Hand-Painted Tile Inspires a Long-Awaited Kitchen Remodel
Houzz stories provide a Massachusetts couple with inspiration and lead them to designers who transform their kitchen
“Hey, Mom, check out this tile!” A few years ago, I sent my mother this note with a photo from a Kitchen of the Week story I was writing. Featured in the photo was a beautiful hand-painted terra-cotta tile that interior designer Charmean Neithart, who designed the kitchen, had chosen for her client and that I knew my mother would love.
That photo eventually spurred the long-overdue renovation of my parents’ kitchen. The cabinets and 1980s white laminate countertops had started to fall apart, the wallpaper was peeling, and the sink and faucets had seen better days. Their kitchen renovation inspired a 2018 story I wrote about surviving a kitchen remodel. Now I’ll walk you through their renovated kitchen and share how it came together.
That photo eventually spurred the long-overdue renovation of my parents’ kitchen. The cabinets and 1980s white laminate countertops had started to fall apart, the wallpaper was peeling, and the sink and faucets had seen better days. Their kitchen renovation inspired a 2018 story I wrote about surviving a kitchen remodel. Now I’ll walk you through their renovated kitchen and share how it came together.
This is the working portion of the kitchen, which measures about 123 square feet. A high-traffic hallway, just visible in the foreground, divides the cooking area from the eat-in area that Handy added in 1988.
Violandi and Warner thought contractor Steve Wildes would be a great fit for this project because he loves old houses. (Handy had moved on to focusing on timber-framing construction.) Back when Handy had remodeled the kitchen, he had uncovered some beams. Usually he loved finding original details like that, but this kitchen had been added on to the original house at some point, and the beams were ugly. So he had added a drywall ceiling during the remodel and boxed in an unsightly post.
When Wildes took down the ceiling and saw the ugly beams, he had a vision: If he scraped all the black stain and gunk off them and added an additional post and beam to help organize the look, they could be an asset. He had a collection of architectural salvage he saves for projects, and he knew he had some beams that could help tie everything together — more on that in a bit.
Warner and Violandi advised adding the white planks to the ceiling, which fit in better with an older home than drywall.
Picture light: Dean, Visual Comfort
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Violandi and Warner thought contractor Steve Wildes would be a great fit for this project because he loves old houses. (Handy had moved on to focusing on timber-framing construction.) Back when Handy had remodeled the kitchen, he had uncovered some beams. Usually he loved finding original details like that, but this kitchen had been added on to the original house at some point, and the beams were ugly. So he had added a drywall ceiling during the remodel and boxed in an unsightly post.
When Wildes took down the ceiling and saw the ugly beams, he had a vision: If he scraped all the black stain and gunk off them and added an additional post and beam to help organize the look, they could be an asset. He had a collection of architectural salvage he saves for projects, and he knew he had some beams that could help tie everything together — more on that in a bit.
Warner and Violandi advised adding the white planks to the ceiling, which fit in better with an older home than drywall.
Picture light: Dean, Visual Comfort
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Knowing my parents weren’t kitchen island people, Violandi and Warner proposed a U-shaped kitchen that would give them additional counter space and storage. Getting rid of the old barn wood on this wall was a tough decision and they preserved it behind the new wall. Covering the wood up with a beautiful backsplash made the room feel more cohesive and so much brighter. “I was tired of my kitchen feeling dark,” my mom says. “Now I love the brightness of the room.”
Two things to know about this tile: One, imperfections are a part of their charm — if you like everything perfect and exactly the same, it’s not for you. Second, the custom colors, hand-painting and international shipping mean you’ll have to wait several months to receive your tiles. It was worth it to my parents, and the other work was completed while they waited (and waited). But if you’re trying to stay on a tight schedule, find a tile with a shorter lead time or order it months before construction begins.
