Kitchen of the Week: Earthy Coastal Palette in a New Design
A designer opens up a kitchen and incorporates a large island and a hidden workstation
“Coastal” can bring to mind a blue-and-white color palette and seashells. But in this Northern California kitchen, interior designer Katelyn Gilmour evoked the seashore in a different way. Dune grasses and driftwood provided inspiration for the earthy coastal hues and textures her client liked. The scope of the project included taking down two walls to expand and open up the kitchen and finding a new home for the washer and dryer that were once housed next to the fridge. The family of four’s wish list included plenty of space at an island for gathering and a workstation for one of the homeowners to edit her photographs on her computer.
Before Photo
After: Gilmour had the walls around the piano and the peninsula removed to open up and expand the kitchen. She moved the piano to another room, where she added built-ins around it.
The kitchen space planning started in the corner. “My client really liked having the sink beneath the windows there, so we knew we were keeping that,” Gilmour says. From there, she placed the range in the center of the back wall as a focal point. She placed the panel-front refrigerator at the left end of the room. This makes it easy for people to access the fridge while staying out of the cook’s way. On the right side of the room is a hidden workstation.
Removing the walls made room for the island, which measures approximately 9½ by 5 feet. Its size allows for six counter stools as well as a generous amount of storage and prep space. There’s storage beneath the run of four stools seen here. On the opposite side, the island accommodates a microwave drawer, trash pullout, more cabinetry and a prep sink.
These homeowners love to have people over, and the island is an entertainment hub. “The prep sink gives this kitchen a multizoned capacity,” Gilmour says. One person can be prepping at this sink while the other cooks, or they can fill it up with ice to chill beverages for a party.
Check out our beginner’s guide to get started on your home project
The kitchen space planning started in the corner. “My client really liked having the sink beneath the windows there, so we knew we were keeping that,” Gilmour says. From there, she placed the range in the center of the back wall as a focal point. She placed the panel-front refrigerator at the left end of the room. This makes it easy for people to access the fridge while staying out of the cook’s way. On the right side of the room is a hidden workstation.
Removing the walls made room for the island, which measures approximately 9½ by 5 feet. Its size allows for six counter stools as well as a generous amount of storage and prep space. There’s storage beneath the run of four stools seen here. On the opposite side, the island accommodates a microwave drawer, trash pullout, more cabinetry and a prep sink.
These homeowners love to have people over, and the island is an entertainment hub. “The prep sink gives this kitchen a multizoned capacity,” Gilmour says. One person can be prepping at this sink while the other cooks, or they can fill it up with ice to chill beverages for a party.
Check out our beginner’s guide to get started on your home project
Before Photo
Before: The kitchen was big enough for only one person to work in at a time. The family wanted eat-in space for themselves and a few guests in the space. The white kitchen’s style was traditional and simple.
After: Working with this client for years meant the designer knew her style well. “Our history of working on projects together made it really fun because it meant we could pick up where we left off,” Gilmour says. “She gets comfortable with an idea in one house and then we can push it farther with the next project. Here we pushed the boundaries with the finishes.” Whereas in the initial face-lift the client had opted for a safe white kitchen, she was ready for color this time around.
She likes earthy coastal colors, so the eye-catching textured backsplash tile was the winning choice. It’s a glazed ceramic mosaic. “The glaze is all the same color, but it pools differently on each piece. This gives it a really nice variety of tones,” Gilmour says.
She matched one of these tones with Sherwin-Williams’ Cornwall Slate paint for the cabinets. The faucets have a beautiful coppery finish, Rose by Waterstone. The cabinet paint color plays off this finish as it’s a hue found in patinaed copper. Swiss Coffee by Kelly Moore provides contrast on the trim and walls.
“My client also loves a collected, eclectic look. She’s not a minimalist, and she didn’t want this to look super new,” the designer says. The vintage look of the aged brass sconces and the mix of metals and textures help create a collected look.
Sink: Whitehaven Hayridge, Kohler; faucets: Waterstone
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She likes earthy coastal colors, so the eye-catching textured backsplash tile was the winning choice. It’s a glazed ceramic mosaic. “The glaze is all the same color, but it pools differently on each piece. This gives it a really nice variety of tones,” Gilmour says.
