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2. Old or ‘Best’ Dishware
Do you have cupboards jammed with mismatched plates and bowls, collected over several years and slowly gathering dust?
There are two options here. One is to admit you’re an inveterate collector and display that collection of floral china saucers or glazed earthenware mugs loud and proud where you can see and enjoy them every day.
Alternatively, you admit your collection has gotten a bit out of hand, have a good sort through it, keep your favorite set of dishes and donate the remaining pieces to a thrift store, where someone else will get use and enjoyment from them.
In this kitchen with open shelves designed by Flower Michelin, the dishware on display looks casual and well used, yet pleasingly ties in with the colors of the artwork nearby.
On a side note, if you’re holding onto pieces just in case you need to throw a sit-down dinner party for 100 people at some point in your life, set yourself free from that worry.
Reclaim the cupboard, enjoy the extra space it will afford you, and when you do need to throw that once-in-a-lifetime dinner party, just rent a set of plates for the evening.
12 Custom Storage Solutions for a Clutter-Free Kitchen
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“The wife really knew exactly how she wanted the kitchen to be laid out, but she was also open to new storage ideas and unique finishes,” Wunder says. “She was not afraid to do something interesting and different.”
An 11-by-3½-foot island serves as the center of the kitchen and its English-kitchen-inspired green paint, marble countertop with an ogee edge and oversize glass pendant lights make it stand out. The seeded glass and knurled brass on the lights add texture and dimension, while their transparency keeps them from overwhelming the space. “I’d always rather have lights be oversized than anything that looks the slightest bit undersized,” Wunder says.
Beyond the island, a range alcove serves as the focal point. The range hood has a subtle curve to it and is flanked by countertop cabinets that provide storage for everyday dishes and glassware.
The homeowners wanted a scullery, or back kitchen, to hold additional prep space, the fridge, a second sink and dishwasher for hiding pots and pans when entertaining, small appliances, a second oven and storage for pantry items, wine, glassware, serving pieces and more. “The main kitchen laid out really nicely because we knew how much the back kitchen would be supporting it,” Wunder says. “It allowed the kitchen to become more of an entertaining kitchen.”
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5. Make Over Existing Cabinetry
As long as you’re satisfied with your kitchen’s layout and your cabinets are sturdy and in good shape, having your cabinets professionally repainted or restained is a great way to update the look of the entire space. But if you’re not a fan of the cabinet style — for example, if you like Shaker but you currently have slab — paint can only go so far.
Having your cabinets refaced rather than replaced, as was the case in the kitchen pictured here, can help you achieve a new style for a fraction of the cost. Refacing experts remove doors and drawer fronts, add veneer to the boxes and sides of the cabinets and then replace the old doors and fronts with new ones. Hinges and hardware can be updated at the same time.
Refacing usually can’t change a partial-overlay cabinet door — in which the cabinet frame peeks out — into an inset cabinet or full-overlay style. But it might be able to create a more modern, upscale-looking partial overlay, with thinner reveals and sleeker doors.
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Photos by Andrea Rugg Photography
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple
Location: South Minneapolis, Minnesota
Size: 225 square feet (21 square meters)
Design-build firm: Bluestem Remodeling
The kitchen features custom Shaker-style cabinets in a mix of black and wood units. Polished gold-tone knobs and pulls add refined accents. “The clients were really interested in not having a monolithic look with their cabinetry,” says Mark Ferraro-Hauck, director of design at Bluestem Remodeling. “I love the repeated black throughout the room, but it’s not a black kitchen.”
Wide-plank white oak flooring has a special sealer that preserves its natural, unfinished appearance. “It integrates really well with the rest of the house, giving it a consistent flow,” Ferraro-Hauck says. “We didn’t want the kitchen to feel completely separate from the rest of the house.”
A large sliding glass door opens the kitchen to the patio and backyard. “Their backyard is their summer living room,” Ferraro-Hauck says. A double-hung window on the same wall adds another source of daylight and fresh air.
Custom cabinetry: Sean’s Cabinetry
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This couple purchased a pied-à-terre in Chicago’s Holden Block building, an Italianate-style landmark dating back to the rebuilding period following the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. Designed by architect Stephen Vaughn Shipman and built in 1872, the building is a standout, as many other Chicago commercial loft buildings were demolished to make way for skyscrapers. Its ornately carved Buena Vista sandstone facade earned it landmark status. The building’s conversion to residential condos in the 1990s was thoughtful, but the original kitchen in this unit did not celebrate the building’s history or architecture.
The owners brought in trusted designer Laura O’Brien of O’Brien Harris, who had designed two other kitchens for them in the past. The first kitchen she designed for them was classic white, while the second featured dramatic black. “This time they were ready for something entirely different — a moody, colorful space that embraces color in a way that feels timeless and unexpected,” O’Brien says. The new kitchen nods to the building’s industrial history and its elegant facade.
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These Bellevue, Washington, homeowners wanted a kitchen as fun and relaxed as they are — full of color, pattern and personality. For 18 years, they lived with a small, dark, U-shaped kitchen with aging honey oak cabinets and no island, hardly a source of joy in their 1979 transitional-style home. The eating area had great light but was cut off by a peninsula. With one son in college and another in high school, the couple were ready for something brighter, more open and designed for gathering, complete with a spacious island, ample storage and a few surprises.