Two things to know about this tile: One, imperfections are a part of their charm — if you like everything perfect and exactly the same, it’s not for you. Second, the custom colors, hand-painting and international shipping mean you’ll have to wait several months to receive your tiles. It was worth it to my parents, and the other work was completed while they waited (and waited). But if you’re trying to stay on a tight schedule, find a tile with a shorter lead time or order it months before construction begins.
Blue is my mother’s favorite color, so I had suggested a blue range in the Houzz ideabook. This beautiful gas model is by Ilve. Violandi and Warner custom-designed the vent hood to fit in with the style of the house. The range has a drawer on the bottom that can accommodate baking sheets, muffin tins or pans.
Browse range hoods in the Houzz Shop
Browse range hoods in the Houzz Shop
The new windows over the sink are larger than the old one was. They meet the countertop beautifully and they crank open, which makes it easy for my parents to open and close them. (My mother is big on fresh air.) The windows look out on a small orchard I designed when I was a landscape architecture student. “Expanding the window even just a little bit made a big difference,” my mom says. “It feels so much bigger and brighter.”
The countertops are White Rhino quartzite with a leathered finish. The leathered finish is textured and honed and is easier to keep looking clean than a polished finish.
The designers didn’t have much trouble talking my parents into splurging on the beautiful bridge faucet. It truly serves as “the jewelry of the room,” as Warner put it. My mother also told the designers she wanted something different from a white farmhouse sink. She wanted the sink cabinetry to come out from the rest of the cabinets, as in this inspiration photo from the ideabook. They sourced a nice stainless steel undermount sink.
Faucet: Easton in polished nickel, Waterworks; sink: Pro series undermount kitchen sink, Nantucket Sinks
Shop for a traditional nickel kitchen faucet
The countertops are White Rhino quartzite with a leathered finish. The leathered finish is textured and honed and is easier to keep looking clean than a polished finish.
The designers didn’t have much trouble talking my parents into splurging on the beautiful bridge faucet. It truly serves as “the jewelry of the room,” as Warner put it. My mother also told the designers she wanted something different from a white farmhouse sink. She wanted the sink cabinetry to come out from the rest of the cabinets, as in this inspiration photo from the ideabook. They sourced a nice stainless steel undermount sink.
Faucet: Easton in polished nickel, Waterworks; sink: Pro series undermount kitchen sink, Nantucket Sinks
Shop for a traditional nickel kitchen faucet
She also asked the designers to come up with an alternative to an upper cabinet over “the desk drawer” and said, “Surprise me.” They crafted open shelves in a wood that plays off the ceiling beams. This allowed for a larger expanse of the backsplash and gave my parents a spot to display some favorite items, like this painting of a lobsterman by Melissa Post van der Burg.
Tile: Paris Metro collection, Tabarka Studio
Tile: Paris Metro collection, Tabarka Studio
The Eat-In Area
Before: Handy had added this eat-in area to the kitchen in 1988. The opening with the railings on the left used to be the door that led from the patio into the house. The addition is only 6 feet deep and 12 feet wide, but it made all the difference. We’ve always been an eat-at-the-kitchen-table kind of family, and my parents had no interest in a kitchen island. This is a wonderfully sunny space that looks out onto the patio and herb garden. “I do so much at that kitchen table, it’s really the center of our house,” my mom says. “You kids used to do your homework there too, and even though I have desks all over the house, this is where I do most of my work.”
The dining table is a heavy old piece from the Coonamessett Inn in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and so are the Windsor chairs. They all hold sentimental value — my great-grandmother Edna Harris started and ran the place, and my dad was a busboy and a waiter there from age 13 through his college years. The table and chairs were handed down to him when he moved into his first bachelor apartment. “I remember refinishing those chairs outside on the front steps while I watched you kids play in the yard back in the ’70s,” my mom says. The drop-leaf table is an antique from my mother’s parents. The designers graciously worked around any family pieces that were must-have keepers.
