Make no mistake: Heidi’s passion was the basis of the project. Heidi loves to cook. Given a choice, she might live full-time in the kitchen. She revels in creating culinary delights for family and friends. She lives to entertain. Her kitchen is her castle. It has to be just right. But, it wasn’t. For starters, she wanted a different stove. Looking around, other things jumped out. This wasn’t the cooking mecca she envisioned. There were better options available. The ball started rolling. “I needed a bigger island and a bigger stove,” Heidi said. “That led to ‘We need a bigger kitchen.’” This wasn’t a new revelation. She had been researching kitchens for some time. She didn’t have all the details, but she had a plan. “My vision was to have it very clean and simple, but I wanted some artistic flair,” she explained. Our task was to design the kitchen her passion demanded. It needed more countertop space. It needed more storage space. It needed functional elements that were big, bold and suited to the needs of an active, passionate user. So, first things first. We started with a Viking Professional stove and oven that would make Julia Child proud. “I told Kevin (her husband) it’s coming with us if we move,” Heidi said. The custom stove hood was custom-made on site of wood and dual-color Venetian plaster, with a Ventahood exhaust inside. Two corbels accent its artistic look and feel, hewing to Heidi’s desire to make the kitchen both fully functional and pleasing to the eye. When working at the deluxe Viking unit, Heidi doesn’t have to go far for pots and pans, either. The new island has three large base drawers built into it directly across from the range. She can literally turn around, take what she needs from the drawers, and go right back to work. We nearly doubled the cabinet space in the kitchen, offering many more storage and organizational options. The drawers are all soft-close, full-extension design. The doors are soft-close. The upper cabinet above the refrigerator has vertical tray dividers, easing the sometimes arduous task of sorting trays and cookie sheets. Heidi sought an antique look for her cabinetry. To achieve this, we utilized maple cabinets with a mink wash treatment and ancient bronze hardware. We ordered matching panels for the dishwasher and refrigerator doors, creating a seamless look with the cabinetry. We maintained visual interest by staggering the heights of the different cabinets. Upper cabinets feature double-stack crown moldings. Some cabinets have rain glass inserts to display decorative items within. Meanwhile, the entire area was brightened with a plethora of new lighting. Eight recessed lights in the 9-foot ceiling illuminate the counter space. Undercabinet lights brighten any food preparation work. In-cabinet lighting spotlights decorative items within glass-door cabinetry. Above-cabinet lights offer just the right ambiance to complete the scene. Above the island hang two distinctive, eye-catching chandeliers that definitely set off the kitchen’s mix of antiquity and artistry. Heidi simply would not be denied these fixtures, with their oil-rubbed bronze finish and Renaissance-era feel. “Everybody doubted me on them,” she said. “My kitchen’s not that big. I had to have these big, beautiful, glamorous lights. They make the room extra special.” The island itself took a bit of doing. Ultimately, we created a two-tier structure that provided invaluable food preparation and staging space, plus a dining area that allowed the owners to get rid of a kitchen table that had fallen out of favor. The 120-inch length of the island allows it to meet these dual needs. The island offers plenty of room for people to gather around during parties, with wide open spaces that offer guests ready access to food and drink. The increased seating space offers Heidi’s family a comfortable dining table, with more than enough room for plates and serving dishes. She bought accompanying chairs that blend with the island’s cherry base and the granite countertop’s multicolored brown hues. Two corbels built into posts on the island base give it a sturdy, dignified look. Heidi selected the white tumbled travertine subway field tile that makes up the backsplash ringing the main kitchen area. During its installation, she personally directed the placement of floral bronze metal accent pieces scattered into the backsplash. She helped create a six-tile decorative mural insert above the expansive range of her new Viking range. We put in a farmer’s sink with space galore for food, dishes or whatever Heidi desired. The structure and decorative feet of the sink, plus the mounted corbels above, create a furniture resemblance. “I just love my sink,” she said. “It’s big, it’s nice, and my family just loves it because they can help with the dishes and can easily reach into it.” Space wasn’t necessarily the final frontier in Heidi’s kitchen, but she definitely wanted more. We removed a wall from a pantry, transforming its small dark space into additional cabinets and counter area. Heidi keeps small appliances on the new counter and prepares her daughters’ lunches there. The rest of the former pantry was converted into a laundry area and new mudroom. By stacking the washer and dryer in the laundry area, space was freed up next to it to add new storage cabinets and a countertop for laundry sorting. On the other side of the mudroom, we opened and renovated a previous cramped closet for greater functionality and efficiency. By adding shelving and hanging hooks near the top, and storage drawers at the bottom, the variety and quantity of items it can accommodate was multiplied several times. This allowed the closet space to be narrowed by 18 inches, widening an adjacent hallway to the dining room. The top of the drawers doubles as a bench, further enhancing the area’s usability. The entire mudroom area can be closed off to the kitchen via a pocket door built into the reworked closet. The door has full-view etched glass, allowing light into the mudroom and visibility from the kitchen. The flooring in the kitchen and new mudroom – formerly engineered hardwood – was replaced with stonefire noce ceramic tile. Its color was chosen to blend in with the family room carpet, now a true neighbor after we took out a wall between the two rooms. The remainder of the living room wall was converted into two pillars that were custom-built on site and resemble the posts on the island. Removing the wall was a last-minute call by the owners. After living with the results for just a short time, Heidi called it “the best decision ever.” It’s not hard to see why – both the newly-remodeled kitchen and the family room seem larger, with a smarter and more efficient traffic flow. Accenting the freshly-opened space is a new sliding patio door whose color matches its casings. Its grid design matches those in nearby windows. The door casings bear the literal touch of the homeowners, who saved thousands of dollars by painting many parts of the project. Heidi personally painted the walls, window casings, base molding, shoe molding, pocket door and mudroom. She applied many coats of Venetian plaster to the stove range hood to create its soft, velvety look. We saved the homeowners at least $500 by researching the corbels used in the kitchen. After learning the steep price charged for corbels by the cabinet manufacturer, we found an online catalog that offered them for substantially less. Heidi gladly chose from the catalog, and this decorative touch was added at a great savings. In addition, we worked to keep the project within budget by providing Heidi with material allowances for the countertops, plumbing fixtures and all tiles. She had no problem working within these parameters – a win-win situation for all concerned. When all is said and done, the greatest achievement is hearing Heidi talk about the joy her new kitchen has brought her, and how it has benefited her family. “It’s exactly what I wanted,” she said, standing in front of the kitchen and spreading her arms wide to take in the expanse. “My vision is this right here.”

