This kitchen was built for comfortable living as the owners ease into their golden years

If you live in a house long enough, chances are you’ll remodel the kitchen at some point. Styles and taste change, and kitchens, the most hardworking room in the house, eventually become dilapidated. After raising their children, the time for these Honolulu homeowners to remodel their kitchen came with their transition into retirement. Wanting to age comfortably in their home, they asked architect Don Najita to design a new kitchen that retained the aspects they liked about the original kitchen and that reworked those they didn’t. The design process began with Najita studying the owners’ habits and the principles of aging in place. The finished kitchen incorporates modern materials that are durable and easily maintained, storage that is convenient and personalized, and fixtures and hardware that are ergonomically easy to use, all while retaining many original landmarks that preserve the owners’ mental map of their kitchen. Taking advantage of an opportunity to work with forward-thinking clients, Najita also incorporated a new roof with solar panels and passive-cooling strategies, so the remodeled home now produces more energy than it consumes.

Kitchen-for-a-Lifetime_FHB183.pdf