Narrow pass-through leaves room for a pot rack above

Sunset, Feb, 1984

A slender, horizontal opening cut into the wall between a small kitchen and dining room makes each room seem larger. It allows both areas to share natural light and views, and its 7-inch-wide maple top serves as a buffet.

Jan and Jim Sugar of San Francisco added the 29- by 94-inch opening as a part of a kitchen remodel. On the kitchen side of the opening, an 11 1/2-foot counter more than doubles the work space. Extras are packed into the wall just below the pass-through: a two-level spice rack, a vent with remote fan behind the range, and a 3-foot-long electric outlet strip mounted flush with the wall.

Above the opening hangs an 8-foot combination pot rack and track light that the Sugars designed from ready-made components. Four brackets were screwed to wall studs. Instead of using two parallel boards to hold sliding pot hooks as the rack was designed, the couple replaced one with a length of lighting track. To accept the slightly wider track, the slots in the supports were widened with a file.