A complete kitchen and powder room remodel in Herndon, Virginia, designed around two clear priorities: open up the kitchen to the rest of the main level, and create an experience that felt warm and timeless rather than trendy. The original layout had a wall separating the kitchen from the dining room and an awkward fridge wall that limited both storage and traffic flow. Our solution involved removing the dividing wall (confirmed non-load-bearing), tightening the new dining room opening to 66 inches, and extending the fridge wall 25 inches into the kitchen to create a proper full-height pantry run. The result is a kitchen that breathes — open to the dining and living areas, with clear sight lines from the island to the bay windows at the far end. Design Approach The clients came in knowing they didn't want white. They didn't want navy. They wanted something with real wood character — the kind of finish that ages well and looks more like furniture than stock kitchen cabinetry. Cherry was the answer to that question. We anchored the room around contrast: warm cherry cabinetry against clean white walls and white quartz, black hardware grounding the cherry's warmth, and a single waterfall island acting as the architectural focal point. Stainless appliances, brushed gold pendant accents, and the herringbone hardwood floor pull the room together without any one element shouting for attention. The Cabinetry Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino — a stained cherry finish that catches light differently throughout the day. All-plywood box construction, solid wood doors and drawer fronts, soft close everywhere, US-made with a lifetime warranty. Four pull-out drawers built into the pantry bottoms keep the deep storage actually usable rather than a black hole. Cabinet hardware is Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black — 40 pulls across drawers and doors, plus three longer pulls on the 36-inch base drawers. The black was a deliberate decision: with cherry and stainless already providing warm and cool tones, brass or gold would have been one warm tone too many. Black grounds the cabinetry and gives the kitchen its architectural definition. The Island and Countertops MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz throughout — perimeter counters, island, waterfall ends, and the powder room. The Gold variant has subtle warm veining that pairs with cherry where cooler whites would have fought the wood tone. The island gets a full waterfall edge — slabs book-matched, miters precise, the finished edge essentially seamless. Treating the island as architectural sculpture rather than just functional storage. The black undermount farmhouse-style sink ties back to the hardware throughout the rest of the kitchen. The Backsplash MSI Metro Gold tile — small format white and gold tiles in a herringbone-adjacent pattern with intermittent gold accents. Full height, continuous behind the floating shelves and behind the hood. Four custom floating shelves are spaced above a 3-inch countertop ledge: first shelf 18 inches above the ledge, second shelf 9 inches above that, third 18 inches above the second. The shelves are stained to match the cabinetry. The backsplash continues behind the shelves and behind the hood, so the wall reads as a continuous textured surface that the shelves and hood float in front of. The Appliances This is a serious cooking kitchen. The clients chose a 48-inch Wolf gas range, a Sub-Zero built-in refrigerator integrated into the cherry cabinet wall, a Wolf microwave drawer in the island base, and a Bosch dishwasher. For ventilation, we installed a 1200 CFM hood paired with a make-up air system to balance the negative pressure that hood pulls. New ducting was routed through the exterior siding on the side of the house. The Flooring MSI engineered hardwood throughout the entire main level — approximately 800 square feet — installed in a Bramlett herringbone pattern. Herringbone adds roughly 15-20 percent to material and labor costs because of the angled cuts and waste factor, but the result is a floor that reads as more considered and luxurious than standard plank flooring. Finished with 4.5-inch white wood baseboards throughout. The Powder Room A small room with a big personality. The clients chose a deep blue and teal scallop pattern wallpaper (client-supplied, we installed) and paired it with the same Sonoma Cappuccino cherry vanity used in the kitchen — material continuity between the spaces. Powder room countertop is the same MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz from the kitchen with a rectangular white undermount sink. Hardware on the powder room vanity is Top Knobs Riverside in honey bronze rather than the kitchen's flat black — the warm bronze pulls the brass tones from the faucet into the millwork and complements the wallpaper. New sconce, kept the existing toilet (refinishing or replacing a working toilet is wasted money in a powder room remodel), and a Panasonic Whisper Green exhaust fan. Project Specs Location: Herndon, Virginia Project type: Combined kitchen and powder room remodel Project duration: Approximately 4 to 6 weeks Style: Transitional, Modern Farmhouse, Warm Wood Contemporary Color palette: Cherry, white, black, brushed gold, deep blue (powder room) Materials Cabinetry (kitchen and powder room): Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino cherry, Shaker-style, all-plywood box construction, lifetime warranty Kitchen hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black (TK1014BLK and TK1017BLK) Powder room hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in honey bronze (TK1012HB) Counter tops: MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold Quartz, pencil edge, waterfall island Backsplash: MSI Metro Gold tile, full height Floating shelves: 4 custom shelves at 48" by 9", stained to match cabinets Range: 48-inch Wolf gas range Refrigerator: Sub-Zero built-in Microwave: Wolf microwave drawer (island base) Hood: 1200 CFM with make-up air system Kitchen sink: Kohler farmhouse-style, 36-inch base, black Kitchen faucet: Brizo (homeowner-supplied) Flooring: MSI engineered hardwood in Bramlett herringbone pattern, approximately 800 sq ft Baseboards: 4.5-inch white wood throughout Powder room wallpaper: Client-supplied scallop pattern in blues and teals Powder room exhaust fan: Panasonic Whisper Green Paint: Benjamin Moore Designed and built by My Kitchen and Bath out of our Herndon showroom at 285 Sunset Park Drive. We've been designing and building kitchens, bathrooms, and full home renovations across Northern Virginia and the DMV since 1994.

Stairs in honed Pietra d'Avola and wall in Raw texture from Salvatori Pepe Fotografia
Staircase - contemporary staircase idea in Turin

Cottage basement photo in Philadelphia

Inspiration for an eclectic powder room remodel in Charlotte

Fu-Tung Cheng, CHENG Design • Front Exterior, Del Mar House Airstream trailers and Quonset huts inspired the design for this house docked against a gentle slope near San Diego. Cheng Design pits hard-edged industrial materials — concrete block, galvanized siding, steel columns, stainless steel cable and welded I-beams — against softer residential elements, such as stained-wood siding and a grid of exposed wood framing that supports the roof. Photography: Matthew Millman

Staircase - mid-sized modern wooden straight metal railing staircase idea in Raleigh with wooden risers

