Peek Inside an Eclectic Home That Elegantly Blends Finishes
Watch and read how a designer refined a dated home with a white-and-wood kitchen, a mix of stone slabs and fun details
Mitchell Parker
May 5, 2024
Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative trends, breaking news, industry analysis and humor.
Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative... More
Tired of the dated look and feel of their Overland Park, Kansas, home, this couple hired designer Stephanie Stroud to help them add functional elements and create an eclectic style that felt current. For the kitchen, Stroud, who uses Houzz Pro business software to manage her projects, took the room down to the studs and moved walls to gain more space and storage. She then blended elegant white cabinets and a warm walnut island with marble and soapstone countertops, a marble slab backsplash and mixed metal finishes for a timeless, collected style. Elsewhere, dark, moody green walls in a music room and vibrant botanical wallpaper in a powder room add drama and personality.
“After” photos by Laurie Kilgore Photography
House at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with two young children and a golden retriever
Location: Overland Park, Kansas
Designers: Stephanie Stroud and Caril Ducan of Stephanie Stroud Interiors
Contractor: Jim Kostusik of Redstone Homes
Before: The former combined living, dining and kitchen areas were a mishmash of materials and details. In the dining area, tile flooring offset wood flooring. Molding near the ceiling separated two finishes used on the walls.
House at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with two young children and a golden retriever
Location: Overland Park, Kansas
Designers: Stephanie Stroud and Caril Ducan of Stephanie Stroud Interiors
Contractor: Jim Kostusik of Redstone Homes
Before: The former combined living, dining and kitchen areas were a mishmash of materials and details. In the dining area, tile flooring offset wood flooring. Molding near the ceiling separated two finishes used on the walls.
After: Stroud smoothed out the wall finishes with a clean white paint and used engineered hardwood flooring to unify the spaces. A new fireplace treatment simplifies the design and adds a dramatic touch. New squared-off windows and sliding doors bring in more light and improved connection with the outdoors.
Watch now: Step inside this home in the latest episode of Houzz TV
Watch now: Step inside this home in the latest episode of Houzz TV
Before: In the former kitchen, an imposing peninsula closed off the space from the surrounding areas and created a pinch point in traffic flow. The homeowners felt some of the materials, finishes and ornate cabinet details looked dated.
After: Stroud stripped the kitchen back to the studs and reimagined the space, moving walls back about 6 inches “just to get a teeny, teeny bit more so we could make it this gourmet kitchen that the homeowner wanted, just make it really functional and feel current,” she says. A new central island creates better circulation.
Stroud also rearranged the locations of the refrigerator, cooktop, ovens and sink to improve the layout and create symmetry. Designating the bulk of the storage to the side walls and new island allowed her to skip upper cabinets on the range wall, giving the kitchen a lighter look.
Light cabinets (Pale Oak by Benjamin Moore), honed Italian Paonazzo marble slabs for the backsplash and island countertop and other light elements also help brighten the room. The walnut island base and brass details, including a decorative brass rail that caps the backsplash on the range wall, add warmth. Soapstone perimeter countertops and black-framed glass cabinets on the right introduce a touch of drama. “We knew we wanted marble,” Stroud says. “We knew we wanted drama. We knew we wanted some browns and blacks and creamy tones in it.”
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Stroud also rearranged the locations of the refrigerator, cooktop, ovens and sink to improve the layout and create symmetry. Designating the bulk of the storage to the side walls and new island allowed her to skip upper cabinets on the range wall, giving the kitchen a lighter look.
Light cabinets (Pale Oak by Benjamin Moore), honed Italian Paonazzo marble slabs for the backsplash and island countertop and other light elements also help brighten the room. The walnut island base and brass details, including a decorative brass rail that caps the backsplash on the range wall, add warmth. Soapstone perimeter countertops and black-framed glass cabinets on the right introduce a touch of drama. “We knew we wanted marble,” Stroud says. “We knew we wanted drama. We knew we wanted some browns and blacks and creamy tones in it.”
Find an interior designer near you
The homeowners entertain often, so Stroud designed the glass cabinet area to serve as a bar. “You need some sort of area in the kitchen when you have a party to kind of put out some things,” she says. “So we wanted to make that area stand out and have a little bit of a twist.” To do that, Stroud used black frames for the cabinet doors and backed the boxes in walnut. Interior lighting creates a glowing effect.
Watch now: See more of this remodel on Houzz TV
Watch now: See more of this remodel on Houzz TV
Stroud integrated the homeowners’ existing copper oven. Unlacquered brass cabinet hardware and a polished nickel faucet created a mixed-metals look. “People think, ‘All my metals have to match, because if they don’t things aren’t going to look right,’” Stoud says. “But in actuality, when you mix your metals it looks a lot more custom. It just feels like it was put together with a little more thought. So we always do that.”
