Kitchen of the Week: Timeless Style in White, Wood and Soft Green
A design firm found on Houzz helps rejuvenate an Illinois kitchen with tricolor cabinets, a dining nook and a coffee bar
When a couple living in the Chicago suburbs could no longer tolerate their kitchen’s bad layout and failing finishes, they sought expert help from cabinet designer Wendy Franz and Laura Design Co., an interior design firm they found on Houzz. Together, the designers and homeowners took the kitchen from dysfunctional and dated to efficient and timeless, with several “special moments” that include a furniture-like coffee bar and a stove alcove with a hand-painted backsplash.
After: This photo of the new kitchen was taken from the adjacent family room, which is possible thanks to a new, 7¼-foot arched opening between the two previously closed-off rooms.
The slightly wider shot reveals the new layout, which kept the sink and appliances in basically the same places but dispensed with the peninsula.
Before looking at the kitchen in detail, scroll to the bottom to see the floor plan.
Wall paint: Alabaster, Sherwin- Williams
Shop for your kitchen
The slightly wider shot reveals the new layout, which kept the sink and appliances in basically the same places but dispensed with the peninsula.
Before looking at the kitchen in detail, scroll to the bottom to see the floor plan.
Wall paint: Alabaster, Sherwin- Williams
Shop for your kitchen
The homeowners found Laura Irion and Laura Peacock of Laura Design Co. through Houzz, and the team collaborated with kitchen designer Wendy Franz of Studio 912 to create the cabinetry layout and design. Using Houzz Pro throughout the process for proposals and invoices, Irion and Peacock selected the kitchen’s materials and furnishings. Irion says the homeowners’ taste leans toward contemporary and midcentury modern design, but their home’s architecture is more classic. So the team blended the styles to arrive at a timeless look.
The designers chose the Evaro inset cabinet door style from StarMark, a semicustom cabinet line carried by Studio 912. The clients were willing to embrace color and loved green and blue, so the designers paired green bottom cabinets with white uppers and a wood-tone island (all prefinished StarMark colors).
“I think that was just a really neat way to have a hit of color and some colored cabinetry without feeling like it was scary,” Irion says. “It’s hard to commit to a whole room of color cabinetry.”
To the left of the sink is one of the clients’ wish list items: a pullout for trash and recycling.
StarMark cabinet colors: maple in Marshmallow Cream (wall cabinets), maple in Moon Bay (base cabinets), alder with Oregano stain (island base cabinets)
The designers chose the Evaro inset cabinet door style from StarMark, a semicustom cabinet line carried by Studio 912. The clients were willing to embrace color and loved green and blue, so the designers paired green bottom cabinets with white uppers and a wood-tone island (all prefinished StarMark colors).
“I think that was just a really neat way to have a hit of color and some colored cabinetry without feeling like it was scary,” Irion says. “It’s hard to commit to a whole room of color cabinetry.”
To the left of the sink is one of the clients’ wish list items: a pullout for trash and recycling.
StarMark cabinet colors: maple in Marshmallow Cream (wall cabinets), maple in Moon Bay (base cabinets), alder with Oregano stain (island base cabinets)
Veins in the quartz countertops pick up the warmth of the island’s wood stain. The organic pattern complements the irregularity of the handmade zellige tile on the sink wall.
The homeowners can look out to their backyard while standing at their new apron sink.
Quartz countertops: Astoria, Difiniti; tile: Casablanca, 2 by 6 inches, Zia Tile; sink: Grigham fireclay farmhouse in white, 33 inches, Signature Hardware; faucet: Artesso bridge with side spray, Brizo
The homeowners can look out to their backyard while standing at their new apron sink.
Quartz countertops: Astoria, Difiniti; tile: Casablanca, 2 by 6 inches, Zia Tile; sink: Grigham fireclay farmhouse in white, 33 inches, Signature Hardware; faucet: Artesso bridge with side spray, Brizo
Before: This photo illustrates how the large peninsula closed off the kitchen’s working area from its dining area and made moving around the kitchen table awkward.