To help bring their vision to life — and to rethink the unused formal dining room off the kitchen — they turned to designer Erin Etchemendy of 31E Designs and to Houzz photos for inspiration. Removing the peninsula and dining room wall expanded the footprint by 121 square feet, making room for a long, custom island detailed with colorful patterned porcelain tiles. A walnut-and-quartzite top adds a unique twist to the light blue island base, while engineered wood flooring and flat-panel white oak cabinetry warm the space. Horizontally stacked rectangular tiles lend texture and movement, completing the bright kitchen brimming with character.
Before Photo
“After” photos by Candi Kintzley
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with a son in college and another in high school
Location: Bellevue, Washington
Size: 231 square feet (21 square meters)
Designer: Erin Etchemendy of 31E Designs
Before: This photo, taken from the doorway of the unused dining room, shows the dated 110-square-foot kitchen with its honey oak cabinets, no hardware, granite counters and cold tile floor. “They definitely wanted to get rid of that,” Etchemendy says. “They wanted to warm up the space for sure.”
Upper cabinets over the peninsula cut the kitchen off from the eating area and family room, making the already tight space feel even smaller and darker. The range wall separated the kitchen from the dining room, while the stainless steel refrigerator across from the sink jutted out awkwardly. “It felt cramped, and the organization — or lack thereof — was a problem,” Etchemendy says.
One bright spot: a large fixed window over the sink. The homeowners loved the natural light and wanted to make it a bigger feature in the new design.
After: Etchemendy removed the peninsula, cabinetry, counters and flooring, then took down the former range wall to absorb the unused dining room, expanding the kitchen from 110 to 231 square feet. “They didn’t really use the formal dining room and have that other eating area,” Etchemendy says. “We eliminated a room they didn’t use while maintaining space to eat, both in the eating area and at the new island.”
The spacious island measures 3 feet, 2 inches wide by 14 feet, 6 inches long and features light blue flat-panel cabinets and drawers — including a charging drawer — plus open shelves for cookbooks. The top combines sealed walnut and Blue Lava quartzite, the latter a stunning stone with a cool blue background and dark blue and orange veining. “They wanted to incorporate the wood, but I didn’t think it would be a good idea to make the entire island top walnut,” Etchemendy says. “This way they have somewhere to put hot pots or other items and not worry about it. It’s also just a cool feature. They just wanted to do something that was different and unique.”
The light blue of the island contrasts with the perimeter flat-panel white oak cabinetry in a honey pecan finish. Engineered oak flooring with 7½-inch brushed and smoked planks adds more warmth. “They didn’t want to go sterile and do white or be overwhelming with a bunch of color,” Etchemendy says. “Adding the wood gives a warm backdrop to the pops of color.”
The newly open kitchen flows into an updated dining area with a new built-in bar, as well as a refreshed family room with a new fireplace surround and built-ins. LED recessed ceiling lights provide flexible illumination. The homeowners skipped island pendant lights to keep the focus on the backsplash. “They were worried the pendants would get in the way of that,” Etchemendy says. “But it’s wired in case they want to add pendants in the future.”
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Encaustic-look porcelain tiles in a mix of lively patterns wrap one section of the island base, adding a playful hit of color and texture. “That was actually a request from the client,” Etchemendy says. “They both love color. When they saw this tile, they sort of fell in love.”
Tiles: Tangier Decos, Surface Art
Before and After: 4 Revamped Kitchens in 150 to 250 Square Feet
By extending the kitchen into the former dining room, Etchemendy was able to move the range to the sink wall and create an adjoining pantry and refrigerator wall with an integrated beverage station and a paneled French door refrigerator that blends seamlessly with the cabinetry. “Function-wise, this allows them to keep a lot of the food they use on a regular basis at hand,” she says. “They also have an additional pantry off their entry hallway that used to be their laundry room.” Polished marble-look quartz countertops on the perimeter add a light, durable and elegant touch.
Paint colors: Egret White (walls and ceiling) and Pure White (trim), Sherwin-Williams
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A new 30-inch, dual-fuel range features four burners and a custom drywall hood accented with a white oak band. “We had extra wood paneling for the cabinets and used that for the hood trim,” Etchemendy says.
The upgraded double-basin stainless steel sink is paired with a touchless pull-down faucet, flanked by a dishwasher to the right and a trash-and-recycling pullout to the left. The backsplash, made of 2-by-10-inch gray-tone horizontal field tiles with a glossy finish, adds subtle texture and visual height. “They really liked the idea of having a bit of physical texture to the tile but not have it be overwhelming,” Etchemendy says. “We found a suite of tile with a flat glossy finish and a stacked stair pattern that just adds more character to a long, continuous wall.”
An interior corner to the right of the sink has floating wood shelves for decorative items, with a toaster oven tucked away off the main counter. “It was going to be interesting trying to figure out how to put a cabinet there with the window so close by,” Etchemendy says. “This creates a unique feature with the open shelving.”