Before: Handy had added this eat-in area to the kitchen in 1988. The opening with the railings on the left used to be the door that led from the patio into the house. The addition is only 6 feet deep and 12 feet wide, but it made all the difference. We’ve always been an eat-at-the-kitchen-table kind of family, and my parents had no interest in a kitchen island. This is a wonderfully sunny space that looks out onto the patio and herb garden. “I do so much at that kitchen table, it’s really the center of our house,” my mom says. “You kids used to do your homework there too, and even though I have desks all over the house, this is where I do most of my work.”
The dining table is a heavy old piece from the Coonamessett Inn in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and so are the Windsor chairs. They all hold sentimental value — my great-grandmother Edna Harris started and ran the place, and my dad was a busboy and a waiter there from age 13 through his college years. The table and chairs were handed down to him when he moved into his first bachelor apartment. “I remember refinishing those chairs outside on the front steps while I watched you kids play in the yard back in the ’70s,” my mom says. The drop-leaf table is an antique from my mother’s parents. The designers graciously worked around any family pieces that were must-have keepers.
Warner refers to Violandi as “the Fabric Whisperer,” and this pattern, Kalamkari Vine by Anna French for Thibaut, also happened to come in wallpaper. The colors complement the backsplash tile, while the larger scale keeps it from competing with it. “I love to sit here and look at the tile and the wallpaper,” my mother says. “I absolutely love the tile and the wallpaper and it’s still a very cozy kitchen.”
The posts and beams you see here are where contractor Wildes and his son Joe really saved the day. There had been an original post on the left that Handy had boxed in with wood and painted white back in 1988. Wildes brought in reclaimed beams from his salvage collection and installed them as the big ceiling beam and the post on the right. He also used some of the wood to widen the original post on the left to match. This delineates the eat-in area from the high-traffic area and ties in the ceiling beams from the working area of the kitchen in a pleasing way.
Hire a local general contractor
Hire a local general contractor
The space between the working portion of the kitchen and the eat-in area is high-traffic — it serves as an open hallway that connects the door off the driveway and the family room to the rest of the house. The beams help connect it to the two sides of the kitchen.
There are too many important details Violandi and Warner came up with to count, and they made all of us appreciate the benefits of hiring professional designers. One example is this large blue ceramic lamp by Ralph Lauren. It adds ambiance in the corner, its scale is just right for the table and the wallpaper pattern, and it has a beautiful glaze that gives it a lovely handmade quality. I don’t think I ever would have realized that table needed something that large if they hadn’t picked it out.
“It was really easy to let go and just trust them, especially as the project went on,” my mom says of the designers. When it came to choosing elements like the rugs, the hardware and the light over the sink, she just told them to pick whatever they thought would look best. “You get so tired of having to make so many decisions when you’re remodeling that it’s really nice to let someone else take over,” she says.
There are too many important details Violandi and Warner came up with to count, and they made all of us appreciate the benefits of hiring professional designers. One example is this large blue ceramic lamp by Ralph Lauren. It adds ambiance in the corner, its scale is just right for the table and the wallpaper pattern, and it has a beautiful glaze that gives it a lovely handmade quality. I don’t think I ever would have realized that table needed something that large if they hadn’t picked it out.
“It was really easy to let go and just trust them, especially as the project went on,” my mom says of the designers. When it came to choosing elements like the rugs, the hardware and the light over the sink, she just told them to pick whatever they thought would look best. “You get so tired of having to make so many decisions when you’re remodeling that it’s really nice to let someone else take over,” she says.
A Narrow Pantry
Because of the limited size of the kitchen, Handy had installed a set of shallow pantry cabinets in this hallway space between the kitchen and dining room. The bottom cabinets jutted out a bit, providing a counter for keys and such, but the protrusion was a bit awkward. Violandi and Warner updated the idea by creating a more streamlined piece and painting it my mom’s favorite blue. The color ties it to the range and the kitchen wallpaper, and the hardware matches the kitchen hardware. The new Roman shade on the right is also in the Kalamkari Vine pattern. And they added a designated key section with hooks inside the pantry.
