When Velinda Hellen, founder and principal designer at Velinda Hellen Design, first met her Los Angeles-based clients Jeff and Claire — a composer and a book editor for LACMA — she and her team knew the kitchen in their just-purchased home wasn’t going to cut it. “The ‘before’ kitchen in this bungalow was a non-functional, dark abyss last renovated decades ago,” says Hellen. “The space wasn’t maximized, given the fact the existing design had squeezed a dining nook into the small space despite having an adjoining dining room.”