they visited the industrial-modern kitchen layouts of their friends’ homes, “We’d say, ‘Ohhh—wouldn’t that be nice!’” They struggled to come up with a design to remodel the kitchen that would be creative and budget-friendly, but were at a loss for what to do.

That’s when they consulted designer Chip Wade, host of HGTV’s “Elbow Room.” Chip’s game plan included tearing out an exterior wall in order to expose a garden view and create an outdoor space adjacent to the kitchen.
Next, Chip focused on storage. He asked the Grahams to remove everything they kept in their kitchen cabinets and donate to charity anything they hadn’t used in the past three years. “It’s likely you’ll have at least
20 percent less stuff to store now,” he told them. Then he chose budget-friendly IKEA cabinetry based on the space they actually needed for storage. “Don’t waste your money on empty cabinets!” he advised.

we love smart solutions!
The new glass-paned, 16-feet-wide garage door opens up and out from the kitchen—acting as a patio cover for the new outdoor entertaining space.

Chip Wade
• Atlanta native, resides in Johns Creek
• Owner of Wade Works Creative, LLC
• Emmy award-winning host for HGTV network
• Expertise: Interior and exterior home renovation. Works with homeowners to create stylish, functional living spaces.
• WadeWorksCreative.com