From Courant.com:

AT HOME WITH • Megan McTavish

With Kitchen Redesign, Soaps Writer Creates A Special Space To Groom And Bathe Her Beloved Bernese Mountain Dogs

A Dutch door between the dog room and the kitchen in Megan McTavish's Colebrook home.

(MICHAEL MCANDREWS / April 22, 2008)

By ROBIN STANSBURY |Courant Staff Writer
When it came time for longtime soap opera writer Megan McTavish to
remodel the kitchen of her historic Colebrook home, she kept in mind
the needs of her five family members — Gus, Sophie, Faith, Mac
and Poppy.



The family needed room to spread out. Floors that couldn't be easily
damaged. And, oh yes, space to store dog food, bowls and leashes.



"These dogs are my passion, my kids, my family," McTavish said of her
five Bernese mountain dogs. "They live in my house, they live with me,
and this whole kitchen redesign has made that much easier. I got the
kitchen of my dreams."



So did the dogs.



In fact, the dogs got their own room.




The kitchen — originally L-shaped and about 500 square feet
— was divided into one large space dominated by a center island
and a new brick hearth framing the cooktop area, and two smaller
spaces, a butler's pantry on one side and a dog room on the other.



The dog room has a bank of Shaker-style cabinets that organize all the
dog supplies. There's one drawer just for leashes, another for grooming
supplies, still another for dog bowls. There's storage space for
towels, and recycling pull-out cabinetry. Instead of plastic bottles
and glass jars, the cabinets house bins of dog food.



In one corner of the room is a raised grooming bathtub and a fold-away
grooming table. The floor was tiled, for easy clean-up and durability,
and portions of the walls near the tub were tiled as well, so they can
easily be wiped down when the dogs shake after a bath.



The dog room is divided from the kitchen by the bottom half of a Dutch
door topped with a new sill, a height just right for the dogs —
who range from 80 to 100 pounds — to peek over to see the
activity in the kitchen.



Paul J. Knierim, owner of Cabinet Studio Kitchen & Bath in Avon,
designed the renovation and supplied major components such as cabinets,
counters, hardware and tile.



He said the project was unique, and not just because he was designing space for dogs.

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