Photographer: Augie Salbosa
Eat-in kitchen - contemporary eat-in kitchen idea in Hawaii with flat-panel cabinets, dark wood cabinets and solid surface countertops

Photography: Nathan Schroder
Example of a huge tuscan living room design in Dallas with white walls

Dennis Mayer Photographer
Example of a classic backyard patio design in San Francisco with decking

Bluestone Pavers, custom Teak Wood banquette with cement tile inlay, Bluestone firepit, custom outdoor kitchen with Teak Wood, concrete waterfall countertop with Teak surround.

Family room - traditional family room idea in Atlanta with beige walls, a standard fireplace, a stone fireplace and no tv

Example of a trendy living room design in San Diego with white walls

Example of a classic kitchen design in San Francisco

Example of a minimalist bathroom design in New York

This 7,000 square foot renovation and addition maintains the graciousness and carefully-proportioned spaces of the historic 1907 home. The new construction includes a kitchen and family living area, a master bedroom suite, and a fourth floor dormer expansion. The subtle palette of materials, extensive built-in cabinetry, and careful integration of modern detailing and design, together create a fresh interpretation of the original design. Photography: Matthew Millman Photography

My client wanted to keep a tub, but I had no room for a standard tub, so we gave him a Japanese style tub which he LOVES. I get a lot of questions on this bathroom so here are some more details... Bathroom size: 8x10 Wall color: Sherwin Williams 6252 Ice Cube Tub: Americh Beverly 40x40x32 both jetted and airbath

Beach style subway tile bathroom photo in New York with white countertops

Example of a classic deck design in Boston

Inspiration for a small eclectic open concept living room remodel in San Francisco with yellow walls

Example of a transitional living room design in Providence

Tommy Daspit
Mid-sized mountain style galley medium tone wood floor open concept kitchen photo in Birmingham with a farmhouse sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, concrete countertops, red backsplash, stainless steel appliances and an island

URRUTIA DESIGN Photography by Matt Sartain
Inspiration for a large transitional master white tile and subway tile marble floor freestanding bathtub remodel in San Francisco with marble countertops and white walls

Rick Mendoza
Example of a mid-sized trendy galley porcelain tile enclosed kitchen design in Los Angeles with an undermount sink, flat-panel cabinets, medium tone wood cabinets, metallic backsplash, solid surface countertops, stone tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances and no island

This space is 4’-6” wide by 14’-6” long. This was a space created by removing an exterior deck area and adding this conditioned space.
Inspiration for a timeless light wood floor dressing room remodel in San Francisco