Kitchen Design
Kitchen of the Week
Before and Afters
Kitchen of the Week: A Boost in Comfort and Color
This energy-conscious remodel gives a New Jersey artist and her family more room to move and more places to put things
Improving the Flow
Before: A peninsula provided seating but impeded traffic in the U-shaped kitchen. “My clients felt claustrophobic and cut off from everyone when working at the range,” Stephens says. “And the peninsula created a bottleneck between the kitchen and the dining room.”
Before: A peninsula provided seating but impeded traffic in the U-shaped kitchen. “My clients felt claustrophobic and cut off from everyone when working at the range,” Stephens says. “And the peninsula created a bottleneck between the kitchen and the dining room.”
After: Stephens took out the peninsula, freeing up the flow, and put a breakfast bar opposite the range. Her color-loving client found the two red counter stools. The appliances and sink stayed in about the same places.
Stephens also kept the collection of family photos above the cabinets. “I usually like to take cabinets all the way up to the ceiling, as the tops of them can be dust catchers,” she says. “But in this case, the family loved enjoying these photographs in this spot, so we left room for them.”
Faucet: Artesso SmartTouch single-handle faucet with articulating arm, Brizo
Find counter stools in the Houzz Shop
Stephens also kept the collection of family photos above the cabinets. “I usually like to take cabinets all the way up to the ceiling, as the tops of them can be dust catchers,” she says. “But in this case, the family loved enjoying these photographs in this spot, so we left room for them.”
Faucet: Artesso SmartTouch single-handle faucet with articulating arm, Brizo
Find counter stools in the Houzz Shop
Coming Up With a Color Palette
The color scheme began with a porcelain floor tile Stephens had been eager to use ever since spying it at a showroom. She thought it would be the perfect choice for her fearless and artistic client, and she was right.
“I knew this client’s style well, but we still used Houzz ideabooks to share photos,” Stephens says. “I often have my clients create one at the beginning of the process because the way people describe their style and what they are actually talking about can be different things.”
From there, Sporn had trouble deciding if she wanted to pluck a navy or an aqua blue from the floor tile to use on the cabinetry. “I told her she didn’t have to decide; we could do both,” Stephens says. She had the lower cabinets painted in Naval and the upper cabinets painted in Aqua-Sphere, both from Sherwin-Williams.
New to Houzz? Here’s How to Create and Use Ideabooks
The color scheme began with a porcelain floor tile Stephens had been eager to use ever since spying it at a showroom. She thought it would be the perfect choice for her fearless and artistic client, and she was right.
“I knew this client’s style well, but we still used Houzz ideabooks to share photos,” Stephens says. “I often have my clients create one at the beginning of the process because the way people describe their style and what they are actually talking about can be different things.”
From there, Sporn had trouble deciding if she wanted to pluck a navy or an aqua blue from the floor tile to use on the cabinetry. “I told her she didn’t have to decide; we could do both,” Stephens says. She had the lower cabinets painted in Naval and the upper cabinets painted in Aqua-Sphere, both from Sherwin-Williams.
New to Houzz? Here’s How to Create and Use Ideabooks
This area illustrates a tricky moment for Stephens. She originally designed a small breakfast bar overhang that didn’t need additional support, but Sporn wanted it to jut out farther, which required this table leg. Stephens worked with the countertop installer to make sure that it wasn’t in the way of the diners’ legs or the cabinet doors.
Find a countertop pro near you
Find a countertop pro near you
A Better Experience for the Cook
Before: One of Sporn’s biggest complaints was feeling trapped when working at the range. She also had to walk around the peninsula to bring food to the dining room, just past the staircase in this photo.
Before: One of Sporn’s biggest complaints was feeling trapped when working at the range. She also had to walk around the peninsula to bring food to the dining room, just past the staircase in this photo.
In addition to removing the peninsula, Stephens widened the opening to the dining room hallway from 32 inches to 52 inches. There’s a bathroom behind the range wall, and she extended the kitchen floor tile down the hallway and into that room as part of the project.
The backsplash is composed of handmade 6-inch hexagonal tiles from Fireclay Tile. It provides a clean and neutral backdrop for the two-tone cabinets, and it plays off the octagons in the floor tile. Stephens recommended Fireclay Tile because it is a Certified B Corporation that meets certain social and environmental standards. Choosing products like this helped her realize the sustainable goals of this renovation.
Blue paint on rear wall: Tradewind, Sherwin-Williams
Shop for white hexagonal tile
The backsplash is composed of handmade 6-inch hexagonal tiles from Fireclay Tile. It provides a clean and neutral backdrop for the two-tone cabinets, and it plays off the octagons in the floor tile. Stephens recommended Fireclay Tile because it is a Certified B Corporation that meets certain social and environmental standards. Choosing products like this helped her realize the sustainable goals of this renovation.
Blue paint on rear wall: Tradewind, Sherwin-Williams
Shop for white hexagonal tile
Smart Storage
Working with Eastman St. Woodworks, Stephens designed the storage for functionality, efficiency and convenience. She designated this drawer next to the range for herbs and spices.
