Kitchen of the Week: Industrial Meets Sleek Italian Style
Thoughtfully chosen fixtures and finishes complement original features in a converted 19th-century factory
In 2005, a couple bought this New Jersey home, which was converted from a factory that used to produce marine engines and other products. But as their family grew to six, their house was bursting at the seams. They loved their home and their neighborhood and wanted to make it work no matter what, which was a good thing, because adding onto the protected historic building was no easy feat. The redesign took several years due to their painstaking efforts to preserve original factory features indoors and restore the facade of the building to the way it had looked in 1889. The new kitchen adds sleek Italian style while gracefully remaining in the background, allowing the home’s unique original features to take center stage.
During the renovation they meticulously preserved the original features of the home, including the wood beams and rafters, the beautiful columns and industrial elements like the metal rod and gears. Much of this had to be disassembled and carefully put back into place during construction. The kitchen design, while sleek and beautiful, needed to complement the original features and remain in the background.
Modern cabinets by Italian company Pedini blend into the back wall. Ilin camouflaged the appliances from view in two ways. He used panel fronts on the dishwashers (to the left of the main sink and to the right of the sink underneath the window) and on the integrated fridge and freezer (on the far right end of the cabinets). He placed the others out of view — an oven and a convection steam oven are side by side on the work side of the island, and he tucked the microwave drawer in the area under the window. The induction range fits neatly along the counter, with its vent hood concealed by matching panels overhead.
The simple modern pendant lights blend in with the light colors along the same sightline. Their cords and wires nod to the other industrial elements that hang from the ceiling.
The area under the window was made for hard work. It’s a zone that’s out of the cook’s way and out of view from most of the other spaces. This area has a microwave, a coffee machine and a second dishwasher. “This is a good spot for them to stack the dirty dishes when they are entertaining, because it’s not within view of the dining room,” Ilin says. The translucent window treatments allow the light in while providing privacy. And they don’t distract from the restored historic facade when viewed from the street.
Browse counter stools in the Houzz Shop
Modern cabinets by Italian company Pedini blend into the back wall. Ilin camouflaged the appliances from view in two ways. He used panel fronts on the dishwashers (to the left of the main sink and to the right of the sink underneath the window) and on the integrated fridge and freezer (on the far right end of the cabinets). He placed the others out of view — an oven and a convection steam oven are side by side on the work side of the island, and he tucked the microwave drawer in the area under the window. The induction range fits neatly along the counter, with its vent hood concealed by matching panels overhead.
The simple modern pendant lights blend in with the light colors along the same sightline. Their cords and wires nod to the other industrial elements that hang from the ceiling.
The area under the window was made for hard work. It’s a zone that’s out of the cook’s way and out of view from most of the other spaces. This area has a microwave, a coffee machine and a second dishwasher. “This is a good spot for them to stack the dirty dishes when they are entertaining, because it’s not within view of the dining room,” Ilin says. The translucent window treatments allow the light in while providing privacy. And they don’t distract from the restored historic facade when viewed from the street.
Browse counter stools in the Houzz Shop
The island is a large statement piece that provides a transition between the kitchen and the dining area. “The marble waterfall counter gives it a furniture look,” Ilin says. A standout feature is the beautiful veining in the Carrara marble, showcased by the waterfall counter and the backsplash. But the counters along the cabinet wall and in the work area under the window are a plain white quartz that can stand up to a lot of activity.
Ilin continued into the kitchen some of the same materials specified by the architects. The cerused oak on the island is repeated in other spaces, creating cohesion throughout the house. The black ceiling lights and the original concrete floors, which were stained and polished, also provide continuity throughout the public spaces.
Ilin continued into the kitchen some of the same materials specified by the architects. The cerused oak on the island is repeated in other spaces, creating cohesion throughout the house. The black ceiling lights and the original concrete floors, which were stained and polished, also provide continuity throughout the public spaces.
The cabinets are outfitted with smart organizers such as racks for oils and spices, cutlery inserts, trash and recycling pullouts and pullout shelves for pots and pans. The pantry cabinet on the left side of the kitchen has pullout chrome baskets, and the pantry cabinet on the right completely pulls out as one piece to allow easy access to items stored in the back.
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Here is the view from the kitchen toward the back of the house. The original posts delineate a hallway for traffic. The new stairs lead to the second story of the addition as well as the new lower level below. The hallway leads to the other private spaces in the home, including the rest of the bedrooms.
This floor plan reveals where the appliances are hidden in the kitchen.
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Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of six
Location: Northern New Jersey
Size: 256 square feet (23 square meters)
Designers: Kuche+Cucina (kitchen design), Fogarty Finger (architecture) and Oor Design Build (interior design)
“The homeowners love the house so much. Even though they had outgrown it, they wanted to figure out how they could stay,” says Amir Ilin of their kitchen design firm, Kuche+Cucina. The home had been converted into a residence by an architect before the current homeowners bought it.
Before their recent renovation and addition, they had dug up old photos of the building in its original state and restored the facade accordingly. The renovations included a three-story addition off the back that includes a second-level master suite, an extension of the main level and a walk-out garden level below it. This addition is not visible from the street.
Before, the front doors had opened to a long narrow corridor and the bedrooms were in this front area of the home. The new addition allowed the family to move these private spaces to the back of the home and the public spaces to the front in one open area. “They love to entertain big groups — they’ll have 20 people over for dinner — and they have four children,” Ilin says. Fogarty Finger designed the new layout and addition, Kuche+Cucina designed the kitchen and Leah Almog-Arazi of Oor Design Build worked with the homeowners on the interior design. This group had collaborated on many projects over the years, so they already worked together well. “And the homeowners really knew what they wanted, which made it very easy,” Ilin says.
The original beams and rafters define the space. Thoughtfully chosen light fixtures — a sculptural industrial piece over the large dining table on the right and a trio of large glossy white pendants over the island — play off the architecture.
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