Kitchen Design
Kitchen of the Week
Kitchen of the Week: White and Blue With Smart Storage Ideas
A designer helps an empty-nest couple create a new kitchen with modern farmhouse style and creative cabinet solutions
This empty-nest couple purchased a spacious lot in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin, so they could build a new house closer to their grandchildren. At the heart of the home, they wanted a modern farmhouse-style kitchen that featured plenty of space for entertaining and leaned heavily on the wife’s favorite color, navy blue. They also wanted the latest storage solutions. “She wanted all the bells and whistles,” says Traci Rauner, the couple’s designer. “Any creative thing we could think of for any of the cabinets, that was something we wanted to do.”
Those solutions include cabinet dividers for storing baking pans and a pullout that contains a knife block and canisters for utensils. There’s a dedicated coffee station and bar with rollouts for supplies. There’s a pullout trash and recycling center with a hidden paper towel holder. A flip-up cabinet conceals the microwave. And a roomy walk-in pantry stores dry goods, small appliances and a baking center. For style, glossy navy blue backsplash tiles coordinate with a navy island base, offering contrast to crisp white Shaker-style cabinets and light quartz countertops.
Those solutions include cabinet dividers for storing baking pans and a pullout that contains a knife block and canisters for utensils. There’s a dedicated coffee station and bar with rollouts for supplies. There’s a pullout trash and recycling center with a hidden paper towel holder. A flip-up cabinet conceals the microwave. And a roomy walk-in pantry stores dry goods, small appliances and a baking center. For style, glossy navy blue backsplash tiles coordinate with a navy island base, offering contrast to crisp white Shaker-style cabinets and light quartz countertops.
Stainless steel appliances, including a 30-inch dual-fuel double-oven convection range and a 30-inch wall-mount canopy hood, coordinate with brushed nickel knobs and pulls.
Rauner used slab fronts for the slim top drawers on the lower cabinets and Shaker style for the rest. “It gives a more custom look,” she says.
Navy blue outlet covers minimize distraction from the backsplash tile. “It drives me crazy when there’s a drastic difference in the color for the outlets,” Rauner says.
Cabinet hardware: Metro pull in brushed nickel, 224 millimeters and 96 millimeters, Berenson Hardware
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Rauner used slab fronts for the slim top drawers on the lower cabinets and Shaker style for the rest. “It gives a more custom look,” she says.
Navy blue outlet covers minimize distraction from the backsplash tile. “It drives me crazy when there’s a drastic difference in the color for the outlets,” Rauner says.
Cabinet hardware: Metro pull in brushed nickel, 224 millimeters and 96 millimeters, Berenson Hardware
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A pullout to the left of the range includes canisters for utensils, a knife block and space for small cutting boards and cooking oils.
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A coffee station and bar area sits to the left of the range. Two industrial-style black swing-arm sconces above provide style and flexible lighting.
Custom floating walnut shelves with a natural finish hold canisters for marshmallows, biscotti and other hot drink items. A tray on the counter keeps bottles of syrup handy. “They’re avid coffee drinkers and like to have that variety of offerings for their guests,” Rauner says.
Custom floating walnut shelves with a natural finish hold canisters for marshmallows, biscotti and other hot drink items. A tray on the counter keeps bottles of syrup handy. “They’re avid coffee drinkers and like to have that variety of offerings for their guests,” Rauner says.
Rollout shelves hold mugs and other coffee items, as well as a bread station with a toaster that plugs into an outlet inside the cabinetry.
A 24-inch built-in beverage fridge stores soda, water and wine.
How to Remodel Your Kitchen
A 24-inch built-in beverage fridge stores soda, water and wine.
How to Remodel Your Kitchen
Across from the range, the interior side of the island has a 24-inch stainless steel dishwasher, a rollout trash and recycling center and this handy paper towel holder drawer. The back of the drawer stores an extra roll. “They saw a photo of something like this and modified it to have that extra storage behind it,” Rauner says.
A heat- and stain-resistant granite composite double-bowl sink has a metallic gray finish that complements the blue island color.
Sink: Precis in Metallic Gray, Blanco; faucet: Mateo in Arctic, Delta Faucet
A heat- and stain-resistant granite composite double-bowl sink has a metallic gray finish that complements the blue island color.
Sink: Precis in Metallic Gray, Blanco; faucet: Mateo in Arctic, Delta Faucet
A 36-inch-wide standard-depth stainless French door refrigerator has an in-door ice system and a special finish that resists smudges.
A cabinet above has dividers for baking pans, cookie sheets and party platters.
The white door with transom window to the right opens to the walk-in pantry.
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A cabinet above has dividers for baking pans, cookie sheets and party platters.
The white door with transom window to the right opens to the walk-in pantry.
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
The pantry has shelves for dry goods and small appliances. Slide-out baskets on the shelves group similar smaller items together so they can be found easily.
The pantry also includes a baking station on the left with a laminate countertop for prep work. “She definitely wanted a big pantry with lots of storage,” Rauner says.
The pantry also includes a baking station on the left with a laminate countertop for prep work. “She definitely wanted a big pantry with lots of storage,” Rauner says.
An angled corner to the left of the refrigerator includes a flip-up cabinet that hides the couple’s microwave. “They just wanted a small microwave, and they didn’t want to see it,” Rauner says.
Instead of a simple panel front, the side of the refrigerator (seen here on the right) includes a shallow cabinet for added storage.
Shelves inside the shallow cabinet hold items such as a calendar, mail, keys and cookbooks. “It takes the place of a command center,” Rauner says.
The upper cabinet has shallow shelves for storing liquor bottles. “I think we tried to use every available inch of this kitchen,” Rauner says.
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The upper cabinet has shallow shelves for storing liquor bottles. “I think we tried to use every available inch of this kitchen,” Rauner says.
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Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: An empty-nest couple
Location: Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin
Size: 225 square feet (21 square meters)
Designer: Traci Rauner Design
In the new-build kitchen, rich glossy blue 2-by-9-inch tiles create a textured backsplash focal point. “I have used them in five or six projects in the last year,” Rauner says. “I like the color variation, but not every client will go for that look. But when I suggested these tiles to her, she said, ‘Go for it.’ ”
The tile color complements the deep navy island base (Naval by Sherwin-Williams), three navy blue island pendant lights and navy veining in the quartz island countertop. The perimeter countertops are white polished quartz. “We wanted the island to really pop, and that quartz is really dramatic,” Rauner says.
On the island base, two posts and shiplap detailing join Shaker-style inset cabinet fronts throughout the kitchen for a modern farmhouse look. Two upper cabinets flanking the range hood have glass inserts for displaying collectibles. “They have lights in there, so they also make a nice night light,” Rauner says.
French oak flooring adds warmth. Sliding doors lead to a patio with a fire pit lounge and grilling area.
Backsplash: Look Storie in Blu Glossy, 2 by 9 inches Ragno; pendant lights: Orwell in pewter with navy blue shade, Golden Lighting; island countertop: Portrush, Cambria; paint colors: Reflection (walls) and Extra White (trim), Sherwin-Williams
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