Taking an 1890 farmhouse and making it work for a young couple’s modern lifestyle is not always an easy task. The homeowners had already worked on modifying the upstairs to blend the home’s original traditional dark woodwork with their interest in modern details such as sliding barn doors with stainless steel detailing. The major challenge they had yet to tackle was their small kitchen, but with the doors falling off the hinges, and a young son to worry about, they knew the time had come to find a way to update the space. In order to create a stronger connection between the kitchen and dining room, we removed the wall between the two rooms, replacing it with a new sink area and raised bar counter framed by counter wall cabinets that create a physical divider between the rooms while retaining an open feel.