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This Minneapolis couple and their three kids love cooking and baking together. But the cramped U-shaped kitchen in their 1904 home didn’t exactly feel family-friendly. To help them create a larger, more functional kitchen with improved storage, workspace and a personalized style, they hired designer Kate Roos to spearhead a major remodel.
Roos took over a mudroom to expand the kitchen, adding 45 square feet and freeing up room for an island with seating. A nifty rolling baking cart can tuck away into the island. The walnut island coordinates with a focal point range hood and red oak flooring to add warmth to the light gray perimeter cabinets and white tile. A colorful handmade backsplash design over the range punches up the space with playful personality.
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With busy jobs and two elementary school kids, Kendra Oxholm and her husband needed a kitchen that could keep up with their hectic lifestyle. Their existing kitchen didn’t come close. It sat closed off behind a wall separating it from the dining room. The space felt cramped. The cabinets lacked storage. And the materials — aging basic white cabinets, laminate countertops, tile flooring and blue wallpaper — felt dated and uninspiring. “I love to cook and knew this kitchen wouldn’t work for me,” Oxholm says.
Wanting more openness, efficiency, color and contemporary materials, the couple hired designer Sean Lewis for help. Lewis got to work knocking down the wall to open the kitchen to the dining room. He added a peninsula with seating that improves connection between the two spaces. Closing off an exterior door to the driveway freed up room to add more cabinetry and improve storage. Gray paint for the cabinets with brass hardware and other brass details creates an elegant style. A graphic black-and-white porcelain tile floor energizes the new kitchen, while a black-painted open pantry brings a dramatic touch.
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
With busy jobs and two elementary school kids, Kendra Oxholm and her husband needed a kitchen that could keep up with their hectic lifestyle. Their existing kitchen didn’t come close. It sat closed off behind a wall separating it from the dining room. The space felt cramped. The cabinets lacked storage. And the materials — aging basic white cabinets, laminate countertops, tile flooring and blue wallpaper — felt dated and uninspiring. “I love to cook and knew this kitchen wouldn’t work for me,” Oxholm says.
Wanting more openness, efficiency, color and contemporary materials, the couple hired designer Sean Lewis for help. Lewis got to work knocking down the wall to open the kitchen to the dining room. He added a peninsula with seating that improves connection between the two spaces. Closing off an exterior door to the driveway freed up room to add more cabinetry and improve storage. Gray paint for the cabinets with brass hardware and other brass details creates an elegant style. A graphic black-and-white porcelain tile floor energizes the new kitchen, while a black-painted open pantry brings a dramatic touch.
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
The owners of this Minnesota home — professional musicians and California transplants — were drawn to its midcentury modern architecture. According to local lore, the house was designed by a protege of Frank Lloyd Wright’s in 1954. It’s a fabulous home filled with iconic midcentury details.
The kitchen, however, was not so fabulous. It was closed off from the rest of the house, making it feel dark. The appliances were old, and at some point someone had added red carpeting and a harvest gold range and countertops. While keeping the kitchen’s footprint intact, interior designer Colleen Slack was able to open up the room, provide adequate storage and countertop space, and create a look that jibes with the home’s classic midcentury style.
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A generous dining space runs parallel to the kitchen. Against the wall is a bench seat containing drawers. The tall cabinet at the far end is one of a pair that bookend the bench. This one houses a boiler, while the other (out of shot) contains a tea and coffee station.
The cushions and artwork, in shades of blue, green and orange, bring dynamic color to the space, adding personality.
Sustainability is always a key consideration in Llogarajah’s projects. “Several existing elements were carefully integrated into the new design,” she says. Along with all the kitchen appliances and the sink, her design also incorporated the owner’s existing dining table and chairs to minimize waste.
“The design is tailored to seamlessly incorporate [all] these pieces, meaning the reused items feel intentional, as though they were always part of the overall scheme,” she says.
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This home in Northampton, England, had a kitchen with an adjoining dining area and a living room in a conservatory, but it felt gloomy and cramped. The owner, who lives here with her two sons, found interior designer Eleni Fantis on Houzz and asked her to rethink the design. “[The owner] wanted a real family space, with defined areas, but where they could all gather, cook, entertain and enjoy being together,” Fantis says.
Before Photo
Photos by Beth Saunders Photography
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A woman with two sons
Location: Northampton, England
Size: About 120 square feet (11 square meters); 12 by 10 feet
Designers: Eleni Fantis of Omorfia Interior Design (interior design) and Ezra Kerr of Jikoni Interiors (kitchen design)
Before: The original kitchen was put in when the house was built. While there was plenty of storage, the arrangement made the area feel cramped.
Fantis wanted to use a kitchen company that would make the most of the space. Enter kitchen designer Ezra Kerr.
Fantis’ solution to the dark area was to create a flow of light and space, while Kerr cleverly turned the kitchen into a cozy but high-functioning room.
The kitchen is the heart of the space and it was important that this was somewhere the owner could feel relaxed and enjoy making food, entertaining and teaching her boys to cook.
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The new design removed the bank of cabinets on the right, widening the room, but this meant Kerr needed to find a way to fit plenty of storage into the new layout.
Luckily, there’s a utility room through the door opposite the sink, so he didn’t need to find space for laundry appliances.
He made more use of the short wall with a full-height pantry cabinet — one of the owner’s key requests — a refrigerator and cabinets above and below the combination and standard ovens.
