Kitchen of the Week: Streamlined and Smart in Montreal

Guillelmi and Taschereau had to design the kitchen around four doorways, a large window and one pass-through to the dining room. This limited wall space for cabinets, so they got creative with spacing and storage. The appliances had been purchased and brought in beforehand to plan out spacing, smoothing the process.

Range: Electrolux; oven: FCI; refrigerator: Kenmore; chandelier: copper ring mounted into a chandelier

"If you look closely at the kitchen, not an inch is left unused," says Taschereau. Angled drawers, a built-in wine rack, storage for knives, bookshelves and other smartly integrated features make the most out of the kitchen's wall space.

Backsplash: Cotto d'Este Exedra Calacatta Silk; countertop: granite

The kitchen was designed to embrace a division of labor between cooking, cleaning and table setting. "Two people can easily work together in the kitchen without stepping on each other's toes," says Guillelmi. "The island is the common ground, used to prepare the meals and enjoy them." Two sinks (one bigger one for doing dishes, and one smaller one for prep work) make a big difference here.

"If the space allows it, divide the room into zones," says Guillelmi. She also recommends paying close attention to traffic flow in kitchen remodels and planning another walking route if your dishwasher drops down into a pathway.

Island top: cherry; bar stools: Ikea

Taschereau and his team at Gepetto created the cabinetry facades out of medium density fiberboard (MDF) and finished them with white polyurethane paint. Durability is one of the most important things for Taschereau, and he often uses polyurethane finishes on painted cabinetry because they won't stain or change color over time.

Undercabinet lighting: Brite Strip, Magic Lite

The doorway and pass-through between the kitchen and the dining room already existed, and Guillelmi and Taschereau maintained the open connection between the two spaces. "The cooks are not cut off from their guests, but the kitchen isn't invading the dining room," says Guillelmi.

Taschereau and Guillelmi also were careful to respect the circulation between the back-door entrance (visible to the right of the refrigerator in this photo) and the rest of the house. Maintaining a clear pathway from the back entrance to the rest of the house was key.

Sinks: Blanco; recessed lighting: Bazz; flooring: Refin Ardennes Ivory porcelain tiles