Kitchen of the Week: Deep Blue Cabinets and Eclectic Touches
A designer found on Houzz helps a family inject its personal style into the heart of its home
This Atlanta couple were ready to inject their personalities into their kitchen, so they searched Houzz and found kitchen designer Rosa Moreno. The designer got a great idea of their style the moment she walked through the front door. “The wife had chosen this amazing wallpaper for their foyer. It was full of color, including lots of blues and greens, and she told me she wanted to bring that eclectic personality into her kitchen,” Moreno says.
After: Taking out the soffits made the ceilings feel higher. Moreno took the cabinets up to the ceiling with a crown molding detail along the top. One of the homeowners’ must-haves was a seating area, so she also extended the counter on the peninsula to create one.
The homeowner sourced the beautiful woven leather counter stools and the patinaed beer garden table herself. These items illustrate her love for a collected look.
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The homeowner sourced the beautiful woven leather counter stools and the patinaed beer garden table herself. These items illustrate her love for a collected look.
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One change in the appliances involved switching to a range instead of a separate cooktop and wall oven. And Moreno was able to move the microwave to the pantry, which made room for a nice focal point. “My clients are not big cooks and they are young, so using a range was a good solution for them,” she says. “They don’t mind bending over to get things out of the oven.”
The homeowner saved money by sourcing the white vent hood from a big-box store herself. “It was already white and had the crown molding at the top so it was a good fit,” Moreno says. “We added the caged sconces to bring in an eclectic touch.” Their aged brass finish adds warmth to the room.
“From the start, my client told me she wanted blue cabinets and that there was no way I could talk her out of it,” Moreno says. “Also, they plan to live here for 20 more years and had no concerns about resale. So we were totally free to show their personalities in here.”
The homeowners wanted to go somewhat safer with the more permanent elements, including the countertop and backsplash. “We found a quartz with subtle blue in the veining,” Moreno says. The quartz is durable and easy to clean.
Cabinets in Bonavista finish: Cabico Custom Cabinetry; countertop: Blue Carrara quartz, Corian
The homeowners wanted to go somewhat safer with the more permanent elements, including the countertop and backsplash. “We found a quartz with subtle blue in the veining,” Moreno says. The quartz is durable and easy to clean.
Cabinets in Bonavista finish: Cabico Custom Cabinetry; countertop: Blue Carrara quartz, Corian
The backsplash is a subway tile, but it has a handmade tumbled look. “The edges are imperfect, which gives it more personality than a flat subway tile would have,” Moreno says. “And it reflects the light in a more interesting way.”
Her clients didn’t want a modern look, so they chose a cast-iron farmhouse sink with soft curves and traditional cabinet hardware with lots of detail to it. The faucet with the integrated pull-down sprayer is a more streamlined piece, but its warm satin brass finish leans traditional.
Her clients didn’t want a modern look, so they chose a cast-iron farmhouse sink with soft curves and traditional cabinet hardware with lots of detail to it. The faucet with the integrated pull-down sprayer is a more streamlined piece, but its warm satin brass finish leans traditional.
“Another must-have was lots of organization in the cabinets,” Moreno says. This pullout spice cabinet next to the range is one example. There are also two lazy Susans that make the most of the corners.
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Before: This refrigerator didn’t fit well into the surrounding cabinets. And there was another oppressive soffit overhead.
After: Moreno designed cabinets to surround the fridge in a more streamlined way.
The bar next to the fridge was the perfect spot to bring in some of the more whimsical touches the homeowners like. The space includes a coffee bar with glass cabinet doors above for displaying glassware and rollout shelves below for mugs and teacups. Its fridge-adjacent location makes it easy to grab a glass or a mug and then reach for a drink, ice, coffee, creamer or cocktail ingredients.
Moreno used the area next to the fridge as a design opportunity. She revved up its style with a couple of finishes the homeowners had fallen in love with: fish scale mosaic tiles and zebra wood.
Browse blue mosaic tile in the Houzz Shop
Moreno used the area next to the fridge as a design opportunity. She revved up its style with a couple of finishes the homeowners had fallen in love with: fish scale mosaic tiles and zebra wood.
Browse blue mosaic tile in the Houzz Shop
“My client had fallen in love with some fish scale tiles,” Moreno says. “Because of the pandemic, we could not get them shipped to the United States, but I was able to find something very similar from another source. Using them everywhere in the kitchen would have made it too busy, but they look great here.”
A small dose also made sense for the zebra wood. “My clients also had fallen in love with this wood and wanted to use it in the kitchen in some way,” Moreno says. Here’s a closer look at the beautiful graining of the countertop.
“My client didn’t want to play it safe and she knew exactly what she wanted,” Moreno says. “She made the kitchen her own and now they all can enjoy it for many years to come.”
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“My client didn’t want to play it safe and she knew exactly what she wanted,” Moreno says. “She made the kitchen her own and now they all can enjoy it for many years to come.”
More on Houzz
Read more kitchen stories
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Hire a kitchen remodeler
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Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of three
Location: Vinings neighborhood of Atlanta
Size: 163 square feet (15 square meters)
Designer: Rosa Moreno
Before: The family lived in this house for several years before getting around to the kitchen remodel. It gave the clients a lot of time to want a big change from the tired old cabinets and all the white. In addition, the soffits around the room were oppressive. Luckily, the soffits didn’t house any ducts or other functional elements — they were simply part of a look that was in style decades ago.
“My clients were fine with the existing layout and did not want to take down any walls,” Moreno says. “Also, they had redone the floors as soon as they moved in, so we needed to be careful to preserve them.”
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