Working with Eastman St. Woodworks, Stephens designed the storage for functionality, efficiency and convenience. She designated this drawer next to the range for herbs and spices.
The cabinet beneath it is outfitted for storage containers and their lids.
Find a local cabinet company
Find a local cabinet company
To the right of the stove, this pullout holds cooking utensils, oils and measuring cups.
All pullouts: Rev-A-Shelf
All pullouts: Rev-A-Shelf
Just past that pullout is a deep drawer for pots and pans.
This drawer just off the mudroom entrance provides spots for keys, sunglasses and charging devices. The back of the drawer has an electrical box with outlets, including USB ports.
Readers often have questions about the safety of this kind of setup, so let’s get into some detail. This drawer has outlets that are engineered expressly for use in a drawer and meet relevant safety standards. The outlet box inside the drawer is plugged into an outlet installed in the wall behind the cabinet. The drawer is shallower than the other drawers to allow room for this.
“The cord runs through a metal arm with a hinge in it that attaches this box inside the drawer to the outlet in the wall,” Stephens says. “This arm protects the cord from crimping or getting caught when the drawer opens and closes, and is code compliant.”
In-drawer outlet setup: Docking Drawer
Readers often have questions about the safety of this kind of setup, so let’s get into some detail. This drawer has outlets that are engineered expressly for use in a drawer and meet relevant safety standards. The outlet box inside the drawer is plugged into an outlet installed in the wall behind the cabinet. The drawer is shallower than the other drawers to allow room for this.
“The cord runs through a metal arm with a hinge in it that attaches this box inside the drawer to the outlet in the wall,” Stephens says. “This arm protects the cord from crimping or getting caught when the drawer opens and closes, and is code compliant.”
In-drawer outlet setup: Docking Drawer
This photo provides a glimpse of Sporn’s artistic talents. The floating shelf holds a platter from a Judaica line she designed, as well as a couple of her paintings. And since Sporn wanted to put her own touch on the lights, Stephens helped her find plain porcelain pendants that she painted herself.
The countertops are a terrazzo that’s made of two-thirds crushed marble and one-third cement.
Sustainable Features
Designing in an ecologically smart way is important to Stephens and her clients. Sustainable aspects of this project included:
The countertops are a terrazzo that’s made of two-thirds crushed marble and one-third cement.
Sustainable Features
Designing in an ecologically smart way is important to Stephens and her clients. Sustainable aspects of this project included:
- Using a demolition company that recycled the debris. Lumber was shredded to be used for alternative wood fuel, and concrete and ceramics were crushed into paving materials.
- Installing LED lighting throughout.
- Using a Greenguard gold-certified paint line.
- Choosing materials that contain recycled content, such as the porcelain floor tile.
- Using Roxul insulation, a water-resistant and nonflammable stone wool, in the walls and crawl space.
- Installing low-voltage electric floor heating.
- Choosing Energy Star-rated appliances.
- Installing a water filter to reduce the use of plastic water bottles.
Before: The changes to the floor plan weren’t drastic — the sink, range and fridge stayed in the same or roughly the same spots, which helped keep costs down.
After: Getting rid of the peninsula and making the most of the wall on the right had a big effect on how the kitchen functioned. The mudroom entry is in the lower right corner. Stephens carefully planned the countertop to end a quarter-inch from the mudroom door’s swing.
Takeaways
Takeaways
- A picture is worth a thousand words. Show your designer your style by sharing photos.
- You don’t have to settle for just one cabinet paint color. Go for a two-tone scheme if that’s what you fancy.
- A small counter bump-out can offer the seating that is more commonly provided by peninsulas and islands.
- A cabinet that keeps those pesky storage container lids organized can be worth the investment.
- A designer can help you meet your sustainability goals by guiding you toward eco-friendly materials, appliances, systems and practices before construction begins.
More on Houzz
How to Remodel Your Kitchen
Browse kitchen photos
Find a kitchen and bath remodeler
Shop for kitchen and dining products
Kitchen of the Week
Who lives here: Jessica Sporn, her husband and their teenage daughter (their other daughter is away at college)
Location: Montclair, New Jersey
Size: 166 square feet (15 square meters)
Designer: Tracey Stephens
Jessica Sporn, who is an artist, and her husband had been wanting to renovate their drafty, awkwardly configured kitchen for a while, and a water leak on the second floor of their home in Montclair, New Jersey, finally prompted them to do it.
“She has a great eye for color and pattern, which made this a fun collaboration,” says kitchen and bath designer Tracey Stephens, who had worked with Sporn for many years on a handful of other projects.
Stephens improved the layout and storage, and amped up the color and pattern, in the kitchen for the family of four. New low-voltage electric floor heating and Roxul insulation in the walls and crawl space help keep the room comfortable and the pipes less prone to freezing. Choosing energy-efficient systems and appliances, as well as eco-friendly materials, was a priority in this project.
Find a local kitchen and bath designer on Houzz