A complete kitchen and powder room remodel in Herndon, Virginia, designed around two clear priorities: open up the kitchen to the rest of the main level, and create an experience that felt warm and timeless rather than trendy. The original layout had a wall separating the kitchen from the dining room and an awkward fridge wall that limited both storage and traffic flow. Our solution involved removing the dividing wall (confirmed non-load-bearing), tightening the new dining room opening to 66 inches, and extending the fridge wall 25 inches into the kitchen to create a proper full-height pantry run. The result is a kitchen that breathes — open to the dining and living areas, with clear sight lines from the island to the bay windows at the far end. Design Approach The clients came in knowing they didn't want white. They didn't want navy. They wanted something with real wood character — the kind of finish that ages well and looks more like furniture than stock kitchen cabinetry. Cherry was the answer to that question. We anchored the room around contrast: warm cherry cabinetry against clean white walls and white quartz, black hardware grounding the cherry's warmth, and a single waterfall island acting as the architectural focal point. Stainless appliances, brushed gold pendant accents, and the herringbone hardwood floor pull the room together without any one element shouting for attention. The Cabinetry Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino — a stained cherry finish that catches light differently throughout the day. All-plywood box construction, solid wood doors and drawer fronts, soft close everywhere, US-made with a lifetime warranty. Four pull-out drawers built into the pantry bottoms keep the deep storage actually usable rather than a black hole. Cabinet hardware is Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black — 40 pulls across drawers and doors, plus three longer pulls on the 36-inch base drawers. The black was a deliberate decision: with cherry and stainless already providing warm and cool tones, brass or gold would have been one warm tone too many. Black grounds the cabinetry and gives the kitchen its architectural definition. The Island and Countertops MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz throughout — perimeter counters, island, waterfall ends, and the powder room. The Gold variant has subtle warm veining that pairs with cherry where cooler whites would have fought the wood tone. The island gets a full waterfall edge — slabs book-matched, miters precise, the finished edge essentially seamless. Treating the island as architectural sculpture rather than just functional storage. The black undermount farmhouse-style sink ties back to the hardware throughout the rest of the kitchen. The Backsplash MSI Metro Gold tile — small format white and gold tiles in a herringbone-adjacent pattern with intermittent gold accents. Full height, continuous behind the floating shelves and behind the hood. Four custom floating shelves are spaced above a 3-inch countertop ledge: first shelf 18 inches above the ledge, second shelf 9 inches above that, third 18 inches above the second. The shelves are stained to match the cabinetry. The backsplash continues behind the shelves and behind the hood, so the wall reads as a continuous textured surface that the shelves and hood float in front of. The Appliances This is a serious cooking kitchen. The clients chose a 48-inch Wolf gas range, a Sub-Zero built-in refrigerator integrated into the cherry cabinet wall, a Wolf microwave drawer in the island base, and a Bosch dishwasher. For ventilation, we installed a 1200 CFM hood paired with a make-up air system to balance the negative pressure that hood pulls. New ducting was routed through the exterior siding on the side of the house. The Flooring MSI engineered hardwood throughout the entire main level — approximately 800 square feet — installed in a Bramlett herringbone pattern. Herringbone adds roughly 15-20 percent to material and labor costs because of the angled cuts and waste factor, but the result is a floor that reads as more considered and luxurious than standard plank flooring. Finished with 4.5-inch white wood baseboards throughout. The Powder Room A small room with a big personality. The clients chose a deep blue and teal scallop pattern wallpaper (client-supplied, we installed) and paired it with the same Sonoma Cappuccino cherry vanity used in the kitchen — material continuity between the spaces. Powder room countertop is the same MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz from the kitchen with a rectangular white undermount sink. Hardware on the powder room vanity is Top Knobs Riverside in honey bronze rather than the kitchen's flat black — the warm bronze pulls the brass tones from the faucet into the millwork and complements the wallpaper. New sconce, kept the existing toilet (refinishing or replacing a working toilet is wasted money in a powder room remodel), and a Panasonic Whisper Green exhaust fan. Project Specs Location: Herndon, Virginia Project type: Combined kitchen and powder room remodel Project duration: Approximately 4 to 6 weeks Style: Transitional, Modern Farmhouse, Warm Wood Contemporary Color palette: Cherry, white, black, brushed gold, deep blue (powder room) Materials Cabinetry (kitchen and powder room): Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino cherry, Shaker-style, all-plywood box construction, lifetime warranty Kitchen hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black (TK1014BLK and TK1017BLK) Powder room hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in honey bronze (TK1012HB) Counter tops: MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold Quartz, pencil edge, waterfall island Backsplash: MSI Metro Gold tile, full height Floating shelves: 4 custom shelves at 48" by 9", stained to match cabinets Range: 48-inch Wolf gas range Refrigerator: Sub-Zero built-in Microwave: Wolf microwave drawer (island base) Hood: 1200 CFM with make-up air system Kitchen sink: Kohler farmhouse-style, 36-inch base, black Kitchen faucet: Brizo (homeowner-supplied) Flooring: MSI engineered hardwood in Bramlett herringbone pattern, approximately 800 sq ft Baseboards: 4.5-inch white wood throughout Powder room wallpaper: Client-supplied scallop pattern in blues and teals Powder room exhaust fan: Panasonic Whisper Green Paint: Benjamin Moore Designed and built by My Kitchen and Bath out of our Herndon showroom at 285 Sunset Park Drive. We've been designing and building kitchens, bathrooms, and full home renovations across Northern Virginia and the DMV since 1994.

A complete kitchen and powder room remodel in Herndon, Virginia, designed around two clear priorities: open up the kitchen to the rest of the main level, and create an experience that felt warm and timeless rather than trendy. The original layout had a wall separating the kitchen from the dining room and an awkward fridge wall that limited both storage and traffic flow. Our solution involved removing the dividing wall (confirmed non-load-bearing), tightening the new dining room opening to 66 inches, and extending the fridge wall 25 inches into the kitchen to create a proper full-height pantry run. The result is a kitchen that breathes — open to the dining and living areas, with clear sight lines from the island to the bay windows at the far end. Design Approach The clients came in knowing they didn't want white. They didn't want navy. They wanted something with real wood character — the kind of finish that ages well and looks more like furniture than stock kitchen cabinetry. Cherry was the answer to that question. We anchored the room around contrast: warm cherry cabinetry against clean white walls and white quartz, black hardware grounding the cherry's warmth, and a single waterfall island acting as the architectural focal point. Stainless appliances, brushed gold pendant accents, and the herringbone hardwood floor pull the room together without any one element shouting for attention. The Cabinetry Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino — a stained cherry finish that catches light differently throughout the day. All-plywood box construction, solid wood doors and drawer fronts, soft close everywhere, US-made with a lifetime warranty. Four pull-out drawers built into the pantry bottoms keep the deep storage actually usable rather than a black hole. Cabinet hardware is Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black — 40 pulls across drawers and doors, plus three longer pulls on the 36-inch base drawers. The black was a deliberate decision: with cherry and stainless already providing warm and cool tones, brass or gold would have been one warm tone too many. Black grounds the cabinetry and gives the kitchen its architectural definition. The Island and Countertops MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz throughout — perimeter counters, island, waterfall ends, and the powder room. The Gold variant has subtle warm veining that pairs with cherry where cooler whites would have fought the wood tone. The island gets a full waterfall edge — slabs book-matched, miters precise, the finished edge essentially seamless. Treating the island as architectural sculpture rather than just functional storage. The black undermount farmhouse-style sink ties back to the hardware throughout the rest of the kitchen. The Backsplash MSI Metro Gold tile — small format white and gold tiles in a herringbone-adjacent pattern with intermittent gold accents. Full height, continuous behind the floating shelves and behind the hood. Four custom floating shelves are spaced above a 3-inch countertop ledge: first shelf 18 inches above the ledge, second shelf 9 inches above that, third 18 inches above the second. The shelves are stained to match the cabinetry. The backsplash continues behind the shelves and behind the hood, so the wall reads as a continuous textured surface that the shelves and hood float in front of. The Appliances This is a serious cooking kitchen. The clients chose a 48-inch Wolf gas range, a Sub-Zero built-in refrigerator integrated into the cherry cabinet wall, a Wolf microwave drawer in the island base, and a Bosch dishwasher. For ventilation, we installed a 1200 CFM hood paired with a make-up air system to balance the negative pressure that hood pulls. New ducting was routed through the exterior siding on the side of the house. The Flooring MSI engineered hardwood throughout the entire main level — approximately 800 square feet — installed in a Bramlett herringbone pattern. Herringbone adds roughly 15-20 percent to material and labor costs because of the angled cuts and waste factor, but the result is a floor that reads as more considered and luxurious than standard plank flooring. Finished with 4.5-inch white wood baseboards throughout. The Powder Room A small room with a big personality. The clients chose a deep blue and teal scallop pattern wallpaper (client-supplied, we installed) and paired it with the same Sonoma Cappuccino cherry vanity used in the kitchen — material continuity between the spaces. Powder room countertop is the same MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz from the kitchen with a rectangular white undermount sink. Hardware on the powder room vanity is Top Knobs Riverside in honey bronze rather than the kitchen's flat black — the warm bronze pulls the brass tones from the faucet into the millwork and complements the wallpaper. New sconce, kept the existing toilet (refinishing or replacing a working toilet is wasted money in a powder room remodel), and a Panasonic Whisper Green exhaust fan. Project Specs Location: Herndon, Virginia Project type: Combined kitchen and powder room remodel Project duration: Approximately 4 to 6 weeks Style: Transitional, Modern Farmhouse, Warm Wood Contemporary Color palette: Cherry, white, black, brushed gold, deep blue (powder room) Materials Cabinetry (kitchen and powder room): Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino cherry, Shaker-style, all-plywood box construction, lifetime warranty Kitchen hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black (TK1014BLK and TK1017BLK) Powder room hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in honey bronze (TK1012HB) Counter tops: MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold Quartz, pencil edge, waterfall island Backsplash: MSI Metro Gold tile, full height Floating shelves: 4 custom shelves at 48" by 9", stained to match cabinets Range: 48-inch Wolf gas range Refrigerator: Sub-Zero built-in Microwave: Wolf microwave drawer (island base) Hood: 1200 CFM with make-up air system Kitchen sink: Kohler farmhouse-style, 36-inch base, black Kitchen faucet: Brizo (homeowner-supplied) Flooring: MSI engineered hardwood in Bramlett herringbone pattern, approximately 800 sq ft Baseboards: 4.5-inch white wood throughout Powder room wallpaper: Client-supplied scallop pattern in blues and teals Powder room exhaust fan: Panasonic Whisper Green Paint: Benjamin Moore Designed and built by My Kitchen and Bath out of our Herndon showroom at 285 Sunset Park Drive. We've been designing and building kitchens, bathrooms, and full home renovations across Northern Virginia and the DMV since 1994.