She matched one of these tones with Sherwin-Williams’ Cornwall Slate paint for the cabinets. The faucets have a beautiful coppery finish, Rose by Waterstone. The cabinet paint color plays off this finish as it’s a hue found in patinaed copper. Swiss Coffee by Kelly Moore provides contrast on the trim and walls.
“My client also loves a collected, eclectic look. She’s not a minimalist, and she didn’t want this to look super new,” the designer says. The vintage look of the aged brass sconces and the mix of metals and textures help create a collected look.
Sink: Whitehaven Hayridge, Kohler; faucets: Waterstone
Shop for an apron-front sink
The French door on the left had been removed from one of the homeowners’ other homes during a renovation. Gilmour repurposed it here to provide privacy between the main living spaces and a hallway that leads to the family’s bedrooms. “It was nice because the door had meaning to them,” she says.
Backsplash mosaic tile: Vibe Velvet Lounge Mix, Walker Zanger
Backsplash mosaic tile: Vibe Velvet Lounge Mix, Walker Zanger
Another special detail is the way the backsplash continues behind the glass-front cabinets. This was no easy feat. The cabinet boxes were hung first, and the tile inside needed to line up with the pattern on the rest of the walls. “It took the tile installer about a week to get this just right. He was wonderfully meticulous,” Gilmour says.
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Find a local tile professional
Gilmour designed the range hood. “This hood brings in a lot of character,” she says. It has a plaster finish that adds more texture to the room, and it has some fun curves. The pot filler’s coppery finish matches the kitchen sink faucets, and the cabinet hardware is brass.
Pot filler: Waterstone
Pot filler: Waterstone
Two statement chandeliers make a big impact in the room. They’re scaled just right for the large island, and their wood beads and metal detailing bring in more texture. So do the woven seats of the wishbone counter stools.
The proportions of the large island called for a thick countertop. “This is just shy of 5 inches,” Gilmour says. The quartz has a mitered edge to give it the illusion of that thickness.
The sliding glass doors were existing. At the back of the room, the designer added a row of pantry cabinets.
Countertops: Calacatta Belleza: Vadara
Browse chandeliers in the Houzz Shop
The proportions of the large island called for a thick countertop. “This is just shy of 5 inches,” Gilmour says. The quartz has a mitered edge to give it the illusion of that thickness.
The sliding glass doors were existing. At the back of the room, the designer added a row of pantry cabinets.
Countertops: Calacatta Belleza: Vadara
Browse chandeliers in the Houzz Shop
Before Photo
Before: The piano was on the other side of the wall on the right. This tight kitchen space housed the fridge, the washer and the dryer.
After: Removing the walls allowed for a better flow and got rid of the cramped feeling. Gilmour relocated the washer and dryer to an existing bathroom. “We looked around for space in the garage and other areas. Then I found out they never used the shower stall in one of their bathrooms, so I put stackables in that space,” she says. That bathroom can be seen among other photos of this project.
Also visible in this photo is the dishwasher. It’s concealed by a panel front and is located to the right of the sink.
Also visible in this photo is the dishwasher. It’s concealed by a panel front and is located to the right of the sink.
Next to the dishwasher is the workstation, hidden by cabinet doors that open and pocket to the sides. “My client is a photographer and she wanted to work on her photos in here as part of her daily routine,” Gilmour says. “And sometimes she sets up slideshows to play in the background. But it’s nice to be able to hide the iMac when it’s not in use.”
Here’s another look at the kitchen, which is useful in comparing it to the following before-and-after floor plans.
Before: On this plan of the existing space, the corner sink is at the top right. The washer and dryer were at the top left. The shaded square on the bottom marks the shower stall where the washer and dryer are now.
After: This plan is cut off at the bottom of the kitchen, where the pantry cabinets are located. The hallway seen in the “before” plan is still behind them.
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House at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of four
Location: Willow Glen neighborhood of San Jose, California
Size: 289 square feet (27 square meters)
Designer: Katelyn Gilmour of KBG Design
Before: The house is a 1950s California ranch home. The room seen here wasn’t being used much by the family. Located off the front door, it held a beloved piano and an entry table that was too small for the space. One of the homeowners loves the design process and had worked with Gilmour before. “She’s one of those people who always likes to have a project going,” the designer says.
Gilmour had given the kitchen a temporary face-lift when her clients moved in but hadn’t done anything structural. “The kitchen was closed off from other spaces, the washer and dryer were in there, and there was a peninsula just big enough for two people — if they really liked each other,” she says with a laugh.
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