Kitchen & Bath Business July/August 2024 - 63

The existing kitchen was small, closed off and
included a door to the garage. The client knew
a kitchen island was a must for buyers, so to accommodate
that, Verbist needed more space. She
removed the kitchen walls, which luckily were
not load-bearing.
Without the walls, the kitchen's low ceiling
- 96 inches - was visibly out of sync with
the ceiling heights of the adjacent spaces - 110
inches in the living room and 100 inches in
the dining room. Above the kitchen, there was
enough available space to allow Verbist to reorganize
the ductwork and raise the ceiling there
and in the dining area to 108 inches, which if
not an exact match, is more cohesive with the
living room.
" We did everything by code, " she said. " You
don't want to be cheap on the bones or need to
go back and open the wall or ceiling to fix something. "
The
final structural change was moving the
garage door from the kitchen to the dining room,
which extended the kitchen's footprint.
SAVINGS FROM KITCHEN TO BATHROOMS
To update an entire three-bedroom, two-bathroom
home within a tight budget, Verbist and
her client looked for ways to save money on finishes
and fixtures while maintaining a high level
of quality.
For the kitchen and bathrooms, she chose
prefabricated white Shaker cabinets and paired
them with wood-look tile to add warmth. The
flooring throughout the kitchen and living areas
is luxury vinyl. Already a reasonably priced option,
Verbist found it on sale, so it was even less
expensive. Her client went to an outlet for the
kitchen appliances and saved money purchasing
the entire package.
" We tried to find sales and went to big suppliers
where there are a lot of choices for materials, "
said the designer.
In the main bathroom, the eye-catching patterned
floor tile came from Floor & Décor, while
the prefabricated countertop is quartz that only
looks like marble. The existing shower had a
bench, which Verbist chose to keep. Most of the
fixtures and faucets in the bathrooms and kitchen
were ordered from an online retailer, as was the
bathroom lighting.
As she had done to add warmth in the kitchen,
the designer chose a wood-look tile for the
full-height backsplash and one shower wall. The
tile is similar to the one in the kitchen but less
expensive and serves the same purpose - to make
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63
the prefab vanity and countertop look special.
" You don't have to spend a fortune to make it
appear custom, " she said.
PUTTING MONEY WHERE IT COUNTS
While many of this home's features are intentionally
cost conscious, Verbist knew spending
more on generating a wow factor would be worth
it. In the kitchen, the high-end Porcelanosa wall
tile is the showstopper. It also wraps two sides
of the island.
" The tile elevates the look without the expense
of custom cabinets, " she said.
Because the kitchen and living room are connected,
she used the same tile in a different pattern
on the surround of the new fireplace, which
sits along a wall rather than in the middle of the
space.
When working with a budget, it is important
to start the project knowing what is worth spending
money on. Designers can keep an open mind
in terms of sourcing and mix expensive pieces
with less costly ones as long as they are good
quality. The client's final goal for this renovation
was achieved when the updated home found
its buyer.
BELOW Verbist repeated the
clean, modern theme of the
kitchen in the main bathroom.
Patterned floor tile from a big
retailer kept costs low. The
double vanity benefits from
the pizzazz of the black-andgold
pulls, which coordinate
with the faucets and lighting
for a seamless look. Verbist
sourced several of the items in
this bathroom from an online
retailer, verifying their quality
after delivery and before
having them installed.
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Kitchen & Bath Business July/August 2024

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