A complete kitchen and powder room remodel in Herndon, Virginia, designed around two clear priorities: open up the kitchen to the rest of the main level, and create an experience that felt warm and timeless rather than trendy. The original layout had a wall separating the kitchen from the dining room and an awkward fridge wall that limited both storage and traffic flow. Our solution involved removing the dividing wall (confirmed non-load-bearing), tightening the new dining room opening to 66 inches, and extending the fridge wall 25 inches into the kitchen to create a proper full-height pantry run. The result is a kitchen that breathes — open to the dining and living areas, with clear sight lines from the island to the bay windows at the far end. Design Approach The clients came in knowing they didn't want white. They didn't want navy. They wanted something with real wood character — the kind of finish that ages well and looks more like furniture than stock kitchen cabinetry. Cherry was the answer to that question. We anchored the room around contrast: warm cherry cabinetry against clean white walls and white quartz, black hardware grounding the cherry's warmth, and a single waterfall island acting as the architectural focal point. Stainless appliances, brushed gold pendant accents, and the herringbone hardwood floor pull the room together without any one element shouting for attention. The Cabinetry Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino — a stained cherry finish that catches light differently throughout the day. All-plywood box construction, solid wood doors and drawer fronts, soft close everywhere, US-made with a lifetime warranty. Four pull-out drawers built into the pantry bottoms keep the deep storage actually usable rather than a black hole. Cabinet hardware is Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black — 40 pulls across drawers and doors, plus three longer pulls on the 36-inch base drawers. The black was a deliberate decision: with cherry and stainless already providing warm and cool tones, brass or gold would have been one warm tone too many. Black grounds the cabinetry and gives the kitchen its architectural definition. The Island and Countertops MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz throughout — perimeter counters, island, waterfall ends, and the powder room. The Gold variant has subtle warm veining that pairs with cherry where cooler whites would have fought the wood tone. The island gets a full waterfall edge — slabs book-matched, miters precise, the finished edge essentially seamless. Treating the island as architectural sculpture rather than just functional storage. The black undermount farmhouse-style sink ties back to the hardware throughout the rest of the kitchen. The Backsplash MSI Metro Gold tile — small format white and gold tiles in a herringbone-adjacent pattern with intermittent gold accents. Full height, continuous behind the floating shelves and behind the hood. Four custom floating shelves are spaced above a 3-inch countertop ledge: first shelf 18 inches above the ledge, second shelf 9 inches above that, third 18 inches above the second. The shelves are stained to match the cabinetry. The backsplash continues behind the shelves and behind the hood, so the wall reads as a continuous textured surface that the shelves and hood float in front of. The Appliances This is a serious cooking kitchen. The clients chose a 48-inch Wolf gas range, a Sub-Zero built-in refrigerator integrated into the cherry cabinet wall, a Wolf microwave drawer in the island base, and a Bosch dishwasher. For ventilation, we installed a 1200 CFM hood paired with a make-up air system to balance the negative pressure that hood pulls. New ducting was routed through the exterior siding on the side of the house. The Flooring MSI engineered hardwood throughout the entire main level — approximately 800 square feet — installed in a Bramlett herringbone pattern. Herringbone adds roughly 15-20 percent to material and labor costs because of the angled cuts and waste factor, but the result is a floor that reads as more considered and luxurious than standard plank flooring. Finished with 4.5-inch white wood baseboards throughout. The Powder Room A small room with a big personality. The clients chose a deep blue and teal scallop pattern wallpaper (client-supplied, we installed) and paired it with the same Sonoma Cappuccino cherry vanity used in the kitchen — material continuity between the spaces. Powder room countertop is the same MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz from the kitchen with a rectangular white undermount sink. Hardware on the powder room vanity is Top Knobs Riverside in honey bronze rather than the kitchen's flat black — the warm bronze pulls the brass tones from the faucet into the millwork and complements the wallpaper. New sconce, kept the existing toilet (refinishing or replacing a working toilet is wasted money in a powder room remodel), and a Panasonic Whisper Green exhaust fan. Project Specs Location: Herndon, Virginia Project type: Combined kitchen and powder room remodel Project duration: Approximately 4 to 6 weeks Style: Transitional, Modern Farmhouse, Warm Wood Contemporary Color palette: Cherry, white, black, brushed gold, deep blue (powder room) Materials Cabinetry (kitchen and powder room): Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino cherry, Shaker-style, all-plywood box construction, lifetime warranty Kitchen hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black (TK1014BLK and TK1017BLK) Powder room hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in honey bronze (TK1012HB) Counter tops: MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold Quartz, pencil edge, waterfall island Backsplash: MSI Metro Gold tile, full height Floating shelves: 4 custom shelves at 48" by 9", stained to match cabinets Range: 48-inch Wolf gas range Refrigerator: Sub-Zero built-in Microwave: Wolf microwave drawer (island base) Hood: 1200 CFM with make-up air system Kitchen sink: Kohler farmhouse-style, 36-inch base, black Kitchen faucet: Brizo (homeowner-supplied) Flooring: MSI engineered hardwood in Bramlett herringbone pattern, approximately 800 sq ft Baseboards: 4.5-inch white wood throughout Powder room wallpaper: Client-supplied scallop pattern in blues and teals Powder room exhaust fan: Panasonic Whisper Green Paint: Benjamin Moore Designed and built by My Kitchen and Bath out of our Herndon showroom at 285 Sunset Park Drive. We've been designing and building kitchens, bathrooms, and full home renovations across Northern Virginia and the DMV since 1994.

