Kitchen Makeovers
Kitchen of the Week
Kitchen of the Week: Elegant Style in Green, Gray and Wood
A warm and inviting palette, improved storage and an island create a functional and stylish space for entertaining
Many retro elements are staging a style comeback. But the 1970s kitchen of this empty-nest couple didn’t contain much worth celebrating. White tile countertops, faded parquet flooring and basic wood cabinets fit nowhere with current trends. Plus, the kitchen lacked upper cabinets and a backsplash, and its peninsula was cutting the space off from the dining room.
To create an inviting and stylish kitchen where their family and friends could gather while they prepared meals, the couple returned to designer Kellie Love, who had helped them renovate their laundry room and hall bathroom. Love eliminated the peninsula to open the space up. An island with seating anchors the new layout. New cabinets improve storage, as does a reconfigured walk-in pantry. A warm, elegant style that combines sage green and rift-cut white oak cabinets with concrete-look porcelain tile flooring ensures the design will look stylish for years to come.
To create an inviting and stylish kitchen where their family and friends could gather while they prepared meals, the couple returned to designer Kellie Love, who had helped them renovate their laundry room and hall bathroom. Love eliminated the peninsula to open the space up. An island with seating anchors the new layout. New cabinets improve storage, as does a reconfigured walk-in pantry. A warm, elegant style that combines sage green and rift-cut white oak cabinets with concrete-look porcelain tile flooring ensures the design will look stylish for years to come.
Before Photo
After: Love eliminated the cabinets, countertops, flooring and some of the appliances. She also removed a wall to the left of the dining table to open the kitchen to the family room. She then ditched the peninsula layout and added a compact yet hardworking island with seven drawers on one side and seating for two on the other. “It allows more than one person to work in there at the same time,” Love says. “It also gave them seating that looks out the windows, but you can also face out and look into the family room and engage with people in the dining room.”
A beloved piece of ceramic dishware from the homeowners’ collection inspired the color palette. Matte sage green perimeter cabinets (Herbes de Provence by Benjamin Moore) offer a warm complement to the rift-cut white oak island base. “The green tones and white oak gave us a very nice organic feel to the palette,” Love says. “This client lived in England for a really long time and wanted a very natural feel to this kitchen. I love to bring in more warm tones, and because we knew we were going to do a concrete-look floor, I wanted to bring in something with a natural warmth to it.” The flooring consists of 24-by-48-inch concrete-look porcelain tiles with a textured nonslip surface.
Love transformed the pantry into a hutch-style built-in with glass-front upper cabinets that display the couple’s dishes. LED lights inside and underneath the cabinets help illuminate the area and create a warm glow at night. A new door to the garage has a touch keypad lock and lever handle in polished chrome. A new pocket door to the left of the fridge connects to a new walk-in pantry that replaced the former utility closet.
Cabinetry: Nickels Cabinets; floor tiles: Konkrete in Cenere Matte, Arizona Tile
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A beloved piece of ceramic dishware from the homeowners’ collection inspired the color palette. Matte sage green perimeter cabinets (Herbes de Provence by Benjamin Moore) offer a warm complement to the rift-cut white oak island base. “The green tones and white oak gave us a very nice organic feel to the palette,” Love says. “This client lived in England for a really long time and wanted a very natural feel to this kitchen. I love to bring in more warm tones, and because we knew we were going to do a concrete-look floor, I wanted to bring in something with a natural warmth to it.” The flooring consists of 24-by-48-inch concrete-look porcelain tiles with a textured nonslip surface.
Love transformed the pantry into a hutch-style built-in with glass-front upper cabinets that display the couple’s dishes. LED lights inside and underneath the cabinets help illuminate the area and create a warm glow at night. A new door to the garage has a touch keypad lock and lever handle in polished chrome. A new pocket door to the left of the fridge connects to a new walk-in pantry that replaced the former utility closet.
Cabinetry: Nickels Cabinets; floor tiles: Konkrete in Cenere Matte, Arizona Tile
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Before: Here’s another look at the former kitchen. “The dishwasher was jammed into the lower right of the sink, right in that corner of the peninsula,” Love says. “Both of them love to cook and it was hard for them to work in there together.” A small microwave and a toaster sat on the countertops. The homeowners had previously upgraded the fridge and wanted to include it in the new space.
