WHEN ROLAND BEHEE and Laura Cameron–Behee moved into their 1910 American Foursquare, in 1999, the cramped shoebox of a kitchen needed work, but it wasn’t on their priority list at first. One of their two daughters had just been born, and the second would come along soon.
Remnants of a 1960s remodeling included failing cabinets, a dropped acoustic-tile ceiling, and a layout that included “the mother of all bottlenecks” at the back door. The stairs from the basement, the door to the laundry room, a kitchen door, and the stove “all kind of converged in the same space,” Roland explains.
The couple and their growing family nevertheless lived with the cramped kitchen for years. Then, serendipitously, Laura met designer Chandra Sadro, who joined the Everett, Washington, historical commission when Laura…