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Around the 1950s, people started taking sledgehammers to their kitchen walls in full embrace of a new concept. But before cramped closed quarters became a true thing of the past, another trend briefly saw the light of day: the pass-through window. Popular in mid-century homes, these serving hubs made it easier to get hot dishes from the counter to the dining table without putting your messy prep space on display. Then sprawling islands took their place…until now.
“Working from home has changed the dynamics of living together,” says Jean Brownhill, founder of online renovation platform Sweeten. “Partial walls help temper the sound of foot traffic while providing an open view to other spaces. It’s the best of both worlds.” For the past few years, she’s seen a rise in pass-through window requests, especially in smaller NYC apartments. Brownhill isn’t the only one who has a newfound crush on this forgotten renovation feature—the rooms ahead are making it feel fresh again.
Fill the Opening with Shelves
Not everything that goes on in a kitchen needs to be seen by guests. Rubin Studio put up a wall—partly made up of open shelving—at one end of this L.A. space to create a narrow pantry while offering functional storage at the same time. The gaps are also helpful for whoever’s turn it is to clear the table and pass dirty plates to the other side.
Help It Disappear
You barely notice the rectangular window in Jordan Ferney’s old rental kitchen because of the sleek white subway tile walls and the fact that the slate countertops match the opening’s sill.
Carve Out a Half-Moon
Just smoothing out the top of a pass-through window makes it easier on the eye. Because Sapna Aggarwal’s clients had large extended families, the Bungalowe designer sought newfound openness to foster gathering when they host. To really make it welcoming, she carved out an arch-shaped pass-through that looks on to the dining area and makes it easy to hand dishes over.
Offer Up a View of the TV
The structural wall dividing this L.A. kitchen from the living room was not an eyesore that was so easily remedied, which was a big deal to the homeowner, who likes to watch sports while he cooks. As a compromise, he made a pass-through window. What started as a necessity ended up being one of his favorite parts of the house.
Round It Out
An easy way to lend a serving spot a 21st-century feel? Give it some curves, like in Bri Ussery’s Austin home. “We wanted to feel connected to the rest of the house,” she explains. Ussery softened the edges of her kitchen cutout to mimic the arched doorways that were original to the house.
Double It Up
In Denise Portmans and Sara Marlowe Hall’s California home, organic shapes extend to the architecture, where arched windows and doorways live alongside rectangular ones. So in the kitchen, the mother-daughter duo kept both. With pass-through windows leading to both the dining area and the sunroom, mingling with (socially distanced) guests while they mince and sauté is an effortless affair.
Hide It Away
Designer Merve Kahraman lined the windows of this Manhattan apartment in ombré cafe curtains to mimic the sweeping sunset views. So instead of opening up the galley kitchen’s existing cutout, she gave it a similar treatment. Hiding dishes or letting light in is as easy as pulling back the fabric.
Extend It Outside
It’s not just indoors that Brownhill is noticing an uptick in pass-through windows: The trend extends to the backyard, too. “It makes any space where meals are served convenient,” she says of openings from the kitchen to a deck or garden. All it takes is an accordion window, a counter, and a couple of stools to turn it into a happy hour destination.