Kitchen of the Week: New Location With Fresh Mediterranean Style
A designer overhauls a floor plan to gain more openness and create a welcoming style fit for the Southwest
When this family of four relocated from Florida to Tempe, Arizona, it loved the natural setting of its equestrian community. But the home it moved into, custom-built in 2008, contained some oddities. The kitchen was the main concern. The location didn’t make sense within the overall layout of the home. And a massive, angled, two-tiered island broke up the floor plan in an unusual way and impeded traffic flow. Meanwhile, large beige floor tiles and basic granite countertops made the style look dated.
Wanting a more open and streamlined layout for entertaining guests, as well as a style that looked fresh and better suited to the Southwest, the homeowners hired designer Kimberley Worswick to spearhead a major overhaul. Worswick rethought the layout, moving the location of the kitchen to the dining room. She ditched the angled peninsula in favor of a large open-base island that can seat 10 people. Another, more standard island now sits in the main kitchen area and has additional seating, storage and the main sink, which creates an efficient work triangle. White-and-wood cabinets, zellige-look ceramic backsplash tile and Mediterranean-style pendant lights deliver an airy and welcoming style that nods to the home’s surroundings.
Wanting a more open and streamlined layout for entertaining guests, as well as a style that looked fresh and better suited to the Southwest, the homeowners hired designer Kimberley Worswick to spearhead a major overhaul. Worswick rethought the layout, moving the location of the kitchen to the dining room. She ditched the angled peninsula in favor of a large open-base island that can seat 10 people. Another, more standard island now sits in the main kitchen area and has additional seating, storage and the main sink, which creates an efficient work triangle. White-and-wood cabinets, zellige-look ceramic backsplash tile and Mediterranean-style pendant lights deliver an airy and welcoming style that nods to the home’s surroundings.
Before: This view of the former kitchen shows the massive angled two-level island that chopped up the traffic paths. In the background is the dining room, where Worswick moved the new kitchen. The artwork on the wall there is about where the new range sits. (See next photo.)
After: This view of the updated kitchen is taken from about the same angle as the previous photo. The massive update included removing the former fridge wall and relocating the kitchen into the dining space. The former range wall was also removed. Those moves allowed Worswick to add a 3-by-9-foot furniture-style island that can seat 10 people comfortably.
A new breakfast area with a built-in banquette now occupies the space below the bay window, where the sink had been. A beverage and wine fridge sits nearby beneath floating shelves, making this area highly entertainment-friendly. Worswick added a wall separating the kitchen from the hallway on the right for the paneled fridge and cabinets. She also had to shift the hallway and a walk-in pantry, behind the wood door on the right, over 4 feet to accommodate the new fridge wall.
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A new breakfast area with a built-in banquette now occupies the space below the bay window, where the sink had been. A beverage and wine fridge sits nearby beneath floating shelves, making this area highly entertainment-friendly. Worswick added a wall separating the kitchen from the hallway on the right for the paneled fridge and cabinets. She also had to shift the hallway and a walk-in pantry, behind the wood door on the right, over 4 feet to accommodate the new fridge wall.
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French oak flooring with a wire-brushed finish adds a big dose of warmth. Faux wood beams with a dark custom stain create rich contrast to the creamy white ceiling and walls (White Dove by Benjamin Moore) and reinforce the Spanish Mediterranean feel the homeowners wanted.
Just out of view to the right are three arched doorways that open to the formal dining room. The hallway at the back right leads to the garage, primary bedroom and a moody secret library and game room located behind faux shelving.
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Just out of view to the right are three arched doorways that open to the formal dining room. The hallway at the back right leads to the garage, primary bedroom and a moody secret library and game room located behind faux shelving.
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In the main part of the kitchen, a 5-by-7-foot island has seating for three and holds an apron-front sink with a European-style bridge faucet in polished nickel, forming an efficient work triangle between the sink, the range on the back wall and the paneled fridge on the right. Relocating the kitchen to the dining room also improved connection with the outdoor area through the sliding glass door. “There’s a barbecue right outside and a seating area,” Worswick says. “Now they have access to that.”
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Two-tone cabinets combine white Shaker-style inset uppers with rift-sawn white oak lowers in a straw-colored stain. “The homeowners had seen a ton of inspiration photos with two-tone cabinets and that was the direction we went,” Worswick says.
In front of the counter stools are shallow storage cabinets for seasonal items. Two Mediterranean-style pendant lights feature hand-forged wrought iron. The kitchen also includes new LED ceiling lights.
Pendant lights: Tuscan, Spanish Revival Lighting
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In front of the counter stools are shallow storage cabinets for seasonal items. Two Mediterranean-style pendant lights feature hand-forged wrought iron. The kitchen also includes new LED ceiling lights.
Pendant lights: Tuscan, Spanish Revival Lighting
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A white-painted tapered hood hangs over a 48-inch gas range. “I just thought this hood was simple yet touched on the Spanish style and was still modern,” Worswick says. Two sconces flank the hood.
The backsplash consists of 5-by-5-inch glazed ceramic tiles in varying white tones that create a handmade, zellige-style look.
Backsplash: Cloe, Bedrosians Tile and Stone; range hood: Tapered, Hoodsly
The backsplash consists of 5-by-5-inch glazed ceramic tiles in varying white tones that create a handmade, zellige-style look.
Backsplash: Cloe, Bedrosians Tile and Stone; range hood: Tapered, Hoodsly
Marble-look quartz countertops provide a durable work surface with an elegant look. The cabinet knobs and pulls have an antique brass finish and join the wrought-iron pendant lights and polished nickel faucet for a mixed-metals look.
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New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
The breakfast area below the bay window has a built-in banquette with storage drawers. A 36-inch bistro table has a cast-iron pedestal base and a marble top that coordinates with other materials and finishes in the kitchen. A pair of solid oak dining chairs with woven seats and backs add a touch of texture. A dome-shaped pendant light has a hand-finished copper coating. “[The breakfast area] gave extra seating and also a space just to relax and incorporate people from the family room with the cook in the kitchen,” Worswick says.
Bistro table: Lucy in Carbon Wash, 36 inches, Four Hands
Bistro table: Lucy in Carbon Wash, 36 inches, Four Hands
This view shows the kitchen’s improved connection to the family room, which was also updated. “The open flow and floor plan suits everyone’s preferences,” Worswick says. “Everyone can be all together, and that was the most important thing to this family.”
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Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of four
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Size: 500 square feet (46 square meters), including a dining area
Design: Kimberley Worswick of Kimberley Kay interiors
Before: The former kitchen had a tight layout that wrapped in several angles beneath a bay window. A sliver of an island provided work surface but looked awkward and broke up the circulation. An imposing range hood didn’t match the scale of the space. Beige tile flooring, light brown granite countertops and glossy countertop-to-ceiling mosaic tile in a herringbone pattern, including a band on the hood, all struck the wrong chord.
A wall on the right, which supported cabinets and a paneled refrigerator, cut the kitchen off from the dining room, which had a sliding glass door to the patio and pool. The range wall divided the kitchen from the family room. “Each space was so compartmentalized,” Worswick says. “It just didn’t make sense.”