Backsplash tile: Lighthouse in Mist, United Tile
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Here’s a look at the beverage station tucked into the pantry wall. An upper shelf holds a microwave, while a pullout below houses the coffee maker and supplies. “It was just to get all of that behind closed doors, to avoid having busy counters,” Etchemendy says. “There are pullout drawers below for their tea and coffee, so it creates a one-stop spot for those items.”
Flat black hardware in various shapes and sizes adds flair to the pantry, refrigerator wall and the rest of the cabinetry. “These clients are all about the unique and different,” Etchemendy says. “A pantry wall can be very overwhelming, but bringing in different accents helped break it up.”
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Before Photo
Before: This opening once separated the living room (front) from the formal dining room (back). “They wanted to open up the two spaces,” Etchemendy says. “They didn’t really use that living room.”
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After: Widening the opening creates a smoother flow between the updated living room and revamped kitchen, making the kitchen feel more open and connected. “This improved floor plan puts the big, bright kitchen at the center of everything,” Etchemendy says. “We were able to create a space that feels nice and open but not too grandiose.”
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2. Open Shelves
If your kitchen feels cramped, removing all or some of your upper cabinets might be the best option for you. This is a sure way to open up the visual space around the room, making the kitchen appear much larger than it is.
Plenty of light is important in a small space, and upper cabinets can sometimes cast a shadow over the countertops, making the workspace feel darker than necessary. So skipping those uppers can really open a space up. Running tile on the backsplash to the ceiling can also help visually heighten the look of the room.
If you’re worried about losing the storage from ditching upper cabinets, consider a hardworking island, if you have the space, or consult with a design pro to really maximize your lower cabinet storage with pullouts, drawers and other high-functioning components.
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Having a great idea for your new kitchen is one thing; executing that idea is quite another. The owner of this 1870 Victorian house in the London suburb of Teddington wanted a large hidden pantry in a well-functioning yet airy kitchen. Ftting all of that neatly into the space available required a professional eye, so she called on Tim Higham of Higham Furniture to bring it to life.
“The [owner] has a very good sense of style and knows what she wants, but we had to interpret that and work with the property and the space we were given,” he says.
The team crafted a beautiful modern-rustic kitchen with an elegant, elevated island and, hidden behind cabinet doors, a warm yellow pantry with masses of storage.
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Photos by Cody Simmons
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple
Location: Duanesburg, New York
Size: 275 square feet (26 square meters)
Design-build pro: Marianne A. Clifford of Marianne Ashley Designs
Clifford removed the old appliances, cabinets, counters and floor, along with the two-level island, making way for a more than 12-foot-wide, one-level island with seating and storage. “It offers a lot more options on how the island can be used,” she says. The new layout improves sightlines and makes the kitchen feel open and inviting.
The island base and perimeter cabinets are semicustom cherry flat-panels with a natural finish and matte black ledge pulls. “A lot of the woodwork in their home was already cherry, so we wanted to create a unified look,” Clifford says.
The upgraded stainless steel refrigerator stayed in place, while an added open upper cabinet and tall pantry on the side expand storage. “There are hooks inside that pantry cabinet for hanging a step stool and broom,” Clifford says.
Modern counter stools with cognac leather upholstery and curved low backs sit at the island, while contemporary pendant lights with etched opal glass shades and matte black frames hang overhead. The ceiling has new LED recessed lights on dimmers. “This gives them full control,” Clifford says.
Pendant lights: Somerset, Hinkley Lighting; stools: Zion, Ballard Designs
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While Clarke-Bishop has reduced the amount of black in the room, she’s also banished most of the white to make the kitchen feel warmer and more inviting.
“At first we were trying to do a pink kitchen, but we couldn’t find a shade that would work in this light — everything either looked too sugary or too dirty,” she says. They settled on a very pale but warm gray.
The walls, meanwhile, are a subtle pinkish-white. “It brings warmth into the room without being an overt color,” Clarke-Bishop says.
The client loves black, so Clarke-Bishop has retained some, designing a black island that echoes the existing range. The island is on legs. “It not being solid allows more light to come through and gives it a bit more airiness,” she says.
The island isn’t huge — 64½ inches long by 35½ inches wide by 32 inches deep — but it’s perfect for the homeowners. “They really didn’t want any appliances in the island. They wanted it to be a standalone” countertop, Clarke-Bishop says. “It’s become a real focal point of the kitchen — everyone stands around it chatting.”
The legs are a modern take on a Victorian turned leg. “I researched lots of Victorian table legs to find a good combination of the detail they needed to add a bit of something to the space without it being overly ornate, because everything’s quite simple and calm in the room,” Clarke-Bishop says.
The countertop is Arabescato marble, which has a hint of pink in it. The remaining countertops are a simple, lightly marbled quartz, “just to allow the island to have a shining moment.”
The refrigerator sits behind the far-left door, with a pantry in the right-hand tall cabinet.
Cabinet paint: Strong White; island paint: Pitch Black, both Farrow & Ball; wall paint: Rose Tinted White, Edward Bulmer