Warming Up a White Space

Putting a new twist on a proven and timeless approach can help you make distinctive and personal design statements in your new kitchen or bath. All-white kitchens continue to be one of the most popular options, but we frequently work with our clients to select beautiful, contrasting finishes on hardware, faucets and lighting to make an all-white kitchen pop.

Glass-front cabinets present another opportunity to add some color to your white kitchen with the added benefit of improving efficiency too. Display vases and show off attractive glass and dinnerware in your glass-front cabinets to add splashes of color and warmth to your space, and you’ll never have to search multiple cabinets to find a crucial piece of tableware again. You may also consider paint or wallpaper inside your glass-front cabinets to add color, particularly if your tableware is white or a neutral color.

Another technique to bring warmth to an all-white kitchen is to incorporate wood elements into the space. This can be accomplished by specifying light-toned butcher-block countertops or lighter toned wood cutting boards that are both functional and aesthetic.

While white cabinets continue to be one of the most popular options, two-tone kitchens are trending now too. We’ve designed kitchens with gray upper cabinets and white floor cabinets. The white cabinets served to keep the space light and bright. The look is simply stunning.

Of course, white isn’t the only option for your new kitchen, many of our clients are gravitating to wood cabinetry. And for good reason. It’s beautiful. When we combine open shelving, light countertops and backsplashes with wood cabinetry, the space looks and feels bright and airy. The light elements provide a brilliant contrast to wood cabinets that will invariably withstand the test of time.

Making Space

Kitchens are not as large as they once were.

The kitchen and home footprint are contracting as a rule and open floor plans are becoming the norm. We love to design open floor plan kitchens, but an open floor often means losing a wall of cabinets, which makes it a challenge to provide ample storage. We love challenges!

When space is an issue, our first thoughts are to ensure that the finished product is both functional and aesthetically wowing. For functionality, we envision an imaginary straight line drawn from the center of the sink, to the center of the cooktop, to the center of the refrigerator and finally back to the sink. In the trade, this is referred to as the work triangle. As a rule of thumb, no leg of the triangle should be less than 4 feet or more than 9 feet. Concurrent in configuring the best triangle, we also think about storage solutions.

Islands are enormously popular with our clients, but they are not always the best solution, especially if space is limited, because they can make it difficult to maneuver in the space. Alternatives to islands include u-shaped designs or peninsulas to provide both storage and countertop space. We also use multitasking principles and products to maximize the effectiveness of the kitchen when space is at a premium. This can be accomplished by:

• Keeping countertops at seat height instead of bar stool height, which enables the countertop to serve dual purposes of a dining area and work area
• Specifying appliances that serve dual roles such as refrigerators that have the ability to convert between fridge and freezer or combination ovens that can function as a convection, conventional and speed
• Creating bar areas that can be used for organization and entertaining
• Specifying multifunctional islands that serve as dining and work areas
• Installing pullout pantries or cabinets that serve as pantries
• Using nonstandard sized cabinets
• Extending cabinets to the ceiling and countertops
• Hanging pot racks from the ceiling
• Taking advantage of in-cabinet storage solutions such as vertical tray dividers, roll out shelves and trays
• Specifying smaller or alternative appliances, e.g., columnar refrigerators or refrigerator or a speed oven in lieu of microwave