Kitchen & Bath Business - April 2019 - 92

A large portion of the wall separating the dining
room and kitchen was removed, as well as the post
at the end of the peninsula, but the beam hidden in
the soffit was structural and could not be removed.
Instead, Beck took out the soffit-hung upper cabinets and repainted the now-exposed beam to fit
the new design.
To introduce even more openness to the space,
Beck planned to add a large bank of windows
above the sink.This, however, created a whole new
set of issues.
"I knew that adding two windows where originally there was only one would change the side elevation appearance of the house, and the damaged
brick would need to be repaired and could possibly
be noticeable,"she said."Fortunately,the owner was
good with taking that risk to add abundant light."
The original brick was salvaged and used in the
repairs after adding the windows, so the resulting
exterior appeared nearly seamless and did not
detract from the original look of the farmhouse.

ABOVE Selecting modestly

priced decorative light fixtures
and a quartz countertop for
the perimeter helped save on
the budget.
BELOW RIGHT "Although I
loved the look and texture
of the wood-block tile
backsplash, I was concerned
about flammability and how
easy it would be to clean,"
said Beck. "Both concerns
were alleviated by having a
factory-applied, fire-retardant
coating added."

All the base cabinet drawers were outfitted with features like double pullout trash bins and customized storage for cutlery, cutting boards, baking
sheets and flatware. All this storage is kept behind cabinet fronts painted
with a color of the clients' choice.
"Based on my first interview with the owner and his daughters, I knew they
liked grays and blues,"said Beck, explaining that the island's marble countertop has dramatic veins of grays and a little blue and rusty brown and inspired
the perimeter cabinetry's soft blue cabinet color."Not only did it pull out that
color in the marble, it also felt like a fresh, sky-blue summer day on the farm."
The island cabinets were done in a natural stain to tie in with the existing
stained trims,base and oak hardwood floor borders and to ensure the blue cabinetry did not overpower the space. Neutral-toned quartz was chosen for the
perimeter countertops so that the marble island countertop could stand out.

FULFILLING THE CLIENT'S WISHES

Using primarily hand drawings, Beck first created a layout to suit the open floor plan. She reutilized space from the former breakfast area for
seating around a new peninsula.The island, which
increased in size and was moved so there was a
minimum clearance of 42 inches all around, provides additional seating.To save on the budget, the
designer avoided moving the existing plumbing
and electrical locations as much as possible.

92

/ APRIL 2019 / KBBONLINE.COM / The official publication of NKBA (NKBA.org) and KBIS (KBIS.com)
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Kitchen & Bath Business - April 2019

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