The hallway seen here leads to the dining room. One other thing I should mention that wasn’t photographed is that my parents didn’t want to miss out on all the fun photos that were on their old fridge, but they also didn’t want to clutter up their pretty new Thermador panel-front fridge. Mom had a large framed magnetic board made to display them all. It’s located across from the window.
Seeing what Violandi and Warner could do, my parents realized they should have them freshen up a few other things in the house. The powder room, guest room and dining room received cosmetic makeovers, Dad’s bathroom was fully renovated and they had the Fabric Whisperer reupholster a few pieces that had been scratched up by Patty O’Cat. For the first time in over 30 years, their house feels new to them again. “I’ve always loved this house, but now I love it even more,” my dad says.
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Because of the limited size of the kitchen, Handy had installed a set of shallow pantry cabinets in this hallway space between the kitchen and dining room. The bottom cabinets jutted out a bit, providing a counter for keys and such, but the protrusion was a bit awkward. Violandi and Warner updated the idea by creating a more streamlined piece and painting it my mom’s favorite blue. The color ties it to the range and the kitchen wallpaper, and the hardware matches the kitchen hardware. The new Roman shade on the right is also in the Kalamkari Vine pattern. And they added a designated key section with hooks inside the pantry.
The hallway seen here leads to the dining room. One other thing I should mention that wasn’t photographed is that my parents didn’t want to miss out on all the fun photos that were on their old fridge, but they also didn’t want to clutter up their pretty new Thermador panel-front fridge. Mom had a large framed magnetic board made to display them all. It’s located across from the window.
Seeing what Violandi and Warner could do, my parents realized they should have them freshen up a few other things in the house. The powder room, guest room and dining room received cosmetic makeovers, Dad’s bathroom was fully renovated and they had the Fabric Whisperer reupholster a few pieces that had been scratched up by Patty O’Cat. For the first time in over 30 years, their house feels new to them again. “I’ve always loved this house, but now I love it even more,” my dad says.
More on Houzz
Read more kitchen stories
Browse kitchen photos
Hire a cabinet pro
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: Joy and Dan Harris
Location: Outside Boston
Size: The working kitchen space is 123 square feet (11.4 square meters); the eat-in area is 72 square feet (6.7 square meters)
Designers: Robin Violandi and Caroline Warner of Violandi + Warner Interiors
Before: In 1988, when my family and I moved from Cincinnati to a historic town on Boston’s South Shore, we went from a late-1970s tract house to a Colonial home built in the late 1700s to early 1800s. Before moving in, my parents had the kitchen renovated by a local contractor named Huck Handy.
In addition to having the perfect last name for a contractor, Handy loved and knew a lot about old houses, and he had great taste. Other than the laminate counters, everything in the kitchen that he helped design had held up stylewise, including the white Shaker-style cabinets, Delft tile and a small eat-in addition. But three decades of hard wear and tear had taken their toll, and by 2018 my parents needed to make some changes to help them age in place in their home.
They had replaced appliances over the years as needed, and I’ll never understand the black dishwasher choice. There was an old reclaimed-wood wall and an antique desk, seen on the left, that was a clutter collector. One must-have on my mother’s wish list was what she referred to as a “kitchen desk drawer” in the same spot — meaning a drawer that would have room for pens and pads, scissors, stamps and other office supplies.
My parents loved the white kitchen and its blue-and-white Delft tile backsplash. The tile in the photo I’d sent my mom reminded her of the Delft but also gave her the change she was craving.
I created a Houzz ideabook for them to keep track of inspirations and functional ideas. These included elements that would make aging in place easier, such as dishwasher and microwave drawers and deep drawers instead of cabinet doors. The ideabook gave them a wish list and helped them get prepared. When it was time to reach out to professional designers for the next step, they contacted Caroline Warner and Robin Violandi, local designers whose work they had admired in this Houzz Tour.
How to Create and Use Ideabooks