This view also gives a peek inside the updated butler’s pantry (more below).
Faucet: Traditional PLP pull-down in polished nickel, Model 5600, Waterstone
7 Essential Features of a Well-Designed Kitchen
This view also gives a peek inside the updated butler’s pantry (more below).
Faucet: Traditional PLP pull-down in polished nickel, Model 5600, Waterstone
7 Essential Features of a Well-Designed Kitchen
The butler’s pantry features soft green-gray cabinets (Evergreen Fog by Sherwin-Williams), countertop space, a sink, a dishwasher and a microwave. One of the homeowners is an avid baker and needed ample room for a KitchenAid mixer, supplies and ingredients.
“We really thought through how she was going to use it,” Stroud says. “If you’re baking and you have all those things spread out, you don’t want a shelf that’s right by your eye level. So we put the shelves a little higher and made them not quite as deep but deep enough for her canisters. So there was a lot of measuring and a lot of thinking to design such an important spot in her house.”
Watch now: Take a virtual tour of this elegantly eclectic home
“We really thought through how she was going to use it,” Stroud says. “If you’re baking and you have all those things spread out, you don’t want a shelf that’s right by your eye level. So we put the shelves a little higher and made them not quite as deep but deep enough for her canisters. So there was a lot of measuring and a lot of thinking to design such an important spot in her house.”
Watch now: Take a virtual tour of this elegantly eclectic home
The homeowners and their two young kids enjoy playing and listening to music, so Stroud designed this living area as a dedicated music room. “They are a musical family, and she asked for a place where they could keep their instruments and the kids could practice and the adults could hang out,” she says. “They spend most of their time in there.”
Dark green walls (Jasper by Sherwin-Williams) with applied molding create a moody and intimate vibe. Pink chairs, vibrant artwork and a light fixture with butterfly details add a playful touch. “We wanted a little bit of whimsy,” Stroud says. “It’s a really sophisticated room, but it’s not a room where you want to take yourself too seriously.”
Stroud used Houzz Pro business software to manage this project. “Some of my best clients have come through Houzz,” she says, adding that “Houzz Pro has been essential in growing our business. It lets me really focus on all the details of the project, and so that makes our life easier. We used Houzz Pro every step of the way. Mood Boards in doing the spatial planning, all the way through to the invoicing … it just is very cohesive. And it’s good for our team and it’s really good for the client because all the communication they’re getting is the same.”
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
Dark green walls (Jasper by Sherwin-Williams) with applied molding create a moody and intimate vibe. Pink chairs, vibrant artwork and a light fixture with butterfly details add a playful touch. “We wanted a little bit of whimsy,” Stroud says. “It’s a really sophisticated room, but it’s not a room where you want to take yourself too seriously.”
Stroud used Houzz Pro business software to manage this project. “Some of my best clients have come through Houzz,” she says, adding that “Houzz Pro has been essential in growing our business. It lets me really focus on all the details of the project, and so that makes our life easier. We used Houzz Pro every step of the way. Mood Boards in doing the spatial planning, all the way through to the invoicing … it just is very cohesive. And it’s good for our team and it’s really good for the client because all the communication they’re getting is the same.”
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
In a powder room, a striking granite sink and backsplash pair with an aubergine ceiling and wallpaper depicting bugs and botanicals. “We knew we could do something exciting and whimsical and different,” Stroud says.
Wallpaper: Hoopoe Leaves in Olive, Chartreuse & Fuchsia on Cream, Cole & Son
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Wallpaper: Hoopoe Leaves in Olive, Chartreuse & Fuchsia on Cream, Cole & Son
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I love the SW Jasper dark green music room. I assume the same color was used in what I think might be a home office, even on the ceilings and door. I have seen lots of pictures showing how amazing dark green is in rooms not blessed with natural light; it's nice to see that dark green also looks good in rooms that do have natural light. And it's reassuring to see how good it looks with frosty pastel furniture in the well-lit spaces. I've seen other pictures of dark green rooms with no light, and in those, bright accents like chartreuse or neon blue bring the look together.
I love the transformation of the space next to the kitchen from boring layered horizontal lines that made the space look unfinished to bold dramatic vertical lines. Simple things like creating that strong vertical fireplace, whiting out the adjacent choppy areas, and aligning the table with the fireplace doubled the apparent size of the room and made the space so much more calming. I love it when basic principles of art are utilized in interior design.
Thank you for your kind comments and attention to the details!