A complete kitchen and powder room remodel in Herndon, Virginia, designed around two clear priorities: open up the kitchen to the rest of the main level, and create an experience that felt warm and timeless rather than trendy. The original layout had a wall separating the kitchen from the dining room and an awkward fridge wall that limited both storage and traffic flow. Our solution involved removing the dividing wall (confirmed non-load-bearing), tightening the new dining room opening to 66 inches, and extending the fridge wall 25 inches into the kitchen to create a proper full-height pantry run. The result is a kitchen that breathes — open to the dining and living areas, with clear sight lines from the island to the bay windows at the far end. Design Approach The clients came in knowing they didn't want white. They didn't want navy. They wanted something with real wood character — the kind of finish that ages well and looks more like furniture than stock kitchen cabinetry. Cherry was the answer to that question. We anchored the room around contrast: warm cherry cabinetry against clean white walls and white quartz, black hardware grounding the cherry's warmth, and a single waterfall island acting as the architectural focal point. Stainless appliances, brushed gold pendant accents, and the herringbone hardwood floor pull the room together without any one element shouting for attention. The Cabinetry Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino — a stained cherry finish that catches light differently throughout the day. All-plywood box construction, solid wood doors and drawer fronts, soft close everywhere, US-made with a lifetime warranty. Four pull-out drawers built into the pantry bottoms keep the deep storage actually usable rather than a black hole. Cabinet hardware is Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black — 40 pulls across drawers and doors, plus three longer pulls on the 36-inch base drawers. The black was a deliberate decision: with cherry and stainless already providing warm and cool tones, brass or gold would have been one warm tone too many. Black grounds the cabinetry and gives the kitchen its architectural definition. The Island and Countertops MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz throughout — perimeter counters, island, waterfall ends, and the powder room. The Gold variant has subtle warm veining that pairs with cherry where cooler whites would have fought the wood tone. The island gets a full waterfall edge — slabs book-matched, miters precise, the finished edge essentially seamless. Treating the island as architectural sculpture rather than just functional storage. The black undermount farmhouse-style sink ties back to the hardware throughout the rest of the kitchen. The Backsplash MSI Metro Gold tile — small format white and gold tiles in a herringbone-adjacent pattern with intermittent gold accents. Full height, continuous behind the floating shelves and behind the hood. Four custom floating shelves are spaced above a 3-inch countertop ledge: first shelf 18 inches above the ledge, second shelf 9 inches above that, third 18 inches above the second. The shelves are stained to match the cabinetry. The backsplash continues behind the shelves and behind the hood, so the wall reads as a continuous textured surface that the shelves and hood float in front of. The Appliances This is a serious cooking kitchen. The clients chose a 48-inch Wolf gas range, a Sub-Zero built-in refrigerator integrated into the cherry cabinet wall, a Wolf microwave drawer in the island base, and a Bosch dishwasher. For ventilation, we installed a 1200 CFM hood paired with a make-up air system to balance the negative pressure that hood pulls. New ducting was routed through the exterior siding on the side of the house. The Flooring MSI engineered hardwood throughout the entire main level — approximately 800 square feet — installed in a Bramlett herringbone pattern. Herringbone adds roughly 15-20 percent to material and labor costs because of the angled cuts and waste factor, but the result is a floor that reads as more considered and luxurious than standard plank flooring. Finished with 4.5-inch white wood baseboards throughout. The Powder Room A small room with a big personality. The clients chose a deep blue and teal scallop pattern wallpaper (client-supplied, we installed) and paired it with the same Sonoma Cappuccino cherry vanity used in the kitchen — material continuity between the spaces. Powder room countertop is the same MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz from the kitchen with a rectangular white undermount sink. Hardware on the powder room vanity is Top Knobs Riverside in honey bronze rather than the kitchen's flat black — the warm bronze pulls the brass tones from the faucet into the millwork and complements the wallpaper. New sconce, kept the existing toilet (refinishing or replacing a working toilet is wasted money in a powder room remodel), and a Panasonic Whisper Green exhaust fan. Project Specs Location: Herndon, Virginia Project type: Combined kitchen and powder room remodel Project duration: Approximately 4 to 6 weeks Style: Transitional, Modern Farmhouse, Warm Wood Contemporary Color palette: Cherry, white, black, brushed gold, deep blue (powder room) Materials Cabinetry (kitchen and powder room): Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino cherry, Shaker-style, all-plywood box construction, lifetime warranty Kitchen hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black (TK1014BLK and TK1017BLK) Powder room hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in honey bronze (TK1012HB) Counter tops: MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold Quartz, pencil edge, waterfall island Backsplash: MSI Metro Gold tile, full height Floating shelves: 4 custom shelves at 48" by 9", stained to match cabinets Range: 48-inch Wolf gas range Refrigerator: Sub-Zero built-in Microwave: Wolf microwave drawer (island base) Hood: 1200 CFM with make-up air system Kitchen sink: Kohler farmhouse-style, 36-inch base, black Kitchen faucet: Brizo (homeowner-supplied) Flooring: MSI engineered hardwood in Bramlett herringbone pattern, approximately 800 sq ft Baseboards: 4.5-inch white wood throughout Powder room wallpaper: Client-supplied scallop pattern in blues and teals Powder room exhaust fan: Panasonic Whisper Green Paint: Benjamin Moore Designed and built by My Kitchen and Bath out of our Herndon showroom at 285 Sunset Park Drive. We've been designing and building kitchens, bathrooms, and full home renovations across Northern Virginia and the DMV since 1994.

A complete kitchen and powder room remodel in Herndon, Virginia, designed around two clear priorities: open up the kitchen to the rest of the main level, and create an experience that felt warm and timeless rather than trendy. The original layout had a wall separating the kitchen from the dining room and an awkward fridge wall that limited both storage and traffic flow. Our solution involved removing the dividing wall (confirmed non-load-bearing), tightening the new dining room opening to 66 inches, and extending the fridge wall 25 inches into the kitchen to create a proper full-height pantry run. The result is a kitchen that breathes — open to the dining and living areas, with clear sight lines from the island to the bay windows at the far end. Design Approach The clients came in knowing they didn't want white. They didn't want navy. They wanted something with real wood character — the kind of finish that ages well and looks more like furniture than stock kitchen cabinetry. Cherry was the answer to that question. We anchored the room around contrast: warm cherry cabinetry against clean white walls and white quartz, black hardware grounding the cherry's warmth, and a single waterfall island acting as the architectural focal point. Stainless appliances, brushed gold pendant accents, and the herringbone hardwood floor pull the room together without any one element shouting for attention. The Cabinetry Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino — a stained cherry finish that catches light differently throughout the day. All-plywood box construction, solid wood doors and drawer fronts, soft close everywhere, US-made with a lifetime warranty. Four pull-out drawers built into the pantry bottoms keep the deep storage actually usable rather than a black hole. Cabinet hardware is Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black — 40 pulls across drawers and doors, plus three longer pulls on the 36-inch base drawers. The black was a deliberate decision: with cherry and stainless already providing warm and cool tones, brass or gold would have been one warm tone too many. Black grounds the cabinetry and gives the kitchen its architectural definition. The Island and Countertops MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz throughout — perimeter counters, island, waterfall ends, and the powder room. The Gold variant has subtle warm veining that pairs with cherry where cooler whites would have fought the wood tone. The island gets a full waterfall edge — slabs book-matched, miters precise, the finished edge essentially seamless. Treating the island as architectural sculpture rather than just functional storage. The black undermount farmhouse-style sink ties back to the hardware throughout the rest of the kitchen. The Backsplash MSI Metro Gold tile — small format white and gold tiles in a herringbone-adjacent pattern with intermittent gold accents. Full height, continuous behind the floating shelves and behind the hood. Four custom floating shelves are spaced above a 3-inch countertop ledge: first shelf 18 inches above the ledge, second shelf 9 inches above that, third 18 inches above the second. The shelves are stained to match the cabinetry. The backsplash continues behind the shelves and behind the hood, so the wall reads as a continuous textured surface that the shelves and hood float in front of. The Appliances This is a serious cooking kitchen. The clients chose a 48-inch Wolf gas range, a Sub-Zero built-in refrigerator integrated into the cherry cabinet wall, a Wolf microwave drawer in the island base, and a Bosch dishwasher. For ventilation, we installed a 1200 CFM hood paired with a make-up air system to balance the negative pressure that hood pulls. New ducting was routed through the exterior siding on the side of the house. The Flooring MSI engineered hardwood throughout the entire main level — approximately 800 square feet — installed in a Bramlett herringbone pattern. Herringbone adds roughly 15-20 percent to material and labor costs because of the angled cuts and waste factor, but the result is a floor that reads as more considered and luxurious than standard plank flooring. Finished with 4.5-inch white wood baseboards throughout. The Powder Room A small room with a big personality. The clients chose a deep blue and teal scallop pattern wallpaper (client-supplied, we installed) and paired it with the same Sonoma Cappuccino cherry vanity used in the kitchen — material continuity between the spaces. Powder room countertop is the same MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz from the kitchen with a rectangular white undermount sink. Hardware on the powder room vanity is Top Knobs Riverside in honey bronze rather than the kitchen's flat black — the warm bronze pulls the brass tones from the faucet into the millwork and complements the wallpaper. New sconce, kept the existing toilet (refinishing or replacing a working toilet is wasted money in a powder room remodel), and a Panasonic Whisper Green exhaust fan. Project Specs Location: Herndon, Virginia Project type: Combined kitchen and powder room remodel Project duration: Approximately 4 to 6 weeks Style: Transitional, Modern Farmhouse, Warm Wood Contemporary Color palette: Cherry, white, black, brushed gold, deep blue (powder room) Materials Cabinetry (kitchen and powder room): Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino cherry, Shaker-style, all-plywood box construction, lifetime warranty Kitchen hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black (TK1014BLK and TK1017BLK) Powder room hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in honey bronze (TK1012HB) Counter tops: MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold Quartz, pencil edge, waterfall island Backsplash: MSI Metro Gold tile, full height Floating shelves: 4 custom shelves at 48" by 9", stained to match cabinets Range: 48-inch Wolf gas range Refrigerator: Sub-Zero built-in Microwave: Wolf microwave drawer (island base) Hood: 1200 CFM with make-up air system Kitchen sink: Kohler farmhouse-style, 36-inch base, black Kitchen faucet: Brizo (homeowner-supplied) Flooring: MSI engineered hardwood in Bramlett herringbone pattern, approximately 800 sq ft Baseboards: 4.5-inch white wood throughout Powder room wallpaper: Client-supplied scallop pattern in blues and teals Powder room exhaust fan: Panasonic Whisper Green Paint: Benjamin Moore Designed and built by My Kitchen and Bath out of our Herndon showroom at 285 Sunset Park Drive. We've been designing and building kitchens, bathrooms, and full home renovations across Northern Virginia and the DMV since 1994.

