A Duxbury Kitchen Makes Room for Natural Light and Live Chickens
Interior designer Louisa Smith connected her South Shore home’s indoors with the outdoors—and created an all-weather perch for her sons and their animal friends.
Construction: FrameTechs. Interior Design: Louisa Smith, Grapevine Interiors. Kitchen Cabinets: Faneuil Kitchen Cabinet / Photo by Sarah Winchester
The Problem
Louisa Smith’s Duxbury home has a lovely, large backyard with a porch that leads to a lush lawn and pool where her family spends much of their time in the summer. However, while the outdoor area is accessible via the kitchen, the space previously lacked a connection to the yard. “It was very dark,” says Smith, who is an interior designer. “We wanted to lighten the room up and find ways to connect it to the landscape.”
The Solution
After seeing photos of accordion windows on California homes, Smith was convinced they were crucial to unifying her indoor and outdoor spaces. “You don’t see these types of windows around here often,” she says, noting that the three new windows were a splurge. “But they are amazing. Because they accordion out rather than up the way a double-hung window does…they let in a lot more light.” To enhance the bright, airy feel, Smith installed new cabinets painted in Benjamin Moore “Simply White” with brass hardware and replaced the black stone counters with white Rhino marble. She also swapped out the mid-tone wood floors for lighter oak planks. “Now, as soon as you walk into the kitchen, you see right through to the yard,” says Smith, noting that the porch overhang allows the windows to be open even in the rain. It seems they also provide a handy perch for Smith’s sons and the family’s chickens, who roam freely around the yard.
First published in the print edition of the June 2023 issue with the headline “Birds of a Feather.”
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