Kitchen of the Week: Bigger With an Open Plan and Green Cabinets

“After” photos by Ashley Sullivan Marks of Exposurely Photography

Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: An active family with two kids
Location: Reston, Virginia
Size: 308 square feet (29 square meters)
Designers: Mina Fies and Emily Bickl of Synergy Design & Construction

Before: A look at the former main floor shows the walled-off nature of the 130-square-foot kitchen, straight ahead, and the living room on the right. (See “before” floor plan below.)

You can glimpse the kitchen sink under the bank of three windows, as well as a peninsula bar that opened to an unused den. “They wanted the whole great room to be visible from all parts of the home and wanted the kitchen to have a better connection to the spaces where they would be entertaining their guests,” Bickl says.

After: Fies and Bickl knocked the kitchen back to the studs and removed the walls dividing it and the living room to create a light and airy layout. This more than doubled the size of the kitchen, to 308 square feet. The new sink sits in the same location below the bank of three windows.

A new wall on the left replaced the peninsula and supports a large range. “The clients went back and forth about closing that wall, but there was no way to get the beautiful range they wanted without that wall,” Bickl says. The design team converted the unused den into a home bar area and powder room.

Frameless cabinetry in a blackened green color (Dakota Shadow by Benjamin Moore) mixes Shaker-style and slab fronts. “[The homeowners] have a really great personality and were willing to be adventurous with their color,” Bickl says.

A wood beam, wood window frames, load-bearing column and refinished existing oak flooring add warmth and complement the green cabinets. White walls and ceiling with a touch of cool gray (Cascade Mountains by Benjamin Moore) and a simple 3-by-12-inch white ceramic tile backsplash with white grout enhance the natural light that floods in from skylights, windows and a sliding glass door.

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Before: The former kitchen was in decent shape with updated appliances and nice finishes, but it suffered from a tight layout and the homeowners wanted to elevate the style. “We try to donate as many appliances as we can and did that in this situation,” Bickl says.

The cabinets on the right surrounding the former range give a peek into the former dining room with a sliding glass door to the backyard.

After: With the former range cabinets gone, Fies and Bickl expanded the kitchen into the former dining space. The large island features cabinets on the seating side for seasonal items and a substantial marble-look quartz countertop with waterfall edges. “I think the white countertops allowed the green color to pop and also brought a nice natural-looking texture with the marble look,” Bickl says.

A midcentury-style chandelier in a black finish hangs over the island and coordinates with matte black cabinet pulls.

Chandelier: Rami, Mateo Lighting; countertops: Calacatta Gold, Silestone by Cosentino

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The interior side of the island features numerous drawers, two electrical outlets and a 24-inch stainless steel microwave drawer.

This view shows the now open connection to the living area and relocated dining space.

Before and After: 3 Kitchens With Gorgeous Dark Green Cabinets

A coffee station occupies one wall. Maple cabinets hold extra dishes and cookbooks. The top cabinets store infrequently used items; the lower cabinets and drawers hold items like linens and water bottles.

Two tall cabinets that flank the coffee station are pantry cabinets with rollout shelves. “They wanted the taller storage off to the side so they could keep the main kitchen area nice and open,” Bickl says.

The homeowners splurged on the 48-inch dual-fuel pro-style range. “They both enjoy cooking a lot and wanted the cooking area to be that nice treat they gave themselves with this renovation,” Bickl says.

Floating wood shelves keep the wall light and airy and coordinate with the other wood details. A large single-basin, undermount stainless steel sink sits to the right.

A paneled pullout trash and recycling center is at the lower left of the sink, while a stainless dishwasher is to the lower right.

Range: Rise series 48-inch dual-fuel professional range, Jenn-Air; hood: ZLINE; sink: Lustertone, Elkay; faucet: Essa in Arctic stainless, Delta

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This wide view shows the new 36-inch smart counter-depth stainless steel French door refrigerator. To the left of the range you can glimpse the new bar area in what had been the den.

The bar features the same green cabinets, marble-look quartz counters and open wood shelves for a coordinated look. To the right stands the newly constructed powder room with a space-saving pocket door and bold wallpaper.

Before: This floor plan of the former space shows the compartmentalized layout with the kitchen (top center) walled off from the living room (bottom). The unused den (top left) sat on the other side of the peninsula, and the dining room (top right) felt like wasted potential.

After: Removing the walls created one open great room and helped expand the kitchen into the former dining area. The bar and powder room (top left) now occupy what had been the den.

“This kitchen really expanded their storage options and functions better for their family,” Bickl says. “It also became as much of an entertaining area as the living room and dining room.”

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