To the right of the dining area, a pocket door separated the kitchen from a sitting-living room.
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
To the right of the dining area, a pocket door separated the kitchen from a sitting-living room.
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
After: A new built-in bench with storage replaced the freestanding dining table and chairs. Half-height paneling adds interest to the wall behind it. The table, linear chandelier and wood-and-leather chairs share subtle midcentury modern vibes with some of the homeowners’ other furnishings.
Chandelier: Cesta large linear, Circa Lighting
Chandelier: Cesta large linear, Circa Lighting
The colorful modernist artwork also jazzes up the more traditional cabinetry. Irion says they found the blue piece on the left first and then worked with an art supplier to commission the other in complementary colors. The artwork helped to define the room’s color scheme.
To the right of the dining area, Irion and Peacock had project contractor Streamline Craftsman expand the door you see in the previous “before” photo and then redesigned the living room beyond it to create a formal dining room (not pictured).
Against the adjacent wall, where the buffet used to be, is a custom coffee bar-beverage station with a beverage fridge on the lower left. The design was inspired by a freestanding furniture piece, with a beadboard back that coordinates with the paneling behind the dining bench.
The light in the foreground of this photo is one of two island pendants. Irion and Peacock didn’t realize when they ordered them that what looked like a bulb online is actually a marble detail, and the bulb is hidden by a diffuser. When they were installed, their reaction was, “‘We like these even better now,’” Irion says.
Island pendant light: Cleo, Circa Lighting
Against the adjacent wall, where the buffet used to be, is a custom coffee bar-beverage station with a beverage fridge on the lower left. The design was inspired by a freestanding furniture piece, with a beadboard back that coordinates with the paneling behind the dining bench.
The light in the foreground of this photo is one of two island pendants. Irion and Peacock didn’t realize when they ordered them that what looked like a bulb online is actually a marble detail, and the bulb is hidden by a diffuser. When they were installed, their reaction was, “‘We like these even better now,’” Irion says.
Island pendant light: Cleo, Circa Lighting
Before: Here you can see the old buffet where the beverage center now sits, at the back left. To its right was a pair of closets, then a desk area that tended to gather clutter, and then a regular-depth fridge that stuck out into the room. Behind that wall was the family room.
After: Following Irion and Peacock’s design, Streamline removed the closets and created the previously mentioned 7¼-foot arched opening. Then they lifted the family room’s sunken floor and laid the same prefinished wood flooring throughout to unify the two spaces.
Look back at the second photo in this story to see the opposite view, from the family room looking into the kitchen.
12 Creative Coffee and Beverage Stations
Look back at the second photo in this story to see the opposite view, from the family room looking into the kitchen.
12 Creative Coffee and Beverage Stations
To the right of the new arched opening is a bank of cabinetry with a counter-depth fridge and built-in pantry. The clean, rectangular form creates symmetry with the heavy coffee bar on the other side of the arch.
This photo is a little deceiving, but between the pantry and the little alcove with the horse statue is an opening that leads to a back hallway and moody new mudroom-office.
This photo is a little deceiving, but between the pantry and the little alcove with the horse statue is an opening that leads to a back hallway and moody new mudroom-office.
Before: Here you can better see the back hallway behind the kitchen. This photo also reveals the trash can in the entryway and the old island, which had no closed storage underneath.
After: The designers had the opening to that back hallway slightly widened and the walls reconfigured to “clean up” the space.
A decorative element to note are the beams, which were made by Streamline and stained to try to match the island. “They needed to die into the crown of the cabinets, but it was only an 8-foot ceiling, so that was a little bit tricky,” Irion says. “So we did a square crown on the cabinets, so there would just be a nice clean surface for the beams to run into, and then the beams are only 4 inches at the most deep, so they give you that look without taking up a lot of space.”
A decorative element to note are the beams, which were made by Streamline and stained to try to match the island. “They needed to die into the crown of the cabinets, but it was only an 8-foot ceiling, so that was a little bit tricky,” Irion says. “So we did a square crown on the cabinets, so there would just be a nice clean surface for the beams to run into, and then the beams are only 4 inches at the most deep, so they give you that look without taking up a lot of space.”
