modern glam kitchen and powder room

​ROOMS

Kitchen and Powder Room

GOALS ACHIEVED

​Revamp a tired and outdated family kitchen and powder room into a functional and glamorous space that fits this client’s personality and lifestyle.

PHOTOGRAPHY

​Phil Serratore, Phillip Gregory Photography

MORE DETAILS

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DESIGN CHALLENGE

​This 1990’s era Kitchen and Powder Room had served out their useful lives.  The client is a single CIO and empty nester who raised her children in her home, located in the Chicago suburbs. 
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The seeds of this project were:

• The demise of her old cooktop, wanting to replace the tile floor with hardwood, and living through the COVID stay-at-home order which truly showed her how dysfunctional the old kitchen was. 
• She had already met with the cabinetry company and picked a very trendy gray painted cabinet finish. 
• Due to COVID (this was late March 2020), we began working together virtually. 
• The client sent photos of her kitchen, describing what she hated about it (everything).
• When we next met to review the initial drawings, she seemed a bit lukewarm.  Going out on a limb, I mentioned that it fell flat to me.  She immediately agreed - she wanted a “wow” design, not a “safe” one.

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Our scope of work:

• To lighten and brighten the feel of the kitchen and update its function and, of course, its aesthetics.  
  
• The client wanted a larger cooktop with more space around it; to remove her pantry closet to increase the kitchen’s work area size, while picking up that lost storage space within the custom cabinetry; a design with a wow-factor in it; new and more reliable appliances; and generally, a more open feel in her kitchen.  
  
• She also wanted a more seamless flow between her kitchen and adjoining family room, which she hoped to accomplish by having wood flooring installed throughout the first floor of her home.

DESIGN SOLUTION
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• ​Inspired by a Barbara Barry Baker Furniture piece, I came up with the two-toned inset cabinetry design and selected the Artistic Tile mosaic by the range top - the client loved it! 
• After she picked crystal pendants for her peninsula, I designed framed antique-mirror medallions to accentuate them. 
• We hit one snag during the construction phase.  When the contractor opened the range backsplash tile, it was in circular pieces.  He had never seen this, so I found a higher end tile guy.  My tile installer met me at the client’s on a Sunday morning.  Due to the off-center orientation of the range top, he suggested we expand the tile’s footprint – perfect!

• ​In the end, she related that now she cooks at home a lot more, losing her COVID-19 weight, and when her grandchildren are over, with a counter stool for each child, the kitchen is a natural gathering spot for her family. 
• The Powder Room’s vanity countertop – an amazing remnant find - blends well with the Parisian umber wallpaper and paint palette. 
• Finally, what should every grandmother of three girls have on her wall?  A “Hello Gorgeous” art piece!