A complete kitchen and powder room remodel in Herndon, Virginia, designed around two clear priorities: open up the kitchen to the rest of the main level, and create an experience that felt warm and timeless rather than trendy. The original layout had a wall separating the kitchen from the dining room and an awkward fridge wall that limited both storage and traffic flow. Our solution involved removing the dividing wall (confirmed non-load-bearing), tightening the new dining room opening to 66 inches, and extending the fridge wall 25 inches into the kitchen to create a proper full-height pantry run. The result is a kitchen that breathes — open to the dining and living areas, with clear sight lines from the island to the bay windows at the far end. Design Approach The clients came in knowing they didn't want white. They didn't want navy. They wanted something with real wood character — the kind of finish that ages well and looks more like furniture than stock kitchen cabinetry. Cherry was the answer to that question. We anchored the room around contrast: warm cherry cabinetry against clean white walls and white quartz, black hardware grounding the cherry's warmth, and a single waterfall island acting as the architectural focal point. Stainless appliances, brushed gold pendant accents, and the herringbone hardwood floor pull the room together without any one element shouting for attention. The Cabinetry Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino — a stained cherry finish that catches light differently throughout the day. All-plywood box construction, solid wood doors and drawer fronts, soft close everywhere, US-made with a lifetime warranty. Four pull-out drawers built into the pantry bottoms keep the deep storage actually usable rather than a black hole. Cabinet hardware is Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black — 40 pulls across drawers and doors, plus three longer pulls on the 36-inch base drawers. The black was a deliberate decision: with cherry and stainless already providing warm and cool tones, brass or gold would have been one warm tone too many. Black grounds the cabinetry and gives the kitchen its architectural definition. The Island and Countertops MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz throughout — perimeter counters, island, waterfall ends, and the powder room. The Gold variant has subtle warm veining that pairs with cherry where cooler whites would have fought the wood tone. The island gets a full waterfall edge — slabs book-matched, miters precise, the finished edge essentially seamless. Treating the island as architectural sculpture rather than just functional storage. The black undermount farmhouse-style sink ties back to the hardware throughout the rest of the kitchen. The Backsplash MSI Metro Gold tile — small format white and gold tiles in a herringbone-adjacent pattern with intermittent gold accents. Full height, continuous behind the floating shelves and behind the hood. Four custom floating shelves are spaced above a 3-inch countertop ledge: first shelf 18 inches above the ledge, second shelf 9 inches above that, third 18 inches above the second. The shelves are stained to match the cabinetry. The backsplash continues behind the shelves and behind the hood, so the wall reads as a continuous textured surface that the shelves and hood float in front of. The Appliances This is a serious cooking kitchen. The clients chose a 48-inch Wolf gas range, a Sub-Zero built-in refrigerator integrated into the cherry cabinet wall, a Wolf microwave drawer in the island base, and a Bosch dishwasher. For ventilation, we installed a 1200 CFM hood paired with a make-up air system to balance the negative pressure that hood pulls. New ducting was routed through the exterior siding on the side of the house. The Flooring MSI engineered hardwood throughout the entire main level — approximately 800 square feet — installed in a Bramlett herringbone pattern. Herringbone adds roughly 15-20 percent to material and labor costs because of the angled cuts and waste factor, but the result is a floor that reads as more considered and luxurious than standard plank flooring. Finished with 4.5-inch white wood baseboards throughout. The Powder Room A small room with a big personality. The clients chose a deep blue and teal scallop pattern wallpaper (client-supplied, we installed) and paired it with the same Sonoma Cappuccino cherry vanity used in the kitchen — material continuity between the spaces. Powder room countertop is the same MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz from the kitchen with a rectangular white undermount sink. Hardware on the powder room vanity is Top Knobs Riverside in honey bronze rather than the kitchen's flat black — the warm bronze pulls the brass tones from the faucet into the millwork and complements the wallpaper. New sconce, kept the existing toilet (refinishing or replacing a working toilet is wasted money in a powder room remodel), and a Panasonic Whisper Green exhaust fan. Project Specs Location: Herndon, Virginia Project type: Combined kitchen and powder room remodel Project duration: Approximately 4 to 6 weeks Style: Transitional, Modern Farmhouse, Warm Wood Contemporary Color palette: Cherry, white, black, brushed gold, deep blue (powder room) Materials Cabinetry (kitchen and powder room): Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino cherry, Shaker-style, all-plywood box construction, lifetime warranty Kitchen hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black (TK1014BLK and TK1017BLK) Powder room hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in honey bronze (TK1012HB) Counter tops: MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold Quartz, pencil edge, waterfall island Backsplash: MSI Metro Gold tile, full height Floating shelves: 4 custom shelves at 48" by 9", stained to match cabinets Range: 48-inch Wolf gas range Refrigerator: Sub-Zero built-in Microwave: Wolf microwave drawer (island base) Hood: 1200 CFM with make-up air system Kitchen sink: Kohler farmhouse-style, 36-inch base, black Kitchen faucet: Brizo (homeowner-supplied) Flooring: MSI engineered hardwood in Bramlett herringbone pattern, approximately 800 sq ft Baseboards: 4.5-inch white wood throughout Powder room wallpaper: Client-supplied scallop pattern in blues and teals Powder room exhaust fan: Panasonic Whisper Green Paint: Benjamin Moore Designed and built by My Kitchen and Bath out of our Herndon showroom at 285 Sunset Park Drive. We've been designing and building kitchens, bathrooms, and full home renovations across Northern Virginia and the DMV since 1994.

A complete kitchen and powder room remodel in Herndon, Virginia, designed around two clear priorities: open up the kitchen to the rest of the main level, and create an experience that felt warm and timeless rather than trendy. The original layout had a wall separating the kitchen from the dining room and an awkward fridge wall that limited both storage and traffic flow. Our solution involved removing the dividing wall (confirmed non-load-bearing), tightening the new dining room opening to 66 inches, and extending the fridge wall 25 inches into the kitchen to create a proper full-height pantry run. The result is a kitchen that breathes — open to the dining and living areas, with clear sight lines from the island to the bay windows at the far end. Design Approach The clients came in knowing they didn't want white. They didn't want navy. They wanted something with real wood character — the kind of finish that ages well and looks more like furniture than stock kitchen cabinetry. Cherry was the answer to that question. We anchored the room around contrast: warm cherry cabinetry against clean white walls and white quartz, black hardware grounding the cherry's warmth, and a single waterfall island acting as the architectural focal point. Stainless appliances, brushed gold pendant accents, and the herringbone hardwood floor pull the room together without any one element shouting for attention. The Cabinetry Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino — a stained cherry finish that catches light differently throughout the day. All-plywood box construction, solid wood doors and drawer fronts, soft close everywhere, US-made with a lifetime warranty. Four pull-out drawers built into the pantry bottoms keep the deep storage actually usable rather than a black hole. Cabinet hardware is Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black — 40 pulls across drawers and doors, plus three longer pulls on the 36-inch base drawers. The black was a deliberate decision: with cherry and stainless already providing warm and cool tones, brass or gold would have been one warm tone too many. Black grounds the cabinetry and gives the kitchen its architectural definition. The Island and Countertops MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz throughout — perimeter counters, island, waterfall ends, and the powder room. The Gold variant has subtle warm veining that pairs with cherry where cooler whites would have fought the wood tone. The island gets a full waterfall edge — slabs book-matched, miters precise, the finished edge essentially seamless. Treating the island as architectural sculpture rather than just functional storage. The black undermount farmhouse-style sink ties back to the hardware throughout the rest of the kitchen. The Backsplash MSI Metro Gold tile — small format white and gold tiles in a herringbone-adjacent pattern with intermittent gold accents. Full height, continuous behind the floating shelves and behind the hood. Four custom floating shelves are spaced above a 3-inch countertop ledge: first shelf 18 inches above the ledge, second shelf 9 inches above that, third 18 inches above the second. The shelves are stained to match the cabinetry. The backsplash continues behind the shelves and behind the hood, so the wall reads as a continuous textured surface that the shelves and hood float in front of. The Appliances This is a serious cooking kitchen. The clients chose a 48-inch Wolf gas range, a Sub-Zero built-in refrigerator integrated into the cherry cabinet wall, a Wolf microwave drawer in the island base, and a Bosch dishwasher. For ventilation, we installed a 1200 CFM hood paired with a make-up air system to balance the negative pressure that hood pulls. New ducting was routed through the exterior siding on the side of the house. The Flooring MSI engineered hardwood throughout the entire main level — approximately 800 square feet — installed in a Bramlett herringbone pattern. Herringbone adds roughly 15-20 percent to material and labor costs because of the angled cuts and waste factor, but the result is a floor that reads as more considered and luxurious than standard plank flooring. Finished with 4.5-inch white wood baseboards throughout. The Powder Room A small room with a big personality. The clients chose a deep blue and teal scallop pattern wallpaper (client-supplied, we installed) and paired it with the same Sonoma Cappuccino cherry vanity used in the kitchen — material continuity between the spaces. Powder room countertop is the same MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz from the kitchen with a rectangular white undermount sink. Hardware on the powder room vanity is Top Knobs Riverside in honey bronze rather than the kitchen's flat black — the warm bronze pulls the brass tones from the faucet into the millwork and complements the wallpaper. New sconce, kept the existing toilet (refinishing or replacing a working toilet is wasted money in a powder room remodel), and a Panasonic Whisper Green exhaust fan. Project Specs Location: Herndon, Virginia Project type: Combined kitchen and powder room remodel Project duration: Approximately 4 to 6 weeks Style: Transitional, Modern Farmhouse, Warm Wood Contemporary Color palette: Cherry, white, black, brushed gold, deep blue (powder room) Materials Cabinetry (kitchen and powder room): Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino cherry, Shaker-style, all-plywood box construction, lifetime warranty Kitchen hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black (TK1014BLK and TK1017BLK) Powder room hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in honey bronze (TK1012HB) Counter tops: MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold Quartz, pencil edge, waterfall island Backsplash: MSI Metro Gold tile, full height Floating shelves: 4 custom shelves at 48" by 9", stained to match cabinets Range: 48-inch Wolf gas range Refrigerator: Sub-Zero built-in Microwave: Wolf microwave drawer (island base) Hood: 1200 CFM with make-up air system Kitchen sink: Kohler farmhouse-style, 36-inch base, black Kitchen faucet: Brizo (homeowner-supplied) Flooring: MSI engineered hardwood in Bramlett herringbone pattern, approximately 800 sq ft Baseboards: 4.5-inch white wood throughout Powder room wallpaper: Client-supplied scallop pattern in blues and teals Powder room exhaust fan: Panasonic Whisper Green Paint: Benjamin Moore Designed and built by My Kitchen and Bath out of our Herndon showroom at 285 Sunset Park Drive. We've been designing and building kitchens, bathrooms, and full home renovations across Northern Virginia and the DMV since 1994.

