Kitchen Design
Kitchen of the Week
Kitchen of the Week: Blue, Brass and Built-Ins
A designer mixes original features and new amenities to revitalize a Tudor Revival kitchen in Bronxville, New York
After renovating much of her client’s 1920s Tudor Revival house in Bronxville, New York, one room at a time over 10 years, designer Claire Paquin was tasked with transforming the kitchen. The resulting space features original metal casement windows and salvaged wood floors paired with all the bells and whistles of a modern kitchen. “Striking the right balance between old and new was key to making this kitchen remodel work,” Paquin says.
A common feature of many renovated kitchens is a shiny new stainless steel range hood. But feeling that one would stick out like a sore thumb, Paquin opted for a custom range hood made of plaster. “It blends into the wall and doesn’t demand too much attention,” she says. The brass pot filler below the hood is a stylish and functional touch.
Both the homeowners are doctors and regularly use foot pedals to operate the sinks at work. As a nod to their work life, Paquin installed working stainless steel foot pedals below the sink at floor level — if you look closely, you can just make one of them out. The pedals, one for hot water and the other for cold, were made by a company that specializes in plumbing fixtures for hospitals and factories.
The large center island provides plenty of storage with a mixture of cabinets and drawers. It also includes a built-in microwave and space for two counter stools at one end.
Both the homeowners are doctors and regularly use foot pedals to operate the sinks at work. As a nod to their work life, Paquin installed working stainless steel foot pedals below the sink at floor level — if you look closely, you can just make one of them out. The pedals, one for hot water and the other for cold, were made by a company that specializes in plumbing fixtures for hospitals and factories.
The large center island provides plenty of storage with a mixture of cabinets and drawers. It also includes a built-in microwave and space for two counter stools at one end.
Paquin located the new farmhouse sink below a pair of original metal casement windows that provide natural light. The countertops are quartzite, a natural stone that here mimics the look of marble but is easier to maintain. The walls behind the sink and the gas range are coved in taupe handmade subway tile.
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Shop for farmhouse sinks
The counter to the right of the built-in refrigerator is walnut butcher block. “The former kitchen included a butcher-block table that the homeowners enjoyed, so they wanted to incorporate one into the new space,” Paquin says. A magnetic knife rack on the wall above the butcher block helps make for an ideal chopping station.
The opposite side of the kitchen includes a built-in desk that serves as command central for the family. The cabinets are painted the same blue and feature the same unlacquered brass hardware used in the rest of the kitchen. “The brass hardware will build a nice patina over time,” Paquin says.
Since the homeowners wanted a desk, there wasn’t enough room for a large breakfast table in the kitchen. To create a dining area, Paquin designed a custom banquette that wraps around a corner of the kitchen. The bench seating cuts around the casement windows and is covered in vinyl for easy cleanup, with built-in storage below. The windows have custom Roman shades.
This floor plan of the renovated kitchen shows the location of the built-in banquette just below the powder room in the upper-left corner, the built-in desk at the lower left, the refrigerator wall at the upper right and the range wall just above the mudroom in the lower-right corner.
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Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: Married doctors and their two children
Location: Bronxville, New York
Size: 400 square feet (37 square meters)
Designer: Clean Design
The one thing the homeowners definitely didn’t want was an all-white kitchen. “The home still retains much of its classic character and charm,” Paquin says. “The couple felt that an all-white kitchen would feel too sterile and cold.”
After testing different colors for the cabinets, the designer and homeowners landed on a dusty shade of blue from Benjamin Moore called Evening Dove. “I loved the blue for the cabinets, but I feared having both upper and lower cabinets would feel too heavy and dark for the space,” Paquin says. “So we went with floating walnut shelves instead of uppers.”
The design team removed tiles covering the former kitchen floor to reveal the original oak underneath. They were able to salvage some of the wood, but most of it had to be replaced. The new wood was stained to match the original oak floors that run throughout the house.
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