Contemporary Kitchen With an Industrial Twist
A couple’s clean-lined design incorporates warmth by using natural materials such as wood and marble
Chris and Makenzi Dauwe love the look of contemporary style but crave the warmth of natural materials. So when they built their Dallas home, they opted to marry elements of both into the design. Their kitchen is a prime example of that approach.
Since the kitchen ceilings are quite high, Chris created a special panel for over the island to help the space feel more intimate. He had the framers create a box, then clad it in more of the barn wood from North Carolina.
The couple wanted the look of a commercial-style refrigerator, so they chose a double-wide version. To make it look built-in, Chris had the black cabinets made at the same depth as the refrigerator. He and his wife both dislike clutter, and they find the large cabinets a great place to store items they don’t use every day, like the bread machine and mixer. The floor material is polished concrete, with no color added to it.
Cabinet paint color: Black Magic by Sherwin-Williams; pendants: Restoration Hardware; range: Bertazzoni; hood: Wolf; refrigerator: Electrolux
The couple wanted the look of a commercial-style refrigerator, so they chose a double-wide version. To make it look built-in, Chris had the black cabinets made at the same depth as the refrigerator. He and his wife both dislike clutter, and they find the large cabinets a great place to store items they don’t use every day, like the bread machine and mixer. The floor material is polished concrete, with no color added to it.
Cabinet paint color: Black Magic by Sherwin-Williams; pendants: Restoration Hardware; range: Bertazzoni; hood: Wolf; refrigerator: Electrolux
It was also important to have a bay of windows behind the range, and above as well as below the upper cabinets. “It adds a lot of natural light in the kitchen in the afternoon, because that wall faces west,” Chris says. “The kitchen is that much more happy and livable.”
The upper cabinets are standard paint-grade cabinets.
The upper cabinets are standard paint-grade cabinets.
The lower, white oak cabinetry is rift-cut, a technique that provides a more linear look to the wood grain, in keeping with the sleeker feel sought for the kitchen.
The couple spend a lot of time in this room — Chris has designed several houses right at the breakfast bar. Great Dane Dolce also likes to hang out here. “It’s where we feel energized,” Chris says.
The couple plan for this to be their long-term home. “The house lives very easy,” Chris says. “We designed it to make our life as comfortable as we can.”
He says the planning phase for the entire home took about six months, with construction taking another eight.
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The couple spend a lot of time in this room — Chris has designed several houses right at the breakfast bar. Great Dane Dolce also likes to hang out here. “It’s where we feel energized,” Chris says.
The couple plan for this to be their long-term home. “The house lives very easy,” Chris says. “We designed it to make our life as comfortable as we can.”
He says the planning phase for the entire home took about six months, with construction taking another eight.
More
Homeowner’s Workbook: How to Remodel Your Kitchen
Find Kitchen Designers and Home Builders in Your Area
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: Chris and Makenzi Dauwe and their son, Denver
Location: Dallas
Size: 342 square feet (32 square meters)
Designer: Chris Dauwe of Rosewood Custom Builders
Chris, 33, who joined his family’s custom home-building business 11 years ago, designed this kitchen with some help from his wife, Makenzi, 30, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, as part of the home they plan to raise their family in. The heart of the design is the island-breakfast bar, which features rich materials and a double waterfall structure. The raised breakfast bar is made of warm walnut, while the island top is white marble with gray veining. Chris chose to cover the space beneath the breakfast bar in reclaimed wood, sourced from a barn in North Carolina.
Using natural-looking materials helped the Dauwes achieve their goal of “a contemporary home with an industrial twist,” he says. They wanted a very comfortable feel to the home. “What we were trying to do was stay away from some of those more contemporary materials, like acrylics and shinier surfaces,” Chris says. Instead, the couple opted for what he describes as “substrate-driven design. A substrate would be iron, or just raw wood or exposed concrete — the raw material you find in nature.” The kitchen includes the clean lines of contemporary style, softened and warmed through the use of natural materials.
Island and kitchen countertops: Mountain White marble; leather stools: Halo Styles