Walnut Brings Its Natural Beauty to a ‘Clean, Honest’ Kitchen
A mix of wood, white and other finishes gives this kitchen its inviting, collected feel
BEFORE: When the homeowners purchased this home, the layout of the kitchen meant that two people couldn’t comfortably move around in it. And even for one person, the space was uncomfortable: “The cabinetry had originally been built for a taller person,” says Jennifer McGinnis, the designer, so it was too high for the homeowners. In terms of style, the original kitchen was done in dark cherry — McGinnis describes it as “almost burgundy.”
AFTER: Opening up the space allowed for a much better workflow. Here is the floor plan for the remodeled kitchen, showing both the cooking space and the eat-in area. “We changed the whole way the kitchen was laid out,” McGinnis says.
McGinnis calls the style of the new kitchen “updated transitional.” “The idea was simple, clean, honest,” she says. “Not a lot of fussiness.” The designer and homeowners chose classic white Shaker-style cabinetry to brighten up the space and take better advantage of the room’s natural light. “We put glass-faced cabinetry at the top to utilize the space vertically but still give that open, airy feel,” McGinnis says.
The designer mixed in wood throughout the kitchen and adjacent eating space: The island, media wall and buffet are unstained walnut, protected with a low-sheen satin finish. “What I loved about it was the authentic beauty of the natural wood,” says McGinnis, noting that its rich grain and coloring would acquire a patina over time and always look beautiful.
She varied the styles of the cabinet fronts to help the wood pieces tie in with the rest of the home, which was built in 1986. The media wall, seen in this photo, has raised panels to evoke a furniture feel that balances a more utilitarian kitchen, she says.
Island countertop: Zodiaq quartz in London Sky, Dupont
The designer mixed in wood throughout the kitchen and adjacent eating space: The island, media wall and buffet are unstained walnut, protected with a low-sheen satin finish. “What I loved about it was the authentic beauty of the natural wood,” says McGinnis, noting that its rich grain and coloring would acquire a patina over time and always look beautiful.
She varied the styles of the cabinet fronts to help the wood pieces tie in with the rest of the home, which was built in 1986. The media wall, seen in this photo, has raised panels to evoke a furniture feel that balances a more utilitarian kitchen, she says.
Island countertop: Zodiaq quartz in London Sky, Dupont
The lower drawers of the walnut island are Shaker-style; the uppers are slab-front. That blend helps create the updated transitional feel that the homeowners wanted for the kitchen. The Shaker fronts also echo the style of the white cabinetry on the kitchen’s main wall.
The floor is red oak stained a medium brown.
The artwork hanging beyond the island is a family favorite, and it helped determine the palette for this room. The designer chose the wall color to make the art stand out. Beyond the island is wainscoting (also visible in the first picture) that McGinnis had installed “to give it that traditional feel, but updated with cleaner lines.”
Paint: Bruton White CW-710 (walls) and White Wisp OC-54 (ceiling), Benjamin Moore
The floor is red oak stained a medium brown.
The artwork hanging beyond the island is a family favorite, and it helped determine the palette for this room. The designer chose the wall color to make the art stand out. Beyond the island is wainscoting (also visible in the first picture) that McGinnis had installed “to give it that traditional feel, but updated with cleaner lines.”
Paint: Bruton White CW-710 (walls) and White Wisp OC-54 (ceiling), Benjamin Moore
The kitchen cabinet pulls are a mix of styles, all finished in a warm antique brass. The faucet is chrome; the range hood is stainless steel (even though it looks rose-tinted in this photo, it isn’t). “I think you really need to change up the metals and the woods, or else it’s going to look too cookie-cutter-y,” MicGinnis says. A mix also helps a space feel as if it developed over time, rather than “in one fell swoop,” she says. The designer deliberately echoed the chrome of the faucet with accent pieces like the canister jars on the countertop.
The backsplash is a dimensional ceramic tile.
Cabinet pulls: various styles in brushed bronze, Schaub & Co.; paint on cabinets: Chantilly Lace OC-65, Benjamin Moore; perimeter counter: Pebble, Caesarstone; 48-inch all-gas range: Pro Grand PRG486NLG, Professional series, Thermador; 48-inch low-profile island range hood: HPIB48HS in stainless steel, Masterpiece series, Thermador
The backsplash is a dimensional ceramic tile.
Cabinet pulls: various styles in brushed bronze, Schaub & Co.; paint on cabinets: Chantilly Lace OC-65, Benjamin Moore; perimeter counter: Pebble, Caesarstone; 48-inch all-gas range: Pro Grand PRG486NLG, Professional series, Thermador; 48-inch low-profile island range hood: HPIB48HS in stainless steel, Masterpiece series, Thermador
This is the eat-in area, which is directly off the media wall (see floor plan). “Both the kitchen and eat-in area were nice in size, so it didn’t make sense to knock out a kitchen wall,” McGinnis says, which in this case would have been an exterior wall. Instead, the best route was to bridge the two spaces. McGinnis installed the walnut media wall, as well as the buffet in the back of this room, for that purpose.
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Who lives here: A family of four
Location: Chicago
Size: 493 square feet (45.8 square meters)
Designer: Jennifer McGinnis of Redux Interior Design