6 min readFor one young family, the kitchen was never meant to be a showpiece. It simply needed to survive weeknight chaos, holiday breakfasts, and a constant stream of relatives coming and going. The homeowners—passionate cooks with deep Persian roots—originally thought a cosmetic update would be enough for their early-2000s builder-grade home.
But after walking the space, designer Kristin Harrison of Georgia & Hunt quickly realized the awkward, angular layout was limiting the home's potential and called in Tanya Smith-Shiflett of Unique Kitchens & Baths for a collaborative fix. Together, the two firms completely reworked the footprint, removing a cramped walk-through pantry and squaring off the kitchen to create a space where cooking, gathering, and everyday life could finally unfold without getting in each other's way.
"Just because you're building a new kitchen doesn't mean you're going to change the way you live," Harrison says. "If you really focus on how people use it day to day, the design should support that."
For Harrison, that meant looking beyond finishes and fixtures. She began by understanding how the family already used the room—where traffic stalled, where multiple people cooked at once, what cookware they reached for most often, and even where the nearest trash pullout needed to be. "Let's really build it for exactly how you move around that space every day," she says.
That's where Smith-Shiflett entered the conversation. Harrison understood how the family already lived; Smith-Shiflett knew how to build a kitchen that could support it. "Designers have great concepts," Harrison says. "But in terms of how the kitchen actually functions, it's so important to have people who know what they're doing." Together, the two refined the floor plan, circulation, and storage strategy long before a single cabinet was built.
For Smith-Shiflett, everything began with geometry. "We had to get that ‘octagonness’ out of that space," she says of the original kitchen's awkward angles and narrow walk-through pantry. Removing the pantry squared off the room, expanded the island, and established clear sightlines between the cooking area and breakfast nook.
The true test came at the family's first holiday gathering in the finished kitchen. "They were the happiest when they had their whole family over," Harrison says. "They saw how happy it made everyone else to be there and have a place for the whole family.”
FAST FACTS
Designers: Kristin Harrison of Georgia & Hunt, Tanya Smith-Shiflett of Unique Kitchens & Baths
Location: Fairfax County, Virginia
The Space: An early-2000s builder-grade home transformed through custom millwork, timeless materials, and an updated family-friendly floor plan.
KITCHEN
A ten-foot-long cooking range steals the show.
Framed in custom millwork, the Arabescato Corchia marble-wrapped cooking alcove anchors the space. At over ten feet long, this made-in-America L’Atelier Paris range was outfitted with everything the homeowners requested, including an indoor grill, six gas burners, an electric griddle, two convection ovens, warming cabinets, and a prep sink.
Widening and replacing the windows brightened this formerly dark kitchen. Designed to conceal highly customized storage for pots, pans, and baking sheets, the island includes strategically placed trash pullouts near the cook zone, minimizing back-and-forth during cleanup. Endcap seating keeps the couple’s three children close without interrupting meal prep.
BREAKFAST NOOK
Sunlight drenches this family gathering spot.
Harrison envisioned the breakfast nook as a seamless extension of the kitchen. "I am not the biggest built-in banquette person," she admits, "but this space lent itself so well to doing something like this." Crafted by Unique Kitchens & Baths and upholstered in Schumacher velvet, the custom banquette continues the kitchen's millwork while creating a comfortable gathering place for everyday meals and the holiday breakfasts that helped shape the renovation.
DINING ROOM
A bit of trickery and reorientation reset this sophisticated space.
The dining room's transformation began not with demolition, but with perspective. "We had to recenter the room," Harrison says. "Where do the lights go? Where does the table go? How does this flow from the kitchen into the dining room?"
Because the room's unconventional geometry couldn't be altered without affecting adjoining spaces, she instead reimagined the composition, relocating the electrical for a pair of Visual Comfort & Co chandeliers, reorienting the Restoration Hardware dining table, and wrapping the walls in an affordable custom mural from Walloria Art on Etsy. The moody landscape mural reinforces the room's original millwork while bringing balance and a stronger sense of direction to a space that once felt at odds with itself.
MUDROOM
Designed to absorb the realities of family life, the drop zone keeps everyday clutter hidden away.
Often overlooked in a renovation, the mudroom became another opportunity to maximize storage. Floor-to-ceiling cabinetry by Unique Kitchens & Baths lines both sides of the passage, while a classic black-and-white marble floor by Devon Tile sets a timeless tone.
Harrison topped the custom bench with a remnant slab of marble, one of her favorite ways to stretch a budget. Because the bench is relatively shallow, a remnant delivers the look of a custom stone installation without the expense of purchasing a full slab. "It makes it look expensive," Harrison says.
POWDER ROOM
Ethereal wallcovering creates an earthy, enveloping atmosphere.
With the home's major gathering spaces grounded in warm oak and marble, Harrison allowed the powder room to indulge in a little more personality. Phillip Jeffries wallcovering sets the tone, while a sculptural Violaro marble sink, vintage 1stDibs mirror, and Brassna plumbing fixtures bring richness to the compact space.
STUDY
A rich forest green gives this once-forgotten study new life.
The study had good bones—arched windows, soaring ceilings, and exposed beams—but it wasn't working. "It truly was just like someone slapped kitchen lowers and uppers in there, and it just wasn't doing anything," Harrison recalls. Rather than replacing one set of built-ins with another, she saw an opportunity to create a room that could evolve with the family.
Custom millwork by Unique Kitchens & Baths stretches across the back wall, pairing generous closed storage with open shelving and angled display ledges Harrison insisted upon to give the cabinetry more depth and purpose. A rolling library ladder reinforces the room's architectural presence, while deep chaise lounges invite the family to linger.
Today, the room serves as equal parts home office, library, and game room. "The husband honestly works in there most times," Harrison says. "He loves just hanging out." What began as an underused study has become one of the most-loved rooms in the house, a place where chess games replace laptops at the end of the day.
PRIMARY BATH
A tub-side fireplace anchors the room, creating a luxe atmosphere.
The primary bath was weighed down by awkward angles, oversized soffits, and a layout that never quite made sense. Rather than reinvent the room, Harrison and Smith-Shiflett carefully edited it. Existing plumbing remained wherever possible to preserve the budget, allowing them to invest instead in a generous double vanity, an expanded shower, and richly veined Arabescato Corchia marble that now wraps the room.
“We just squared everything off," Smith-Shiflett says. Once the soffits came down, the space revealed a clean, rectangular footprint that had been hiding in plain sight. The marble became the room's defining element almost by accident. “I literally took every slab they had,” Harrison says, recalling the moment the homeowners fell for the stone. Rather than reserve it for a single statement wall, she carried it throughout the bath, where its dramatic veining is softened by warm white oak cabinetry and restrained lighting.
About the Designers
Kristin Harrison is the founder and principal designer of Georgia & Hunt, a Virginia–based interior design studio known for creating highly personalized homes rooted in the way clients actually live. Harrison's work balances refined interiors with practical family living, approaching each project through a deeply collaborative process that prioritizes lasting relationships as much as timeless design.
Tanya Smith-Shiflett is the founder and lead designer of Unique Kitchens & Baths, a nationally recognized design-build firm specializing in custom cabinetry handcrafted in the United States. An NKBA Senior Kitchen & Bath Designer, Smith-Shiflett oversees every stage of the process—from design through fabrication and installation—creating highly customized kitchens, baths, and built-ins that seamlessly unite beauty and function.
