An Italian woman who loves to cook and entertain needs a kitchen that encourages her culinary talents—she needs top-of-the-line appliances, space for prep work and clean-up, and seating for friends and family to savor her sauces. An Italian woman with three small kids and a fourth on the way needs a kitchen that can keep up.
What preceded this warm, modern space was an all-white kitchen, starkly contemporary. But four kids plus white ceramic tile plus lots of spaghetti sauce just wasn’t the right equation for this family, so the homeowners called on interior designer Kelly Dodd and kitchen designer Glenn Donohue of Kenwood Kitchens to put together a functional space with a clean—and cleanable—look. “I wanted the kitchen to flow better, and we needed a connecting family room, so I could cook and watch the kids,” says the owner.
THE BAR
Lime green glass pendant lamps, handmade by Oggetti, glow yellow and accentuate the highly reflective glass bar.
A 42″ high bar with barked edge glass counter serves as an adult seating area ideal for entertaining. The bar’s stainless steel wall and wooden brackets create an industrial yet artistic look.
The team replaced a limestone counter, which stained and lost its finish, with a durable, stain- resistant concrete countertop by Concrete Jungle. Small pieces of polished glass (the same as that on the bar) were blended into the concrete.
THE COOK CENTER
The owner’s appliance want-list included smooth cooktop, grill, two ovens, multiple dishwashers, water-based cooking sink, 36″ Sub-Zero refrigerator, and additional freezer. Stainless steel faces complement the kitchen’s modern feel.
Alone, the solid gray tiles used along the cooking center would have been too flat. To add some shimmer, colored glass tiles were incorporated into the backsplash.
A chef’s tree accessory, essentially a pole supporting basket shelves, forms a unique display and keeps fruits and veggies off of the counter.
A lime green, purple, and hot pink grid pattern on the barstools echoes the kitchen's linear style. The commercial grade fabric from Scalamandre holds up to daily use.
THE DETAILS
The team varied inserts on the simple maple cabinetry, using austral glass and wood on upper cabinets and stainless steel on lower cabinets. Functionality, a key goal, was achieved with dishwasher drawers, pull-out trash cans, and appliance garages.
A pass-through design between the kitchen and dining room functions well for entertaining. Upper cabinets faced with glass allow light to enter while blocking the view to a neighboring house.
The layout of the kitchen needed to consider the numerous windows and entries to the space—a custom swinging glass door leading to the dining room, a back stair, and openings to the adjacent living room and newly remodeled family room. To account for kitchen traffic, the designers created a cooking alley to house most appliances. Eating areas, including a table, bar counter, and 30″ table-height counter for the children, are stationed along the perimeter of the kitchen, allowing the owner to cook without being interrupted (by traffic, anyway).
Fun-loving and creative, the family envisioned a modern space that had clean, tailored lines but with more “punch” than what lay before them. The group had quite a color palette to work with, having recently redecorated the adjoining living room with shades of purple and the dining room in warm red tones. To pick up the neighboring purple, they selected slate floor tiles, which were staggered to form broken joints; natural stone tiles are interspersed throughout. “It took us a while to choose the paint color,” says Dodd, since the owners wanted something bright but cohesive. Once they came up with it, the soft green worked well, lightening the room and coordinating especially nicely with the glass and concrete countertops.
“One of the exciting challenges in this project was incorporating all the different materials so that everything blended,” recalls Donohue. That list of materials would grow to include stainless steel appliances, maple and austral glass cabinets, funky fabrics, and colored glass tile. And just like the members of this large family, each area of the kitchen has a distinct personality, but when all assemble for a warm meal, the pieces of both family and kitchen come together in a cheerful gathering of colorful character.
Lauren Brooks is a former Assistant Editor of ChesapeakeHome.
Contacts:
Concrete Jungle (counters): concretejungleonline.com or 301-874-1001
Designer Glass & Mirror Co. Inc. (bar counter): 410-426-2992
Great Panes (swinging glass door): 410-461-9336
Kelly M. Dodd Interiors Inc. (interior design): 410-583-5373
Kenwood Kitchens and Baths (kitchen design): kenwoodkitchens.com or 410-866-5700
Oggetti (bar lighting): oggetti.com
Sub-Zero Freezer Company, Inc. (refrigeration): subzero.com or 800-222-7820
Wood-Mode, Inc. (cabinetry): wood-mode.com