Gwendolyn Lanstrum
Inspiration for a craftsman bathroom remodel in Cleveland

Tucked into a corner of the dining room, this butler’s pantry is small but has a lot of style, with its metal grout joints and oversize antiqued tile. We repeated the brass plumbing fixture – it’s from the same collection as the kitchen faucet. The clean, sleek lines are perfect for this small space. Photo © Alyssa Rosenheck 2016

A complete kitchen and powder room remodel in Herndon, Virginia, designed around two clear priorities: open up the kitchen to the rest of the main level, and create an experience that felt warm and timeless rather than trendy. The original layout had a wall separating the kitchen from the dining room and an awkward fridge wall that limited both storage and traffic flow. Our solution involved removing the dividing wall (confirmed non-load-bearing), tightening the new dining room opening to 66 inches, and extending the fridge wall 25 inches into the kitchen to create a proper full-height pantry run. The result is a kitchen that breathes — open to the dining and living areas, with clear sight lines from the island to the bay windows at the far end. Design Approach The clients came in knowing they didn't want white. They didn't want navy. They wanted something with real wood character — the kind of finish that ages well and looks more like furniture than stock kitchen cabinetry. Cherry was the answer to that question. We anchored the room around contrast: warm cherry cabinetry against clean white walls and white quartz, black hardware grounding the cherry's warmth, and a single waterfall island acting as the architectural focal point. Stainless appliances, brushed gold pendant accents, and the herringbone hardwood floor pull the room together without any one element shouting for attention. The Cabinetry Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino — a stained cherry finish that catches light differently throughout the day. All-plywood box construction, solid wood doors and drawer fronts, soft close everywhere, US-made with a lifetime warranty. Four pull-out drawers built into the pantry bottoms keep the deep storage actually usable rather than a black hole. Cabinet hardware is Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black — 40 pulls across drawers and doors, plus three longer pulls on the 36-inch base drawers. The black was a deliberate decision: with cherry and stainless already providing warm and cool tones, brass or gold would have been one warm tone too many. Black grounds the cabinetry and gives the kitchen its architectural definition. The Island and Countertops MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz throughout — perimeter counters, island, waterfall ends, and the powder room. The Gold variant has subtle warm veining that pairs with cherry where cooler whites would have fought the wood tone. The island gets a full waterfall edge — slabs book-matched, miters precise, the finished edge essentially seamless. Treating the island as architectural sculpture rather than just functional storage. The black undermount farmhouse-style sink ties back to the hardware throughout the rest of the kitchen. The Backsplash MSI Metro Gold tile — small format white and gold tiles in a herringbone-adjacent pattern with intermittent gold accents. Full height, continuous behind the floating shelves and behind the hood. Four custom floating shelves are spaced above a 3-inch countertop ledge: first shelf 18 inches above the ledge, second shelf 9 inches above that, third 18 inches above the second. The shelves are stained to match the cabinetry. The backsplash continues behind the shelves and behind the hood, so the wall reads as a continuous textured surface that the shelves and hood float in front of. The Appliances This is a serious cooking kitchen. The clients chose a 48-inch Wolf gas range, a Sub-Zero built-in refrigerator integrated into the cherry cabinet wall, a Wolf microwave drawer in the island base, and a Bosch dishwasher. For ventilation, we installed a 1200 CFM hood paired with a make-up air system to balance the negative pressure that hood pulls. New ducting was routed through the exterior siding on the side of the house. The Flooring MSI engineered hardwood throughout the entire main level — approximately 800 square feet — installed in a Bramlett herringbone pattern. Herringbone adds roughly 15-20 percent to material and labor costs because of the angled cuts and waste factor, but the result is a floor that reads as more considered and luxurious than standard plank flooring. Finished with 4.5-inch white wood baseboards throughout. The Powder Room A small room with a big personality. The clients chose a deep blue and teal scallop pattern wallpaper (client-supplied, we installed) and paired it with the same Sonoma Cappuccino cherry vanity used in the kitchen — material continuity between the spaces. Powder room countertop is the same MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz from the kitchen with a rectangular white undermount sink. Hardware on the powder room vanity is Top Knobs Riverside in honey bronze rather than the kitchen's flat black — the warm bronze pulls the brass tones from the faucet into the millwork and complements the wallpaper. New sconce, kept the existing toilet (refinishing or replacing a working toilet is wasted money in a powder room remodel), and a Panasonic Whisper Green exhaust fan. Project Specs Location: Herndon, Virginia Project type: Combined kitchen and powder room remodel Project duration: Approximately 4 to 6 weeks Style: Transitional, Modern Farmhouse, Warm Wood Contemporary Color palette: Cherry, white, black, brushed gold, deep blue (powder room) Materials Cabinetry (kitchen and powder room): Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino cherry, Shaker-style, all-plywood box construction, lifetime warranty Kitchen hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black (TK1014BLK and TK1017BLK) Powder room hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in honey bronze (TK1012HB) Counter tops: MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold Quartz, pencil edge, waterfall island Backsplash: MSI Metro Gold tile, full height Floating shelves: 4 custom shelves at 48" by 9", stained to match cabinets Range: 48-inch Wolf gas range Refrigerator: Sub-Zero built-in Microwave: Wolf microwave drawer (island base) Hood: 1200 CFM with make-up air system Kitchen sink: Kohler farmhouse-style, 36-inch base, black Kitchen faucet: Brizo (homeowner-supplied) Flooring: MSI engineered hardwood in Bramlett herringbone pattern, approximately 800 sq ft Baseboards: 4.5-inch white wood throughout Powder room wallpaper: Client-supplied scallop pattern in blues and teals Powder room exhaust fan: Panasonic Whisper Green Paint: Benjamin Moore Designed and built by My Kitchen and Bath out of our Herndon showroom at 285 Sunset Park Drive. We've been designing and building kitchens, bathrooms, and full home renovations across Northern Virginia and the DMV since 1994.