After: A new Wi-Fi-enabled, scratch-resistant 36-inch induction range sits under a wall-mounted stainless steel vent hood with LED lighting. A slim shelf mounted over the range offers a spot for decorative items or bottles of oils and spices. Drawers flanking the range store and organize knives and cooking utensils. The slim upper cabinet to the left hides cooking supplies. A cabinet over the refrigerator organizes cookie sheets and baking pans. A blind corner cabinet to the right of the range features a storage pullout for plastic containers, taller pots and mixing bowls. The microwave is now in the updated walk-in pantry.
The backsplash is 2½-by-10-inch matte white ceramic tiles in a horizontally stacked pattern. The tiles run countertop to ceiling and wrap around two walls. An 18-by-32-inch stainless steel undermount workstation sink includes accessories such as a cutting board and strainer and a filtered-water dispenser (back right). A single-handle pull-down stainless steel faucet complements the other steel finishes in the kitchen. A two-bin compost rollout sits under the sink.
Backsplash tiles: Makato in Shoji White, 2½ by 10 inches, Bedrosians Tile and Stone; cabinet hardware: Riverside in Ash Gray, Top Knobs
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The backsplash is 2½-by-10-inch matte white ceramic tiles in a horizontally stacked pattern. The tiles run countertop to ceiling and wrap around two walls. An 18-by-32-inch stainless steel undermount workstation sink includes accessories such as a cutting board and strainer and a filtered-water dispenser (back right). A single-handle pull-down stainless steel faucet complements the other steel finishes in the kitchen. A two-bin compost rollout sits under the sink.
Backsplash tiles: Makato in Shoji White, 2½ by 10 inches, Bedrosians Tile and Stone; cabinet hardware: Riverside in Ash Gray, Top Knobs
Shop from a curated collection of items for your kitchen
Upgraded glider windows bring in light and views. The sink window overlooks a covered alcove off the front entry of the home. A bronze finish on the window frames coordinates with bronze sconces. The upgraded kitchen also includes recessed LED ceiling lights, which were digitally removed from these photos by the photographer to help highlight other design details.
Sconces: Crawford in bronze, Rejuvenation; windows: Essential, Marvin
12 Kitchen Island Designs Worth Considering
Sconces: Crawford in bronze, Rejuvenation; windows: Essential, Marvin
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To the right of the sink is a storage tower with an appliance garage that usually holds the homeowners’ coffee machine. “It’s finished on the interior to match the exterior finish of the island cabinetry,” Love says. The interior also includes outlets and an LED light strip. The cabinet above stores coffee cups and supplies. Floating wood shelves provide a spot to display decorative items and help loosen up the sink wall.
A tall pullout pantry with four baskets to the left of the refrigerator offers easy access to dry goods and frequently used items. “You don’t want to jam the refrigerator into a corner or you won’t get the full operation of the refrigerator doors,” Love says. “We felt this was the best use for this small, narrow space.”
12 Clever Kitchen Cabinet Storage Ideas
12 Clever Kitchen Cabinet Storage Ideas
The pocket door to the left of the fridge opens to the relocated and reconfigured step-in pantry. Inside are open shelves, baskets in different sizes and hanging storage on the wall. “We also added power to the pantry for storage of small appliances, like the microwave and toaster,” Love says.
The new kitchen gives the homeowners the updated look and feel they were hoping for. “The clients really do love to entertain and cook,” Love says. “This new kitchen gives them a space they can function in and feel proud of when they bring friends over.”
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The new kitchen gives the homeowners the updated look and feel they were hoping for. “The clients really do love to entertain and cook,” Love says. “This new kitchen gives them a space they can function in and feel proud of when they bring friends over.”
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: An empty-nest couple
Location: Davis, California
Size: 330 square feet, including a dining area (31 square meters)
Designer: Kellie Love of MAK Design + Build
Before: In the former kitchen, a peninsula divided the kitchen from the dining area to the left. White tile countertops, parquet wood flooring, basic wood cabinets and the lack of backsplash and sufficient storage did little to energize the look and feel. The parquet was dated and aged. “Pieces had popped up, and it was hard to maintain,” Love says.
The former pantry can be seen at the back left. The brown door at the rear of the short hallway connects to the garage. The brown door on the right side of the short hallway leads to a closet, which the homeowners could put to better use.