Kitchen of the Week: Calm Yet Bold in a Family-Friendly Room
A designer uses Calacatta marble, geometric tile, warm gray and gold finishes to transform a busy family’s kitchen
This Piedmont, California, kitchen hadn’t been remodeled in about 30 years, and it didn’t suit the active family of five that was using it. Interior designer Kelly Berg had worked with these clients on their previous home, so she already had a good sense of their style. She also knew how they liked to work and hang out together in the kitchen. The renovation includes redesigning a long peninsula for gathering, making jam, serving kids meals and working on laptops. Other items on the homeowners’ wish list included a small wine bar, a large pantry, bold geometric tile and a big fridge.
After: “My clients cook and make jams and are generally pretty active in the kitchen,” Berg says. The footprint of the kitchen remained roughly the same, but Berg removed the half-moon table, glass upper cabinets over the peninsula and the desk. She used the desk area and an adjacent hollow wall to add three of her clients’ must-have items: a wine bar, a large pantry cabinet and a big refrigerator.
“We designed a large peninsula for gathering, especially for the kids to hang out,” Berg says. “Also for occasional work on the laptop.”
The peninsula has a beautiful waterfall countertop that provides a sleek and seamless look. “With three slabs, we had enough marble to do the waterfall, so we did it. Otherwise, there would have been waste,” Berg says. “It allows the marble to be a bigger player in the overall design. It looks a little more fancy than the side of a cabinet and it’s definitely an easier surface to clean with three kids and a dog.”
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“We designed a large peninsula for gathering, especially for the kids to hang out,” Berg says. “Also for occasional work on the laptop.”
The peninsula has a beautiful waterfall countertop that provides a sleek and seamless look. “With three slabs, we had enough marble to do the waterfall, so we did it. Otherwise, there would have been waste,” Berg says. “It allows the marble to be a bigger player in the overall design. It looks a little more fancy than the side of a cabinet and it’s definitely an easier surface to clean with three kids and a dog.”
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The marble played a big role in the overall kitchen design. “The design process was organic,” Berg says. “If my client found something she loved, I used that as a jumping-off point for other design decisions. The Calacatta marble, for example, was the first materials decision. She saw it at the slab yard and fell in love.” Berg extended the marble from the countertops up the walls to serve as a backsplash.
From there, she worked out the rest of the material and color palettes, looking to the marble’s veining for color inspiration. “We chose a rich, warm gray for the cabinets — Smooth Stone by Sherwin-Williams,” Berg says. “My client wanted something nonwhite. We explored a few grays, both lighter and deeper. This one felt right. It pulled out the deep colored veining of the marble and was interesting but not too heavy in the space.”
For the walls, ceiling and trim she chose White Dove by Benjamin Moore. The walls and ceiling have a flat finish and the trim finish is pearl.
Cabinetry: Dickinson Cabinetry
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For the walls, ceiling and trim she chose White Dove by Benjamin Moore. The walls and ceiling have a flat finish and the trim finish is pearl.
Cabinetry: Dickinson Cabinetry
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Another element that works beautifully with the cabinet’s warm gray paint is this statement tile on the peninsula. The tile is a big part of the view from the adjacent dining room.
“From the beginning of the design process, my client really wanted to incorporate a tiled front on the peninsula,” Berg says. “We must have gone to the tile store five or six times and looked at tons of tile before this one caught my eye. The day I saw the tile board, which had just been added to the showroom floor, I knew it was perfect. The moral of the story is to keep looking until you find the absolutely right material.”
After living with the glass cabinets that blocked the view into the kitchen, the homeowners wanted to keep things between the dining room and kitchen as open as possible. The clear glass pendants add beautiful simple shapes and a warm metal finish overhead. They also help maintain the open view over the peninsula.
Peninsula tiles: Duomo, Artistic Tile
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“From the beginning of the design process, my client really wanted to incorporate a tiled front on the peninsula,” Berg says. “We must have gone to the tile store five or six times and looked at tons of tile before this one caught my eye. The day I saw the tile board, which had just been added to the showroom floor, I knew it was perfect. The moral of the story is to keep looking until you find the absolutely right material.”
After living with the glass cabinets that blocked the view into the kitchen, the homeowners wanted to keep things between the dining room and kitchen as open as possible. The clear glass pendants add beautiful simple shapes and a warm metal finish overhead. They also help maintain the open view over the peninsula.
Peninsula tiles: Duomo, Artistic Tile
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After: Berg centered the new apron-front sink and the main faucet on the windows.
Another of her clients’ must-haves was a HydroTap by Zip Water, which provides instant boiling, chilled and sparkling water. This presented the design challenge of making all the finishes match that of the smaller faucet. Berg looked at many samples to get the color match right. “Golds and brasses are not all the same — we wanted these fixtures to match as much as possible in both color and style,” she says.
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Another of her clients’ must-haves was a HydroTap by Zip Water, which provides instant boiling, chilled and sparkling water. This presented the design challenge of making all the finishes match that of the smaller faucet. Berg looked at many samples to get the color match right. “Golds and brasses are not all the same — we wanted these fixtures to match as much as possible in both color and style,” she says.
Browse brass kitchen faucets in the Houzz Shop
One minor change that made a big impact was adding open shelves just off the kitchen past the fridge. This area contains the doors to the powder room and basement. The shelves provide additional storage for cookbooks and pantry items. “We painted them the same color as the kitchen cabinets so that they would look like an extension of the cabinetry,” Berg says.
Tip: “Sneak in extra storage in small spaces, like this bookshelf. It’s only a few square feet but makes a huge difference,” Berg says.
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Tip: “Sneak in extra storage in small spaces, like this bookshelf. It’s only a few square feet but makes a huge difference,” Berg says.
More on Houzz
Read more kitchen stories
Browse kitchen photos
Hire a kitchen remodeler
Shop for kitchen products
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of five
Location: Piedmont, California
Size: 250 square feet (23 square meters)
Designer: Kelly Berg of Story & Space
Contractor: Integrity Remodeling
Before: The house was built in 1926 and the kitchen hadn’t been remodeled since the 1980s. The layout didn’t accommodate an active family of five, and the previous remodel didn’t suit the homeowners’ style or the period at all. One of the homeowners appreciated the home’s age and respected traditional look, but her style leaned modern. She showed the designer a lot of inspiration photos, including images from Houzz, while they planned their changes. One of the bolder elements she wanted to incorporate was a geometric tile — more on that in a bit.
The existing layout made the kitchen feel closed off. “There was a strange half-moon bar-table thing that sucked up floor space in an awkward way, and there were ceiling-mounted cabinets that hung over the peninsula that made the kitchen feel cramped and small,” Berg says. Also, the kitchen desk wasn’t of much use to the family, the appliances were old and there was too little storage space.