This Rockville kitchen sat behind a load-bearing wall that kept it separate from the living room and closed off from the rest of daily life. We removed it, opening the first floor into a single connected space. Reconstituted white oak cabinetry in a natural finish runs floor to ceiling on the perimeter, its vertical grain bringing warmth to the expanded layout. Soft white upper cabinets and Calacatta Oro quartz countertops keep the palette bright. A herbal green glossy tile backsplash in a stacked pattern provides the room's one deliberate moment of color. A Thermador suite of wall oven, speed oven, and warming drawer stacked in a single column make up the the cooking wall, while a custom flush in-ceiling hood disappears into the soffit overhead, keeping the sightline clean through to the living room.