No Shaker or Shiplap in This Traditional Kitchen
The South Carolina kitchen-butler’s pantry embraces a look of soft formality with furniture-like cabinets and quiet hues
Style: “I wanted something different from the stark-white Shaker-style doors and shiplap I see all the time,” says Becky, an interior designer. “I’m more old school, and I love a French Provincial look.” This meant adding beautiful millwork like the coffered ceiling, and details like the beading on the cabinets and vent hood.
“We didn’t want to go overboard with lots of distressing. They wanted to maintain a traditional style but also keep it fresh,” Hendrix says. “The final result is a classic kitchen with softness that maintains formality.”
Must-have: Becky was looking for elegance and a furniture-like feel for the cabinetry.
Must-not-have: There was to be no stark white, Shaker style or shiplap in this kitchen.
“We didn’t want to go overboard with lots of distressing. They wanted to maintain a traditional style but also keep it fresh,” Hendrix says. “The final result is a classic kitchen with softness that maintains formality.”
Must-have: Becky was looking for elegance and a furniture-like feel for the cabinetry.
Must-not-have: There was to be no stark white, Shaker style or shiplap in this kitchen.
Solutions: The cabinets play a big role in the style of the kitchen. “After exploring multiple options, we settled on a full-overlay door with lots of detail, a custom paint color for the base, and a chocolate glaze to add dimension and softness,” Hendrix says. To give the traditional style an updated look, they opted to avoid distressing, which they felt would have been overkill.
Cabinets: Classic Kitchens of Charleston; paint on cabinets: Decor White, Sherwin-Williams, with a custom chocolate-colored glaze
Learn the Lingo of Kitchen Cabinet Door Styles
Cabinets: Classic Kitchens of Charleston; paint on cabinets: Decor White, Sherwin-Williams, with a custom chocolate-colored glaze
Learn the Lingo of Kitchen Cabinet Door Styles
Seamless look: They also paneled the refrigerator and dishwasher to match the cabinets so that they blend in. This is the refrigerator.
Splurges and saves: The Cheeks splurged on the custom paint color, the panel-front appliances and the glass cabinet doors. They saved money by using full-overlay rather than inset cabinetry and by opting for fewer organizational items inside the drawers and doors.
Splurges and saves: The Cheeks splurged on the custom paint color, the panel-front appliances and the glass cabinet doors. They saved money by using full-overlay rather than inset cabinetry and by opting for fewer organizational items inside the drawers and doors.
Fine details: Hendrix played up molding details on the hood, making it a strong focal point in the room. She also paid attention to the crown and the baseboard moldings. This creates cohesion between the style of the architecture, like the coffered ceiling, and the cabinetry.
Backsplash: Becky chose an elongated crackle-glazed subway tile for the backsplash. She plucked the color from the countertops.
Backsplash tile: crackle-glazed in Birch, Arcadian collection, The Winchester Tile Co. via Buckhannon Brothers Tile; see more backsplash tiles
Backsplash: Becky chose an elongated crackle-glazed subway tile for the backsplash. She plucked the color from the countertops.
Backsplash tile: crackle-glazed in Birch, Arcadian collection, The Winchester Tile Co. via Buckhannon Brothers Tile; see more backsplash tiles
Island: A farmhouse sink adds a soft, casual detail. The island conceals the microwave drawer from the adjacent living room.
Counters: The counters are Emperador Light marble. “I found this marble on Houzz,” Becky says. “I’m just not a gray person; I prefer warm beiges and browns.” The perimeter counters are a standard 3 centimeters thick (about 1⅕ inches), with an ogee edge.
The owner’s great idea: Becky proposed thicker stone with an upgraded edge detail for the island countertop. It’s twice as thick as the perimeter countertops and has a double ogee edge. This makes it stand out from the rest of the countertops even though it’s the same stone. “Also, this adds more formality to the space,” Hendrix says.
Counters: The counters are Emperador Light marble. “I found this marble on Houzz,” Becky says. “I’m just not a gray person; I prefer warm beiges and browns.” The perimeter counters are a standard 3 centimeters thick (about 1⅕ inches), with an ogee edge.