A complete kitchen and powder room remodel in Herndon, Virginia, designed around two clear priorities: open up the kitchen to the rest of the main level, and create an experience that felt warm and timeless rather than trendy. The original layout had a wall separating the kitchen from the dining room and an awkward fridge wall that limited both storage and traffic flow. Our solution involved removing the dividing wall (confirmed non-load-bearing), tightening the new dining room opening to 66 inches, and extending the fridge wall 25 inches into the kitchen to create a proper full-height pantry run. The result is a kitchen that breathes — open to the dining and living areas, with clear sight lines from the island to the bay windows at the far end. Design Approach The clients came in knowing they didn't want white. They didn't want navy. They wanted something with real wood character — the kind of finish that ages well and looks more like furniture than stock kitchen cabinetry. Cherry was the answer to that question. We anchored the room around contrast: warm cherry cabinetry against clean white walls and white quartz, black hardware grounding the cherry's warmth, and a single waterfall island acting as the architectural focal point. Stainless appliances, brushed gold pendant accents, and the herringbone hardwood floor pull the room together without any one element shouting for attention. The Cabinetry Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino — a stained cherry finish that catches light differently throughout the day. All-plywood box construction, solid wood doors and drawer fronts, soft close everywhere, US-made with a lifetime warranty. Four pull-out drawers built into the pantry bottoms keep the deep storage actually usable rather than a black hole. Cabinet hardware is Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black — 40 pulls across drawers and doors, plus three longer pulls on the 36-inch base drawers. The black was a deliberate decision: with cherry and stainless already providing warm and cool tones, brass or gold would have been one warm tone too many. Black grounds the cabinetry and gives the kitchen its architectural definition. The Island and Countertops MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz throughout — perimeter counters, island, waterfall ends, and the powder room. The Gold variant has subtle warm veining that pairs with cherry where cooler whites would have fought the wood tone. The island gets a full waterfall edge — slabs book-matched, miters precise, the finished edge essentially seamless. Treating the island as architectural sculpture rather than just functional storage. The black undermount farmhouse-style sink ties back to the hardware throughout the rest of the kitchen. The Backsplash MSI Metro Gold tile — small format white and gold tiles in a herringbone-adjacent pattern with intermittent gold accents. Full height, continuous behind the floating shelves and behind the hood. Four custom floating shelves are spaced above a 3-inch countertop ledge: first shelf 18 inches above the ledge, second shelf 9 inches above that, third 18 inches above the second. The shelves are stained to match the cabinetry. The backsplash continues behind the shelves and behind the hood, so the wall reads as a continuous textured surface that the shelves and hood float in front of. The Appliances This is a serious cooking kitchen. The clients chose a 48-inch Wolf gas range, a Sub-Zero built-in refrigerator integrated into the cherry cabinet wall, a Wolf microwave drawer in the island base, and a Bosch dishwasher. For ventilation, we installed a 1200 CFM hood paired with a make-up air system to balance the negative pressure that hood pulls. New ducting was routed through the exterior siding on the side of the house. The Flooring MSI engineered hardwood throughout the entire main level — approximately 800 square feet — installed in a Bramlett herringbone pattern. Herringbone adds roughly 15-20 percent to material and labor costs because of the angled cuts and waste factor, but the result is a floor that reads as more considered and luxurious than standard plank flooring. Finished with 4.5-inch white wood baseboards throughout. The Powder Room A small room with a big personality. The clients chose a deep blue and teal scallop pattern wallpaper (client-supplied, we installed) and paired it with the same Sonoma Cappuccino cherry vanity used in the kitchen — material continuity between the spaces. Powder room countertop is the same MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz from the kitchen with a rectangular white undermount sink. Hardware on the powder room vanity is Top Knobs Riverside in honey bronze rather than the kitchen's flat black — the warm bronze pulls the brass tones from the faucet into the millwork and complements the wallpaper. New sconce, kept the existing toilet (refinishing or replacing a working toilet is wasted money in a powder room remodel), and a Panasonic Whisper Green exhaust fan. Project Specs Location: Herndon, Virginia Project type: Combined kitchen and powder room remodel Project duration: Approximately 4 to 6 weeks Style: Transitional, Modern Farmhouse, Warm Wood Contemporary Color palette: Cherry, white, black, brushed gold, deep blue (powder room) Materials Cabinetry (kitchen and powder room): Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino cherry, Shaker-style, all-plywood box construction, lifetime warranty Kitchen hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black (TK1014BLK and TK1017BLK) Powder room hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in honey bronze (TK1012HB) Counter tops: MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold Quartz, pencil edge, waterfall island Backsplash: MSI Metro Gold tile, full height Floating shelves: 4 custom shelves at 48" by 9", stained to match cabinets Range: 48-inch Wolf gas range Refrigerator: Sub-Zero built-in Microwave: Wolf microwave drawer (island base) Hood: 1200 CFM with make-up air system Kitchen sink: Kohler farmhouse-style, 36-inch base, black Kitchen faucet: Brizo (homeowner-supplied) Flooring: MSI engineered hardwood in Bramlett herringbone pattern, approximately 800 sq ft Baseboards: 4.5-inch white wood throughout Powder room wallpaper: Client-supplied scallop pattern in blues and teals Powder room exhaust fan: Panasonic Whisper Green Paint: Benjamin Moore Designed and built by My Kitchen and Bath out of our Herndon showroom at 285 Sunset Park Drive. We've been designing and building kitchens, bathrooms, and full home renovations across Northern Virginia and the DMV since 1994.

A complete kitchen and powder room remodel in Herndon, Virginia, designed around two clear priorities: open up the kitchen to the rest of the main level, and create an experience that felt warm and timeless rather than trendy. The original layout had a wall separating the kitchen from the dining room and an awkward fridge wall that limited both storage and traffic flow. Our solution involved removing the dividing wall (confirmed non-load-bearing), tightening the new dining room opening to 66 inches, and extending the fridge wall 25 inches into the kitchen to create a proper full-height pantry run. The result is a kitchen that breathes — open to the dining and living areas, with clear sight lines from the island to the bay windows at the far end. Design Approach The clients came in knowing they didn't want white. They didn't want navy. They wanted something with real wood character — the kind of finish that ages well and looks more like furniture than stock kitchen cabinetry. Cherry was the answer to that question. We anchored the room around contrast: warm cherry cabinetry against clean white walls and white quartz, black hardware grounding the cherry's warmth, and a single waterfall island acting as the architectural focal point. Stainless appliances, brushed gold pendant accents, and the herringbone hardwood floor pull the room together without any one element shouting for attention. The Cabinetry Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino — a stained cherry finish that catches light differently throughout the day. All-plywood box construction, solid wood doors and drawer fronts, soft close everywhere, US-made with a lifetime warranty. Four pull-out drawers built into the pantry bottoms keep the deep storage actually usable rather than a black hole. Cabinet hardware is Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black — 40 pulls across drawers and doors, plus three longer pulls on the 36-inch base drawers. The black was a deliberate decision: with cherry and stainless already providing warm and cool tones, brass or gold would have been one warm tone too many. Black grounds the cabinetry and gives the kitchen its architectural definition. The Island and Countertops MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz throughout — perimeter counters, island, waterfall ends, and the powder room. The Gold variant has subtle warm veining that pairs with cherry where cooler whites would have fought the wood tone. The island gets a full waterfall edge — slabs book-matched, miters precise, the finished edge essentially seamless. Treating the island as architectural sculpture rather than just functional storage. The black undermount farmhouse-style sink ties back to the hardware throughout the rest of the kitchen. The Backsplash MSI Metro Gold tile — small format white and gold tiles in a herringbone-adjacent pattern with intermittent gold accents. Full height, continuous behind the floating shelves and behind the hood. Four custom floating shelves are spaced above a 3-inch countertop ledge: first shelf 18 inches above the ledge, second shelf 9 inches above that, third 18 inches above the second. The shelves are stained to match the cabinetry. The backsplash continues behind the shelves and behind the hood, so the wall reads as a continuous textured surface that the shelves and hood float in front of. The Appliances This is a serious cooking kitchen. The clients chose a 48-inch Wolf gas range, a Sub-Zero built-in refrigerator integrated into the cherry cabinet wall, a Wolf microwave drawer in the island base, and a Bosch dishwasher. For ventilation, we installed a 1200 CFM hood paired with a make-up air system to balance the negative pressure that hood pulls. New ducting was routed through the exterior siding on the side of the house. The Flooring MSI engineered hardwood throughout the entire main level — approximately 800 square feet — installed in a Bramlett herringbone pattern. Herringbone adds roughly 15-20 percent to material and labor costs because of the angled cuts and waste factor, but the result is a floor that reads as more considered and luxurious than standard plank flooring. Finished with 4.5-inch white wood baseboards throughout. The Powder Room A small room with a big personality. The clients chose a deep blue and teal scallop pattern wallpaper (client-supplied, we installed) and paired it with the same Sonoma Cappuccino cherry vanity used in the kitchen — material continuity between the spaces. Powder room countertop is the same MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold quartz from the kitchen with a rectangular white undermount sink. Hardware on the powder room vanity is Top Knobs Riverside in honey bronze rather than the kitchen's flat black — the warm bronze pulls the brass tones from the faucet into the millwork and complements the wallpaper. New sconce, kept the existing toilet (refinishing or replacing a working toilet is wasted money in a powder room remodel), and a Panasonic Whisper Green exhaust fan. Project Specs Location: Herndon, Virginia Project type: Combined kitchen and powder room remodel Project duration: Approximately 4 to 6 weeks Style: Transitional, Modern Farmhouse, Warm Wood Contemporary Color palette: Cherry, white, black, brushed gold, deep blue (powder room) Materials Cabinetry (kitchen and powder room): Medallion Gold Line Sonoma Cappuccino cherry, Shaker-style, all-plywood box construction, lifetime warranty Kitchen hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in flat black (TK1014BLK and TK1017BLK) Powder room hardware: Top Knobs Riverside Pulls in honey bronze (TK1012HB) Counter tops: MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold Quartz, pencil edge, waterfall island Backsplash: MSI Metro Gold tile, full height Floating shelves: 4 custom shelves at 48" by 9", stained to match cabinets Range: 48-inch Wolf gas range Refrigerator: Sub-Zero built-in Microwave: Wolf microwave drawer (island base) Hood: 1200 CFM with make-up air system Kitchen sink: Kohler farmhouse-style, 36-inch base, black Kitchen faucet: Brizo (homeowner-supplied) Flooring: MSI engineered hardwood in Bramlett herringbone pattern, approximately 800 sq ft Baseboards: 4.5-inch white wood throughout Powder room wallpaper: Client-supplied scallop pattern in blues and teals Powder room exhaust fan: Panasonic Whisper Green Paint: Benjamin Moore Designed and built by My Kitchen and Bath out of our Herndon showroom at 285 Sunset Park Drive. We've been designing and building kitchens, bathrooms, and full home renovations across Northern Virginia and the DMV since 1994.

