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The homeowners found Laura Irion and Laura Peacock of Laura Design Co. through Houzz, and the team collaborated with kitchen designer Wendy Franz of Studio 912 to create the cabinetry layout and design. Using Houzz Pro throughout the process for proposals and invoices, Irion and Peacock selected the kitchen’s materials and furnishings. Irion says the homeowners’ taste leans toward contemporary and midcentury modern design, but their home’s architecture is more classic. So the team blended the styles to arrive at a timeless look.
The designers chose the Evaro inset cabinet door style from StarMark, a semicustom cabinet line carried by Studio 912. The clients were willing to embrace color and loved green and blue, so the designers paired green bottom cabinets with white uppers and a wood-tone island (all prefinished StarMark colors).
“I think that was just a really neat way to have a hit of color and some colored cabinetry without feeling like it was scary,” Irion says. “It’s hard to commit to a whole room of color cabinetry.”
To the left of the sink is one of the clients’ wish list items: a pullout for trash and recycling.
StarMark cabinet colors: maple in Marshmallow Cream (wall cabinets), maple in Moon Bay (base cabinets), alder with Oregano stain (island base cabinets)
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Algozzini often uses seamless bluestone or granite for outdoor counters. “They can be honed, polished or, in the case of granite, even have a leather finish,” he says. “We also use some newer synthetics, which generally provide a lower profile with a crisper, slightly more contemporary look.” The counters seen here are outdoor-grade engineered quartz.
Douglass also recommends granite. “It’s durable, looks great and cleans easily,” he says. For outdoor installations, he suggests a 3-centimeter-thick granite counter instead of a thinner one. “The extra thickness will help with laminated seams,” he says. He also advises against using a full, laminated bullnose, saying that “extreme weather will cause problems in the long run.”
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1. The Refrigerator Center
The refrigerator center serves as a receiving and initial food-preparation point in the kitchen layout. It is best positioned near the entrance from the direction of grocery arrival. Even if this arrangement is not the case in your kitchen, considering this function can help you determine how to begin organizing your kitchen storage space.
A countertop next to or across from your refrigerator is the ideal spot for setting down grocery bags. This position allows immediate transfer of cold items to the fridge and freezer, and storage of staples, canned goods, condiments, cereal boxes and other dry food items in nearby cabinets or a nearby pantry.
Easy access to your staples for initial food preparation helps make the job go faster and easier. Since your staples are placed here, plan to have this same area hold mixers and mixing bowls and their preparation utensils, such as measuring spoons and cups along with sifters, graters, salad molds, cake tins, pie plates and
muffin tins.
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Tierney Conner Architecture
Compose the Shots
Designers create a mix of materials, interior architecture and palette in their work, Livingston says, and he tries to compose photographs that capture this “collage of elements.” It’s an intentional way of photographing, very different from taking a snapshot.
Before shooting a single photograph, or even styling a room and adding props, Livingston will spend 30 minutes just looking at the space and trying to understand its design. He will look at it from different angles to think about how each photo should be composed. “When I walk through a space, I see what the compositions could be,” he says.
Only then does he start styling the space and adding props. As he’s doing that, he continues to walk through the room to see how all the styling and props would look in each of his photo compositions, as well as how all the elements relate to one another. Because once you’ve started shooting, you don’t want to change your styling or move your props around.
“You need to think all that through and make sure there’s continuity from one shot to another,” he says. “Sometimes you’ll get yourself in a trap where you’ll have styled something in some position that in another shot isn’t working well for you.” After he’s double-checked the angles, he will then start shooting.
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This couple’s 1970s kitchen wasn’t giving them the inviting spot for hosting family and friends they wanted. While they were happy with the layout of the 160-square-foot space, their litany of grievances included aging off-white plywood cabinets, brown laminate countertops and beige tile flooring. Old appliances and a two-level peninsula also made things unwelcoming.
Looking for improved style and function, they turned to remodeler Art Kulch to help them create a more vibrant look with color and texture. New sage green cabinets and wood-look vinyl plank flooring elevate the space with nature-inspired style. Marble-look quartz countertops and glazed white backsplash tile lighten things up. New appliances and a streamlined peninsula make the updated kitchen a joy to use and entertain in.
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After: Langreck removed the former materials and components but kept the refrigerator. The updated space follows the previous layout. “The only wall change we attempted was to trim around the opening between the kitchen and mudroom,” Langreck says. “We just tried to make the opening as wide as possible and drywall-wrapped it.”
Frameless cherry cabinets in a low-sheen stain and other wood details add a generous dose of warmth. The lower cabinets and new island are painted a warm yellow (Brittlebush by Sherwin-Williams). Langreck incorporated the existing refrigerator but built out tons of storage surrounding it and the nearby window. “By adding a pantry cabinet over by the window we were able to gain storage over there,” she says. “We now have the microwave inside that cabinet as well, since they don’t use it very frequently.”
The island includes additional storage and seating on three sides. “Wrapping the seating around made it more comfortable for conversation and freed up the end of the island toward the sink to act as prep space without a chair in the way,” Langreck says.
She designed the wood structure over the island that was built by the husband and stained to match the cherry cabinets. It features integrated LED lights. “The ceiling heights are different with that header running across, so it was a way to connect the two spaces together and illuminate the seating area,” Langreck says. A handmade yellow pendant light complements the cabinets. The ceiling also has new LED recessed lights.
Natural maple flooring was sanded and finished in place. “They originally tried to salvage the wood floor underneath the ceramic tile, but it had too many holes and needed to be replaced,” Langreck says. “We evened out the floor in the kitchen and mudroom so it’s all one level.”