The owner’s great idea: Becky proposed thicker stone with an upgraded edge detail for the island countertop. It’s twice as thick as the perimeter countertops and has a double ogee edge. This makes it stand out from the rest of the countertops even though it’s the same stone. “Also, this adds more formality to the space,” Hendrix says.
Lighting: Ornate lanterns add a warm flourish over the island.
Lanterns: Visual Comfort & Co.
Lanterns: Visual Comfort & Co.
Small appliances: At the end of the room, you can see the appliance garage, which conceals small countertop appliances. This photo also gives us a good view of the baseboard molding.
The floor plan: Before we enter the butler’s pantry, here’s a plan to show you the way the rooms flow. You can also see the breakfast area, which Becky covered in trellis latticework.
Butler’s Pantry
At left in this photo is the doorway to the butler’s pantry. The kitchen is open to the living room, which the Cheeks use as a family room.
Counter stools: Ballard Designs; browse more backless counter stools
At left in this photo is the doorway to the butler’s pantry. The kitchen is open to the living room, which the Cheeks use as a family room.
Counter stools: Ballard Designs; browse more backless counter stools
“The butler’s pantry was in the builder’s original plans, but I did not understand the value of it until I had it,” Becky says. “It has gotten so much use for everything from mixing cocktails and setting up a buffet to storing some of our stuff for the pool.”
The butler’s pantry also serves as a pass-through to the dining room. Becky matched the blue on the walls in the butler’s pantry, kitchen and living room to the dining room’s Gracie wallpaper. “I nicknamed the color Gracie Blue,” she says.
The butler’s pantry also serves as a pass-through to the dining room. Becky matched the blue on the walls in the butler’s pantry, kitchen and living room to the dining room’s Gracie wallpaper. “I nicknamed the color Gracie Blue,” she says.
Function: Another sink, an ice maker and a beverage refrigerator make setting up a wet bar easy in the butler’s pantry. “There are two counters in here so that they can also set up a buffet when they are entertaining,” Hendrix says.
“My husband loves to experiment with mixing cocktails in here,” Becky says.
“My husband loves to experiment with mixing cocktails in here,” Becky says.
Backsplash: Antiqued mirror with rosette details adds an elegant, traditional touch and brightens the room by reflecting the light.
Antiqued mirror with rosettes: Charleston Architectural Glass
Antiqued mirror with rosettes: Charleston Architectural Glass
Cabinets: Glass-front cabinets keep the relatively compact space feeling open and bright, and they provide display space for china and glassware.
Builder: The Biggers Co.
Plumbing: Moluf’s Supply
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Cabinets 101: How to Work With Cabinet Designers and Cabinetmakers
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Builder: The Biggers Co.
Plumbing: Moluf’s Supply
More
Cabinets 101: How to Work With Cabinet Designers and Cabinetmakers
Find cabinetry professionals near you
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: Cameron and Becky Cheek and their two toddlers
Location: Mount Pleasant, South Carolina
Size: 210 square feet (19.5 square meters); 21 feet by 10 feet
Designers: Homeowner Becky Cheek of design company Passementerie Charleston and cabinet designer Stewart Culler Hendrix of Classic Kitchens of Charleston
Scope of work: This new build included a lot of custom cabinetry for the kitchen and the butler’s pantry-bar.
The backstory: A builder had planned to build this home and move in. But Becky and Cameron Cheek came along during the framing phase and wanted to purchase it. “That was fine with them; builders are always looking for their next project,” says cabinet designer Stewart Culler Hendrix. She had already designed a casual kitchen with Shaker-style cabinets for the builder’s family. “But the builder told me I was going to have to switch it up because the new owners wanted something totally different,” she says.
“During my first meeting with the Cheeks, I learned that she preferred a soft palette, traditional architecture, and especially loved old-world European style and a certain level of ornamentation. A typical low-country white Shaker kitchen was not in her wheelhouse,” she says.