How to mix traditional Southern architecture with modern Italian sensibility and style? Our home owners, a husband who grew up in the South and his wife, a modern professional architect from Italy, wanted to create a kitchen that would accommodate a great deal of Italian home cooking, entertaining, and fresh food storage. The home owners found the original kitchen too compartmentalized and narrow. The first order of business was to widen the kitchen by extending the bay window to allow for an island and add more light. Among the appliance must-haves were a double oven, warming drawer, two refrigerators, wine storage, and a gas cook top. The appliances were chosen not only for quality but for their sleek integration into a modern kitchen. The two islands, connected by a marble countertop “bridge”, serve double duty as a cooking/food preparation area on island #1 and for entertaining/eating with under-counter wine storage housed in island #2. Neutral colors for both cabinetry and countertops were chosen to complement and not compete with the traditional home and to provide for a seamless transition between old and new without compromising the symbolic meaning of either.