Cabinetry: Hudson panel door style, cherry in Mission low-sheen stain, Dura Supreme Cabinetry; wall paint: Creamy, Sherwin-Williams
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This 1920s Spanish Colonial home in Kensington, California, has quite a history, including being the residence of J. Robert Oppenheimer during his time at the University of California, Berkeley. However, the home’s funky kitchen didn’t share that history; it was added on to the back of the home in the 1970s. The homeowner, who loves to cook and to host her grandchildren, looked to Houzz to find a designer when she was ready to remodel. She found interior designer Anne Norton, who came up with a design that would lighten the space and tie it in with the rest of the historic architecture.
Photos by Peter Lyons Photography
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A woman and her dog, Teddy
Location: Kensington, California
Size: 252 square feet (23 square meters)
Designer: Anne Norton of AND Interior Design Studio
Before we step inside, take a look at this photo, which shows the home’s classic 1920s Spanish Colonial architecture. It also introduces us to the homeowner’s dog, Teddy.
The homeowner wanted her kitchen to flow with the rest of the home’s historic architecture. “She’s a big cook, she even likes to make her own yogurt and kombucha,” Norton says. She also loves to gather around the kitchen table with friends and family, especially her grandchildren.
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Here’s a peek at the kitchen in the background, beyond the dining room. The arched opening in the foreground is an architectural element that’s repeated throughout the home. The existing opening to the kitchen had been squared off. Norton redesigned the opening, giving it a graceful arch that mimics the others in the house.
The dining room and the other original rooms had high ceilings. But the kitchen addition had a low, flat ceiling covered in dark wood.
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Before: “The kitchen had a much different look than the rest of the house,” Norton says. “It had been strongly influenced by the School of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley in the ’70s. It was very dark, it had post-and-beam architecture, and it had a flat, low, wood-covered ceiling.” You can glimpse the squared-off opening to the dining room at left.
The cabinets were dark-stained Douglas fir, the wood on the ceiling had a dark stain, and the floors were dark. “The layout was good but there wasn’t enough storage,” Norton says. “We also wanted to upgrade the cabinetry with doors and drawers that were easy to open. The goal was to modernize the kitchen while making it feel like it was part of the original architecture.”
After: While Norton kept the addition’s original footprint and its windows and skylights intact, she looked to the ceiling to help her tie the space to the rest of the home. First she turned to a structural engineer to help remove the post-and-beam structure. Two new large steel beams were installed to hold up the roof. This allowed the designer to raise the ceiling to 9½ feet at the highest point and add a curve to it that was inspired by the arches in the rest of the home. “Raising and curving the ceiling was the most important thing we did,” Norton says. She centered the range and vent hood on the curve. The refrigerator is located at the end of the cabinet run on the right.
With the other elements in the kitchen lightened up, Norton kept the dark floors. “I am a big believer in ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,’” she says. A Middle Eastern rug adds lightness. “I like the way the soft pale oranges in the rug juxtapose with the green cabinets,” Norton says. “It brings a lot of dynamism to the space.”
Browse dining tables in the Houzz Shop
Another important element that ties the kitchen to the rest of the home is the hand-plastered finish on the walls. “We kept the materials in the kitchen simple and honest to let the architecture of the curved ceiling bring the drama,” Norton says. This includes the soft sage green on the cabinets, leathered Absolute Black granite counters and marble subway tiles.
The cabinet profiles are flush inset with simple lines and hardware. And they’re also modern, with lots of inserts and features like spice pullouts, a panel-front dishwasher and trash-recycling pullouts. They have full-extension door and drawer slides, meaning they extend out from the cabinet the full length of the slide when opened, not the typical 75%.
Norton chose Benjamin Moore’s Carolina Gull paint for the cabinets, bringing in a soft, nature-inspired color. The hardware is oil-rubbed bronze. “It will patina over time,” Norton says. This will lend a sense of age that matches other details in the home.
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The Douglas fir windows were a part of the 1970s addition, so Norton added Douglas fir shelves to tie in with them. She notes that being thoughtful about small details was important. “We didn’t float the shelves,” she says. “The little supports that hold up the shelves are an old-world technique. I think it’s these small details that make the kitchen feel authentic.”
The cabinets on either side of the vent hood have decorative metal mesh inserts that give them a lighter feel. Also, Norton had the marble backsplash tiles hand-cut into 4-by-8-inch rectangles. This gives them a stronger presence than if standard 3-by-6-inch tiles had been used.
This homeowner is a staunch kitchen table person, and the existing expanse of windows provided the perfect spot for one. The table is a Scandinavian piece from the 1800s. The built-in china cabinets to the left are original to the addition and worked well with the renovated kitchen’s architecture.
Norton wanted to create just the right spot for the homeowner’s Keith Haring subway art. “That wall where the art hangs was a wood grid of 12-by-12-inch cubbies that made no sense, so we took them out,” she says. She replaced them with a plastered wall that lightened the room and gave the owner a spot to hang the beloved artwork.
The large windows overlooking the back garden were a great feature of the 1970s addition. “There is a view of wisteria hanging from a trellis, and her chickens come up and look through the windows. I always leave this house loaded up with a dozen eggs,” Norton says with a laugh.
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The designers chose the Evaro inset cabinet door style from StarMark, a semicustom cabinet line carried by Studio 912. The clients were willing to embrace color and loved green and blue, so the designers paired green bottom cabinets with white uppers and a wood-tone island (all prefinished StarMark colors).
“I think that was just a really neat way to have a hit of color and some colored cabinetry without feeling like it was scary,” Irion says. “It’s hard to commit to a whole room of color cabinetry.”
To the left of the sink is one of the clients’ wish list items: a pullout for trash and recycling.
StarMark cabinet colors: maple in Marshmallow Cream (wall cabinets), maple in Moon Bay (base cabinets), alder with Oregano stain (island base cabinets)