After 19 years it was time for this family with 4 children and many pets to update part of their home. I was honored to be involved with the original kitchen design. The previous kitchen had served the family well. The wife expressed an interest in turning their small formal dining room into a hangout library for relaxing and book club meetings. The husband a prolific author and speaker was also a proponent of this concept. With the help of Judith Mattingly of Mattingly Thaler Architecture we eliminated a long narrow hallway and opened the new library to the kitchen. Judith further opened the spaces by using an accordion door system which created a large opening to the new patio with a pergola. This patio is now an outdoor entertaining space. The theme or mission statement was determined to be “steam punk” and the clients purchased two colorful paintings that drove the background color scheme.