When Taryn Bone and Camila Obniski, the architects behind Massachusetts-based Bone Collective Studio, got word from their structural engineer that the wall dividing their client’s kitchen and living room wasn’t load-bearing, they started cooking up drawings of an open-concept floor plan. At the heart of it all? An island. But that’s where the dream ended—on paper.
The entryway to the two-story Boston condo was way too close to the cooking zone. An island would simply get in the way. So, Bone and Obniski pivoted to plan B: a peninsula.
It wasn’t an ideal layout. The whole point of nixing the dividing wall was to create good flow between the two main living areas. That’s when the designers came up with a new way to connect the rooms with a custom bookcase that stretches into both spaces.
Surprisingly, it didn’t take them long to figure out the perfect configuration. Knowing that the large sofa would be cozied up near the 14-inch-deep shelves, the pair couldn’t opt for regular hinged cabinet doors. Instead, the lower portion of closed storage features sliders. “That way they can open it up from the couch and grab something,” says Bone. Above that, they chose a mix of open cubbies and push-to-open cupboards of varying sizes (the smallest ones are 14.5-by-16 inches; the larger ones are 31-by-33 inches).
The most clever addition? The giant sliding door that disguises the ceiling-height pantry. “We did go through a few iterations wondering if it should be an accordion door or two cabinet doors that open, but that felt awkward because they wouldn’t be able to store anything on the countertops,” says Bone. When the homeowners want to grab a new roll of paper towels or some pasta, all they have to do is shift the panel toward the living room.