Kerr stopped short of the ceiling for a maximum sense of space. “Having units to the ceiling makes a room look smaller — when you can’t see the wall above, it closes everything in — so we left a gap,” he says.
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In the corner, Kerr retained the base and wall cabinet arrangement to add some extra countertop space — a spot that serves as a good breakfast station.
The white doors are vinyl-wrapped, making them robust, and the white countertop is durable quartz. Kerr went with a curved ceramic sink to add interest.
Fantis chose pretty pink and blue tiles for the backsplash. “[The owner] didn’t really have any pattern in her home, so I wanted to incorporate some delicate patterns so as not to overwhelm her,” she says.
Kitchen cabinet paint: Satin White and Richmond Denim, Jikoni Interiors
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As there was now no room on the ovens wall for a cooktop, Kerr came up with a neat solution — an angled peninsula.
“Usually, the [cooktop] would go on the back wall, but because there was no space, that was the only way we could do it. You could have had a [standard] peninsula, but we tried to make it a bit more special. It makes the kitchen feel cozy and works really well in the space.”
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There was originally a wall cabinet in this corner to the right, but Kerr swapped it for open oak shelves. “We didn’t want to block out any light, so it’s better if the look feels open,” he says.
The wood-look luxury vinyl tile flooring pairs well with the oak shelves, and looks and feels warmer than the original tiles.
The other side of the peninsula is curved, which not only gives it a softer feel, it also adds countertop space and makes it more sociable.
“[The owner] wanted us to fit in as many seats as we could,” Kerr says. “We created the circular shape so you can have people sitting round being sociable without all sitting in a line.” This section of countertop is oak, giving it the feel of a table.
The induction cooktop has a downdraft ventilation system that vents out through the wall. “An extractor hanging from the ceiling would have blocked the room,” Kerr says.
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Kerr has tucked a wine fridge and another cabinet into the peninsula unit. Neither is obvious from the living area, but they help maximize the storage.
An upholstered bench offers an additional seating spot when guests are over.
Before Photo
Before: Originally, the dining area was in the small room to the left and the living area was in a conservatory to the right.
After: Fantis had most of the wall between the two spaces removed. She sited the seating area near the French windows and moved the dining area into the conservatory.
Light can now circulate between the spaces, making them feel brighter and bigger.
The large armchair between the living room and kitchen is key to the color scheme. “The floral fabric was actually the beginning of the whole design, and is a printed velvet,” Fantis says. “[The owner] loved it so much, I persuaded the supplier to sell me additional [fabric], which we then used for some of the blinds.”
The original dark red curtains have been swapped for these pale blue ones, which fit with the fresh, light color scheme and are less dominating.
Before Photo
The conservatory roof had been badly lined in the past, so Fantis had that replaced.
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SKS invisible induction island
7. Invisible Induction Cooktops
SKS — formerly known as Signature Kitchen Suite — made a splash at KBIS with this kitchen island with a hidden induction cooktop and pop-up downdraft ventilation system. When not in use, the vent is flush with the countertop and the cooktop blends in with the counter’s wood grain finish, leaving a nearly seamless expanse of functional prep space.
This island is still in development, but invisible induction technology is already available to consumers. For example, the already-available outdoor Cosmopolitan kitchen from Danver, which was also on display at KBIS, is prepped to fit Invisacook induction burners.
While invisible induction admittedly is more niche and high-tech than some of the simple features mentioned previously, as it becomes more widespread, it could be a game changer — particularly in compact kitchens, since it effectively reclaims a cooktop’s width of countertop.
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This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
There was a lot these homeowners liked about their 2002 Spanish-style kitchen: the overall layout, rich stone tile flooring, decorative wood ceiling beams and its pro-style appliances. But overly ornate details on the cabinets, backsplash tile and green granite countertops didn’t fit their desired style. The couple lived in the home for a few years before the husband decided to gift his wife a kitchen remodel for her birthday.
They hired designer Sarah West to help them create a timeless look and feel with cleaner lines and an organic modern style. West responded by pairing custom rift-cut white oak cabinets and several greige upper cabinets with creamy white walls for a warm atmosphere that complements the earthy tones in the stone flooring and new zellige backsplash tile. A furniture-style island has seating on three sides for face-to-face conversation. A large plaster range hood offers clean lines, softened by an elegantly arched window.
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4. You’re Renovating an Old House
From outdated building codes to unusual historic design elements, updating an older house is a challenge that requires a special touch. An experienced kitchen designer can help you navigate this tricky process smoothly.
When kitchen designer Sarah Robertson of Studio Dearborn remodeled this historic Scarsdale, New York, Colonial kitchen, she had to balance design elements from the earliest portion of the home — dating back to the early 19th century — with an addition completed in the 1920s. The finished space nods to the home’s rich history while incorporating fresh, modern touches.
The Hidden Problems in Old Houses
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In a heavy traffic area like a kitchen, the floor needs to earn its keep. There are many surfaces you can go for, including natural stone, luxury vinyl planks, concrete, ceramic and porcelain. You also can choose beautiful wood, but be sure to get advice on how to seal it and protect it from water damage.
Think about how your floor will look with the rest of your design and whether you’ll want to change it in the future. Classic stone tiles will work with most styles and colors. However, a patterned floor also can look stunning.