The new, larger island has open storage at one end. “A lot of kitchens have the island oriented parallel with the range hood where you look at the pendants, the range hood and the backs of the beautiful bar stools, and maybe the end of the island isn’t always the moment, right? So Laura and I were trying to create a moment here and bring in interest on this end of the island,” Irion says. “They’re pretty shallow, actually, but they’re just right for mixing bowls or cookbooks, or whatever more decorative pottery you want to put there. And it’s just a really nice sightline into the kitchen.”
The rest of the island base is equally well-thought-out. It houses a pullout microwave drawer on the inner side, as well as this pullout across from the sink.
Irion credits Franz for working with the homeowners to customize the cabinetry’s interior storage to their needs. “[Franz] was really brilliant at figuring out exactly where to put all their stuff,” she says.
This spice drawer is in the perimeter cabinetry, and there are also custom storage solutions in the pantry near the refrigerator.
This spice drawer is in the perimeter cabinetry, and there are also custom storage solutions in the pantry near the refrigerator.
The focal point of the new kitchen, meanwhile, is the arched stove alcove and Wolf commercial range. The client had fallen in love with the design in inspiration photos, and Streamline replicated it in drywall with an exhaust insert inside.
The left side of the alcove has shallow shelves for spices and decorative items.
The right side is deep enough for a mixer. The alcove’s wooden shelves match the floating open shelves on the adjacent sink wall.
The showstopper in the alcove — and arguably of the whole kitchen — is the handmade, hand-painted terra-cotta backsplash tile, which the designers and homeowners had custom-colored to their specifications.
Tile: Mediterranean 2, Tabarka Studio
The showstopper in the alcove — and arguably of the whole kitchen — is the handmade, hand-painted terra-cotta backsplash tile, which the designers and homeowners had custom-colored to their specifications.
Tile: Mediterranean 2, Tabarka Studio
Unfortunately, there was one “uh-oh” moment during the renovation: the high heat of the commercial range cracked a few of the lower tiles shortly after installation. But the designers and Streamline were able to replace them and add a small stainless range backsplash to protect the new tiles from the direct heat blast. Irion says she hasn’t heard about a problem with it since.
She has heard some great feedback though. Recently, the homeowners shared with her just how thrilled they’ve been with their new kitchen.
“At least once a week [we] turn to each other and say something we still LOVE about the kitchen and the new connection to the family room,” they wrote. “Not only is it a beautiful, warm, inviting space, it has been so functional for our day-to-day lives.… [It’s] just the best!”
She has heard some great feedback though. Recently, the homeowners shared with her just how thrilled they’ve been with their new kitchen.
“At least once a week [we] turn to each other and say something we still LOVE about the kitchen and the new connection to the family room,” they wrote. “Not only is it a beautiful, warm, inviting space, it has been so functional for our day-to-day lives.… [It’s] just the best!”
The first-floor plan
More on Houzz
Read more kitchen stories
Browse kitchen photos
Hire a kitchen remodeler
Shop for kitchen products
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 four
Location: St. Charles, Illinois
Size: 352 square feet (32.7 square meters); 16 by 22 feet
Designers: Laura Irion and Laura Peacock of Laura Design Co. (interior design) and Wendy Franz of Studio 912 (cabinet design)
Contractors: Matt Coan and Mark Thill of Streamline Craftsman
Before: The existing kitchen had a variety of aesthetic and functional challenges. The homeowners, whose sons were 6 and 3½ at the time of the renovation, complained that they couldn’t see into the family room, which was cut off from the kitchen. They had a hard time reaching things in the cabinets, and there was no designated spot for trash and recycling. The cabinets were falling apart and their paint was rubbing off, and the kitchen tile could no longer be sealed, so the grout looked terrible. The clients also disliked the soffit and can lights.
What’s more, while the room was relatively large, a peninsula (on the right) closed off the working area from the kitchen dining area (not pictured) and allowed for only a small kitchen island.
Find kitchen remodelers near you