Black Cabinets and Mexican Tile Give This Kitchen Character
A designer who loves a range of styles follows her heart to create a kitchen just right for her and her family
Color scheme: “I think a lot of the time people overthink it,” Mula says of making kitchen choices work together. “You sit down, you decide what you like, and then you prioritize.” For her, black kitchen cabinets were the top priority, followed by having an island that looked older and had character. The colors used throughout the kitchen are also those that flow through the rest of their home: blues, blacks and caramel tones.
Island: “The island I wanted to feel like I had picked it up as an antique and brought it home,” Mula says. She gave her cabinet-maker, Gordon Holmes, some inspiration pictures for the island and let him get creative. He beat up some reclaimed white oak and poplar before he stained it then added the turned table-style legs. “That’s what he came with on the day he installed it,” Mula says.
Bar stools: Mula had the bar stools custom made by professionals that Monaco Interiors works with regularly. She chose floral fabric for the back of the chairs from a book of samples brought in by a sales rep. “I flipped through the book and fell madly in love,” Mula says of the fabric.
Cabinet paint: Universal Black 2118-10, Benjamin Moore; bar stool fabric: Maxwell Fabrics; island counter: Fantasy Brown quartzite; pendants: Wayfair; find more pendants
Island: “The island I wanted to feel like I had picked it up as an antique and brought it home,” Mula says. She gave her cabinet-maker, Gordon Holmes, some inspiration pictures for the island and let him get creative. He beat up some reclaimed white oak and poplar before he stained it then added the turned table-style legs. “That’s what he came with on the day he installed it,” Mula says.
Bar stools: Mula had the bar stools custom made by professionals that Monaco Interiors works with regularly. She chose floral fabric for the back of the chairs from a book of samples brought in by a sales rep. “I flipped through the book and fell madly in love,” Mula says of the fabric.
Cabinet paint: Universal Black 2118-10, Benjamin Moore; bar stool fabric: Maxwell Fabrics; island counter: Fantasy Brown quartzite; pendants: Wayfair; find more pendants
Flooring: Mula first saw this tile in a restaurant in downtown Toronto, then spent five months locating it. It was handmade in Mexico, took a full day to install and is Mula’s favorite feature of the kitchen. The rest of the floor is distressed, hand-scraped white oak, installed by her husband, a general contractor who heads up Monaco Interiors’ construction division.
Floor tile: Original Mission Tile; wall paint: Dune White 968, Benjamin Moore; floor wood: white oak stained with an antique walnut finish; stovetop, oven and bottom oven: Cafe series, GE; microwave: Panasonic; island sink: Teco; browse kitchen sinks
Floor tile: Original Mission Tile; wall paint: Dune White 968, Benjamin Moore; floor wood: white oak stained with an antique walnut finish; stovetop, oven and bottom oven: Cafe series, GE; microwave: Panasonic; island sink: Teco; browse kitchen sinks
Bench seating: The bench, which abuts the home’s front window, came about because of Mula’s preference for symmetry. Originally. the family planned to have a table and chairs in the kitchen. “But that window is not perfectly centered in the space,” Mula says, and “it tends to be a place where we look a lot. It being not centered, and having a table not centered, it was too asymmetrical for me.” A bench seat worked much better, since it didn’t emphasize the asymmetry of that nook.
The corner where the greenery sits is where Mula keeps her stand mixer, and the cabinets to the right contain her baking supplies. Often, her kids will climb up on the bench and help with her baking projects. Mula also likes to sit on the bench and sip a cup of coffee on a Saturday morning or read with her kids there.
Window shade: Elite High-Lite, Elite Window Fashions; valance: custom made with fabric from Joann
The corner where the greenery sits is where Mula keeps her stand mixer, and the cabinets to the right contain her baking supplies. Often, her kids will climb up on the bench and help with her baking projects. Mula also likes to sit on the bench and sip a cup of coffee on a Saturday morning or read with her kids there.
Window shade: Elite High-Lite, Elite Window Fashions; valance: custom made with fabric from Joann
Backsplash: Mula wanted the cabinets to be backed by a brick wall — or at least look as if they were — and found what she wanted in tiles made to look like brick. She took them all the way up to the ceiling for that wall effect.
Sink: For the main sink, Mula chose a 36-inch wide apron-front one that fits her widest pans and cookie sheets.
The way the family uses it: Like many kitchens, this one tends to be a gathering spot where friends congregate instead of the living room when the family entertains. To Mula, it feels like a vacation kitchen, even though it’s their everyday one. “I look at my kitchen and think of a glass of red wine,” she says. “Very inviting.”
Tile backsplash: Brick by Ciot in Red; sink: Franke; faucet: Delta, in Venetian gold; handles: Amerock, in Champagne Bronze; perimeter countertop: 2141 Blizzard, Caesarstone; dishwasher: Profile series, GE; cabinet pulls: Revitalize collection, Amerock, in Golden Champagne
More
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Sink: For the main sink, Mula chose a 36-inch wide apron-front one that fits her widest pans and cookie sheets.
The way the family uses it: Like many kitchens, this one tends to be a gathering spot where friends congregate instead of the living room when the family entertains. To Mula, it feels like a vacation kitchen, even though it’s their everyday one. “I look at my kitchen and think of a glass of red wine,” she says. “Very inviting.”
Tile backsplash: Brick by Ciot in Red; sink: Franke; faucet: Delta, in Venetian gold; handles: Amerock, in Champagne Bronze; perimeter countertop: 2141 Blizzard, Caesarstone; dishwasher: Profile series, GE; cabinet pulls: Revitalize collection, Amerock, in Golden Champagne
More
Homeowner’s Workbook: How to Remodel Your Kitchen
Stash It All: Know the 3 Zones of Kitchen Storage
Details That Count: 11 Designer Secrets to Work Into Your Kitchen
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: Revi and Steven Mula and their 8-year-old twins
Square feet: 170 square feet (15.8 square meters)
Location: Richmond Hill, Ontario
Backstory: Six years ago, designer Revi Mula of Monaco Interiors and her husband purchased a 1945 home. At the time, the kitchen featured orange countertops, navy plastic cabinet doors, floral wallpaper and a decorative ceiling border featuring farm animals. None of this decor fit the family’s taste. Still, it took a few years to settle on a plan for their kitchen. “I’m not one of those designers that has this particular taste,” Mula says. “I love everything,” from traditional style to modern. “It took a long time for me to figure out what I was happy with and what I could live with.”
Scope of work: Full kitchen renovation.
Layout: The Mulas chose to have two kitchen sinks because they keep a kosher household and need separate sinks for meat and dairy. Having two sinks also works pragmatically for the family. The island sink is useful for washing vegetables and chopping them on the adjacent countertop, while the 36-inch apron sink in front of the window is big enough to fit a roast turkey or giant cookie pan. “I cook a lot. We need those two sinks,” Mula says.
Cabinetry: While white kitchens continue to be popular, Mula was not interested. “White was a scary choice for me,” she says. “My kids have little ice cream hands. I didn’t want to be chasing them around the house and wiping white cabinets.” She felt that black would look fresh longer, and since the room had a lot of natural light, she wasn’t concerned about making the space too dark. She chose simple Shaker doors, made from medium-density fiberboard and painted black.
Refrigerator: Electrolux
The Case for 2 Kitchen Sinks