Does your iron fence look like Chicago winters have been winning the battle for years? That slow orange spread across pickets and rails is not just an eyesore - it is active corrosion undermining the structural integrity of metalwork that frames some of Chicago's most architecturally significant residential properties. Windy City Painters addresses iron fence rust at the source, using professional-grade rust conversion chemistry and direct-to-metal coatings engineered for the specific abuse Chicago's climate delivers. PROJECT OVERVIEW This project involved a heavily rusted ornamental iron fence on a Chicago North Side residential property. Rust had progressed beyond surface oxidation into moderate pitting on lower rails, a pattern Windy City Painters sees frequently on properties within blocks of treated roadways where salt drift accelerates corrosion. The scope included mechanical descaling, chemical rust conversion, DTM priming, and a durable gloss topcoat matched to the original fence color. MATERIALS AND PRODUCTS Ospho Rust Converter: A phosphoric acid-based treatment that chemically reacts with iron oxide, converting it to iron phosphate - a stable, paintable compound. Corroseal Water-Based Rust Converter is an alternative for situations requiring lower VOC handling. Rust-Oleum Professional DTM Primer and Sherwin-Williams DTM Acrylic Coating serve as the primary coating system, formulated for direct metal adhesion with built-in rust inhibitors. For structurally compromised sections, welding is coordinated before any chemical or coating work begins. THE PROCESS Step 1 - Mechanical Preparation: Wire wheel grinding on an angle grinder removes loose rust scale, mill scale, and flaking paint. For advanced pitting, Windy City Painters deploys a needle gun descaler, which impacts the metal surface thousands of times per minute to drive scale from deep cavities. This step determines whether the fence can be coated or needs welding first. Step 2 - Chemical Rust Conversion: Ospho or Corroseal is brushed onto all remaining rust surface. These products do not simply seal rust - they react with it. The conversion process takes 24 hours to fully cure before topcoating. Skipping this step is the single most common reason iron fence paint jobs fail prematurely. Step 3 - DTM Priming: Sherwin-Williams DTM or Rust-Oleum DTM primer is applied by brush to ensure full penetration around decorative elements, picket tips, and weld joints. Spray application is used on open sections for even film build. DTM formulations bond directly to prepared metal without a separate shop primer. Step 4 - Finish Coating: A DTM topcoat in gloss or semi-gloss provides the final weather barrier. Gloss is preferred for iron fencing because the harder surface sheds water more effectively and resists dirt adhesion between maintenance cycles. Windy City Painters applies two finish coats for maximum film thickness. CHICAGO-SPECIFIC CHALLENGES Chicago's freeze-thaw cycle is the primary enemy of iron fence coatings. Water infiltrates micro-cracks in paint film, freezes, expands, and delaminate coating from beneath. Properties on the North Side and Near West Side also contend with lake-effect humidity that keeps metal surfaces damp for extended periods, slowing cure times and promoting under-film corrosion if preparation is inadequate. Greystones and Victorian brownstones typically feature ornate cast iron or wrought iron fencing with complex geometries that trap moisture and demand hand-brush application to fully coat recesses. WHAT TO EXPECT LONG-TERM A properly prepared and coated iron fence in Chicago should hold 5-8 years before requiring recoating. Annual inspection of weld joints, picket tips, and base rails closest to grade will identify early rust return. Addressing small spots with touch-up converter and primer extends service life significantly between full recoats. PRO TIPS Tip 1: Never pressure wash a rusted iron fence immediately before painting. Water drives moisture into pits and delays the surface drying needed for chemical converter adhesion. Allow 48 hours of dry weather before prep begins. Tip 2: Picket tips and rail ends are the first failure points. These end-grain equivalent areas on metal concentrate corrosion. Ask your painter to apply an extra brush coat to every tip and terminus. Tip 3: Black is the traditional and most durable color choice for iron fencing. Dark pigments absorb UV rather than reflecting it, reducing thermal cycling stress on the paint film at color change boundaries. FAQ Q: What does iron fence painting cost in Chicago? A: Most residential iron fence painting in Chicago ranges from $400 to $1,200 depending on linear footage, rust severity, prep method required, and whether structural welding is needed before Windy City Painters can coat the surface. Q: How do I know if my fence needs a welder before painting? A: If you can press a screwdriver through a rail or picket, the metal wall has failed. Windy City Painters inspects all fencing before quoting and identifies weld-required sections so repairs happen before any coating investment. Q: Is Ospho or Corroseal better for my fence? A: Both convert rust effectively. Ospho is solvent-based and fast-acting, preferred for heavy rust. Corroseal is water-based with lower odor, preferred in enclosed or residential settings where off-gassing is a concern. Windy City Painters selects based on site conditions. Q: Can iron fence painting be done in winter in Chicago? A: Application requires temperatures above 50 degrees Fahrenheit for DTM coatings to cure properly. Most iron fence painting in Chicago runs April through October, with scheduling flexibility based on extended warm stretches. Q: How do I maintain my fence between professional recoats? A: Inspect annually in spring. Sand any rust spots to bare metal with 80-grit paper, apply Ospho, let cure 24 hours, then spot-prime with DTM primer and touch up with finish coat. Windy City Painters offers maintenance inspections. Q: Do you paint courtyard building fences and coach house gates? A: Yes. Multi-unit courtyard buildings and coach houses are common in the North Side neighborhoods Windy City Painters serves. We coordinate with property managers and HOAs for larger perimeter fence projects. Q: How long after painting can I touch the fence? A: DTM coatings are typically dry to touch in 2-4 hours and hard dry in 24 hours. Full cure for maximum hardness takes 7 days. Windy City Painters advises against pressure washing or heavy contact during that cure window. Visit windypainters.com to request your free iron fence assessment and project quote.