When the Bennett family asked us to fix a Centerville kitchen that had been remodeled badly once before, we started with how they actually cook — not with a trend board. Here’s what we built, and why NARI Southwest Ohio recognized it.
The Bennett family came to us with a 1990s Centerville kitchen that had been remodeled once, badly, in the early 2010s — peninsula in the wrong spot, oversized island that blocked the workflow, and a layout that made it impossible for two adults to be in the room at the same time without elbowing each other.
What we built — and what NARI Southwest Ohio recognized with a regional design award — is a centerville kitchen remodel that pulls from heritage kitchen design traditions, modern kitchen ergonomics research, and a careful inventory of how the Bennetts actually cook breakfast on a Tuesday and host 14 people on Thanksgiving.
This is the full case study: the design moves, the custom kitchen cabinets dayton millwork, the quartz countertops and shaker cabinets selection, the 12-week build, and the before-and-after that earned the award.
The original kitchen was a 14×16 room that worked against itself. A peninsula jutted from the wrong wall, blocking the natural traffic path from the side door to the dining room. The island was 6 feet long but only 30 inches deep, too small for two cooks but big enough to bottleneck the floor. Storage was almost entirely behind closed lower cabinet doors — the worst possible kitchen storage layout for a family that cooks daily.
What the Bennetts asked for:
The constraints were instructive too. The plumbing wall stayed — moving it would have added weeks and $11,000 to the project with no functional gain. The window over the original sink stayed. The footprint of the room could not grow. Everything else was on the table.
Three design decisions shaped this entire kitchen. Each one would still hold up if we built it again tomorrow.
1. The peninsula came out, the island grew up. We pulled the existing peninsula entirely. In its place, a single 9-foot island with full 42-inch clearance on all four sides. Prep zone on one long side; seating for four on the other. The kitchen workflow now lets two cooks orbit the island without crossing.
2. All-drawer base cabinets replaced 80% of the lower doors. Deep pots-and-pans drawers next to the range. Tableware drawers next to the dishwasher. A pull-out spice rack at the cooktop. The Bennetts found the contents of cabinets they had not opened in years; most of it never went back. Drawer-forward kitchen storage layout is one of those decisions every homeowner thanks us for at the one-year mark.
3. The disappearing coffee bar. A 36-inch garage cabinet built into the corner runs the espresso machine, grinder, and milk frother behind a tambour door. Open in the morning, closed when company comes. A small move that quietly changed how the kitchen reads on weekends.
The single-largest mistake on a high-end kitchen is chasing a Pinterest-of-the-moment material. The Bennett kitchen went the other direction: every surface was selected to look better in five years, not worse. That is what heritage kitchen design actually means.
The before/after photo tells the rest of the story.
A kitchen case study is incomplete without the operational story. Here is how the Bennett build actually ran.
If you are pricing a project like this for your own home, our 2026 Kitchen Remodel Cost Guide walks through the line items by tier — the Bennett kitchen landed in Tier 4. And if you are planning the layout, our kitchen layout guide covers the work-triangle and island-sizing logic we used here.
Take the next step
In-home walk-through, layout sketches on the spot, transparent pricing tied to the design you actually choose. We will look at your existing kitchen, ask the questions we asked the Bennetts, and tell you exactly what your project will cost.
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Local NARI-award team
Tubs, walk-in showers, master baths
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From our Kettering office we serve homeowners across Dayton, Centerville, Beavercreek, Bellbrook, Springboro, Washington Township, Oakwood, and Miamisburg. In-home consultations are always free.
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RA Cooks Renovations
1922 S Smithville Rd
Kettering, OH 45420
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