Earthly Tradition: Winner 2011 COTY Award for Best Kitchen $60K-$75K

Our clients had four overriding goals for their kitchen remodel: Improve storage, find space for seating, brighten this north-facing space, and carve out room for a half bath.  We embraced these goals and the challenges that went with them using a handful of creative design solutions.

Our client’s greatest challenges were space and light (or lack thereof).  A kitchen addition would have been the logical solution to accommodate many of our client’s goals, however, city setbacks and budget precluded this option.  Thus, in order to address our clients’ overriding wishes for more storage, seating, and a half bath we took advantage of every square inch with a creative design and custom cabinets.  To address the lack of lighting we added florescent lighting above cabinets in a specially-designed soffit, under-counter task specific lighting, wall sconces and overhead fixture. (Budget constraints precluded a new bank of windows.)  A light solution for every function and every mood – from bright to cozy.

Finally, when it came to aesthetics, our clients were divided – one favored traditional lines and old-world finishes while the other had a strong preference for modern wood, stone, and earth tones. Our interior design challenge was to marry the couple’s tastes and, in doing so, pay some tribute to the home’s 1920’s architecture. We did so by creating an upper bank of cream enameled cabinets with English Reeded glass doors and a lower bank of smooth maple cabinets topped with honed, Kodiak granite. Our interior design staff selected lighting and glass knobs for the cabinet uppers to harmonize with the reeded glass doors and to honor the home’s sense of tradition while the stainless appliances
and polished chrome hardware for cabinet lowers were selected to provide a more
modern flair.

This project cost approximately $72K for a kitchen redo complete with new half bath, custom cabinets with specialized storage features, new appliances, plumbing fixtures, tile, lighting, hardware and a refinishing of the original maple floors.