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Maredi Design reworked a Milwaukee kitchen that had poor circulation, limited storage and an awkward connection to a former porch. The renovation kept the room’s footprint largely unchanged while adding a U-shaped work area, a peninsula with a concealed coffee station and discreet mudroom storage.
A Milwaukee kitchen renovation by Maredi Design replaced a patchwork layout with a U-shaped kitchen and peninsula, adding work surface, storage and a place to gather without significantly changing the room’s footprint. Apartment Therapy’s report describes the redesign as inspired in part by Julia Child’s pegboard pot-storage system and shaped by the homeowners’ cooking habits and French interests.
Before the renovation, the kitchen combined an original room with a former screened-in porch, leaving what designer Dijana Savic-Jambert described as an obvious, uneven connection between the spaces. The room had limited counter space and no upper-cabinet storage, a makeshift island that impeded circulation, and cabinets that partly blocked the exterior sliding door. The gas stove’s burners did not always work, according to Savic-Jambert’s account in Apartment Therapy.
The new U-shaped plan and peninsula establish a central work and gathering area. The arrangement gave the design team more room for storage and counters while allowing them to leave some wall space open rather than installing upper cabinets throughout. The peninsula also contains a concealed coffee station behind two doors. A custom shelving system on the back wall frames the basement door and an existing radiator; green paint draws on colors in a nearby stained-glass window and tiled fireplace surround.
Because the kitchen is also the household’s main entrance and exit, the designers fitted a pantry and mudroom cabinet into a niche near the exterior door. The project changed two openings: the sliding patio door became an exterior door, and an interior passage beside it into the dining room was closed. Savic-Jambert said the team did not modify other walls or openings. Knotty pine replaced oak flooring that had been refinished to the point that nails were showing, offering a more characterful and, she said, more reasonably priced option than white oak.
A Better Kitchen Without an Addition
The renovation illustrates how a kitchen’s usability can depend as much on circulation and task space as on its total area. Here, the designers addressed multiple everyday problems—cooking, coffee preparation, storage and entryway clutter—within a largely unchanged footprint. For homeowners considering a renovation, the reported choices show how a revised plan and built-in storage can serve more than one household function without an addition.
The redesign also treats the kitchen as a shared room rather than a cooking zone alone. The peninsula creates a place for people to gather, while the coffee niche and open shelving give specific activities and display items a home. Those are design aims described by the designer; the source does not provide measurements, costs or an independent evaluation of how the finished kitchen performs.
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From Screened Porch to Kitchen
The earlier kitchen had been enlarged by incorporating a screened-in porch, but the resulting room did not read or function as one cohesive space. According to Savic-Jambert, its patchwork construction, obstructed door, dim lighting and makeshift island made movement difficult. Cooking alongside another person was also challenging because usable counters and storage were scarce.
The designers’ stated goal was not to add square footage, but to make the combined space work for cooking and gathering while improving its connection to the rest of the home. The Julia Child reference came from the chef’s well-known pegboard approach to organizing pots and pans, as Savic-Jambert described it. The report does not say that the renovation reproduced Child’s kitchen; it presents her storage system and cooking identity as inspiration for a vintage-meets-modern design.
Costs and Performance Not Reported
Apartment Therapy’s supplied report does not give the project’s overall budget, dimensions or timeline, nor does it specify the final appliance models or describe the full pot-storage installation. The designer said knotty pine was more reasonably priced than white oak, but the article excerpt provides no flooring price or total renovation cost for comparison.
The report also does not include measurements or post-renovation feedback from the homeowners, so it is not possible to assess how much additional counter space or storage the redesign created, or how the room performs over time. The burner problems are described as part of the old kitchen; the source does not detail the replacement range or its installation.
No Further Milestone Announced
The source presents the kitchen as a completed renovation and does not announce a further construction phase, follow-up project or scheduled milestone. Readers interested in the design can refer to Apartment Therapy’s original report and its project photographs credited to Jamie Kelter Davis and Maredi Design. No independent cost assessment or homeowner account is included in the supplied material.
Key Questions
What was the main change to the kitchen layout?
Maredi Design replaced the awkward arrangement with a U-shaped kitchen and peninsula, intended to improve circulation while providing more counter, storage and gathering space.
How was Julia Child an influence?
Designer Dijana Savic-Jambert cited Child’s pegboard system for organizing pots and pans as inspiration. The report frames the renovation as an homage to Child’s approach, not as a replica of her kitchen.
Was the home expanded?
No significant footprint expansion was reported. Savic-Jambert said the team changed two openings—the exterior door and a passage into the dining room—and did not modify other walls or openings.
How does the kitchen handle its role as the main entrance?
A pantry and mudroom cabinet was fitted into a niche near the exterior door to provide discreet entryway storage without creating a separate mudroom.
How much did the renovation cost?
The supplied report does not state the project’s total cost. Savic-Jambert described knotty pine as a reasonably priced flooring choice compared with white oak, but no prices were provided.
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