Colorful Kitchen: Green and Hickory for Cheery Family Meal Prep
A couple bring a love of color to their new kitchen, infusing their cooking space with personality and charm
Before: The homeowners have “your classic New England home,” says designer Leah Bonarrigo, and before the renovation, the kitchen was closed off from the rest of the circa-1900 house. “They couldn’t entertain. It was that small,” Bonarrigo says. The designer and owners saw the screened porch as valuable floor space they could expand into.
Before: “The homeowners actually love color,” Bonarrigo says. “Every other room of their house is painted a different color: Their formal living room is orange, there’s a dining room that is purple, their old kitchen was lime green.”
After: The owners wanted to bring color into the new kitchen but still have it feel bright and open. Placing a series of windows across the two exterior walls worked, as did choosing green cabinetry (rather than green walls). To get more space, the designer pushed the kitchen out into the area that was previously the screened porch. She also removed a wall that separated the old kitchen from the adjacent family room.
Now there is room for multiple people to move around the kitchen, and the family can even entertain guests now. The homeowner says the renovation changed their lives: Family members now cook together three times a week.
The countertops: The perimeter is engineered quartz; the island is hand-carved hickory.
The cabinets: Since the windows left no room for upper cabinets, Bonarrigo put a lot of thought into ensuring that the owners had enough storage. Everyday dishes are stored in the base cabinets on the window wall.
Island countertop: Dean W. Richards Custom Woodworking; perimeter countertop: Porcelain White, Viatera; cabinetry: Medallion’s Gold line with maple frame and full-overlay, flat-panel doors in sage-painted finish, Elkay, sink: Elkay; faucet: Portsmouth one-handle high-arc with side spray, American Standard
Now there is room for multiple people to move around the kitchen, and the family can even entertain guests now. The homeowner says the renovation changed their lives: Family members now cook together three times a week.
The countertops: The perimeter is engineered quartz; the island is hand-carved hickory.
The cabinets: Since the windows left no room for upper cabinets, Bonarrigo put a lot of thought into ensuring that the owners had enough storage. Everyday dishes are stored in the base cabinets on the window wall.
Island countertop: Dean W. Richards Custom Woodworking; perimeter countertop: Porcelain White, Viatera; cabinetry: Medallion’s Gold line with maple frame and full-overlay, flat-panel doors in sage-painted finish, Elkay, sink: Elkay; faucet: Portsmouth one-handle high-arc with side spray, American Standard
The island cabinetry, composed of knotty alder, includes two narrow drawers at the top, for everyday silverware and entertaining silverware. The lower drawers hold stacked mixing bowls, pots and pans.
Island cabinetry: Medallion, Elkay; pendant lights: Brinley one-light mini in brushed-nickel finish, Kichler
Island cabinetry: Medallion, Elkay; pendant lights: Brinley one-light mini in brushed-nickel finish, Kichler
The fridge is located against the kitchen’s only interior wall, and Bonarrigo added surrounding pantry cabinets that help make up for the lack of upper cabinets in the rest of the kitchen. This is where the family stores glasses and mugs.
Since the dishwasher is across the kitchen on the window wall, how to get clean items — glassware, specifically — from dishwasher to shelf became a big topic of conversation during the renovation. “The preferred method is to unload them onto the island, and have her kids put them away on the other side,” Bonarrigo says.
Since the dishwasher is across the kitchen on the window wall, how to get clean items — glassware, specifically — from dishwasher to shelf became a big topic of conversation during the renovation. “The preferred method is to unload them onto the island, and have her kids put them away on the other side,” Bonarrigo says.
The backsplash: The range backsplash is a tin ceiling panel with raised star relief trimmed out in white bathroom tile. “It’s kind of like a wall hanging,” Bonarrigo says. The homeowners chose to forgo a backsplash around the rest of the kitchen.
Backsplash: American Tin Ceilings
Backsplash: American Tin Ceilings
This rustic piece of decor is actually a bit of wood from the homeowners’ old kitchen. The phrase on it serves as a personal motto significant for the family. One of the homeowners wrote the motto with a Sharpie.
28 Family Mottoes to Live By
28 Family Mottoes to Live By
As shown in this image, the kitchen opens to an adjacent family room with a pellet-burning stove.
The design team: Caruso Building & Design built the addition to the home, Remko Breuker designed it, and the hickory island top was hand-carved by Dean W. Richards Custom Woodworking
More
Homeowner’s Workbook: How to Remodel Your Kitchen
Seeing Green: Some Kitchens Ditch White for Mother Nature’s Neutral
A Kitchen Built for Sunday Dinner With Friends
The design team: Caruso Building & Design built the addition to the home, Remko Breuker designed it, and the hickory island top was hand-carved by Dean W. Richards Custom Woodworking
More
Homeowner’s Workbook: How to Remodel Your Kitchen
Seeing Green: Some Kitchens Ditch White for Mother Nature’s Neutral
A Kitchen Built for Sunday Dinner With Friends
Who lives here: A couple and their two children
Location: Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts
Size: 165 square feet (15.3 square meters)
Designer: Leah Bonarrigo, lead designer for Grand Banks Building Products