Cooking, even at home, can be elevated to an art. But like any art, it is hard to be inspired by an outdated, cramped workspace that doesn’t speak to your soul. Plus, any chef will tell you, a non-functional kitchen makes the cooking process extremely frustrating.
New townhome owners had the exact feeling and decided to make a change before moving in. With a building industry background, the owner wanted to explore taking all interior walls out and create a much-desired open floor plan with a massive, functional chef’s kitchen. He brought in Michael Nash Design Build.
“The original home had a front living room followed by a small boxed-out dining room,” says Sonny Nazemian, master designer/remodeler at Michael Nash Design Build. “A structural wall separated the back-of-the-house kitchen from the front living space. It was all too chopped up for their daily lives, so we had a lot of challenges to even start the process of creating a beautiful space.”
The plan was to combine the entire first level and create an open-space floor plan, relocating the new large kitchen to the front of this townhouse, and installing a large island in middle of the space to accommodate large group seating. The old kitchen converted to a casual family room with seating space facing a wall with a linear fireplace and shiplap boarded wall and embedded TV.
The old glued down floor was removed and replaced with a more contemporary 7” distressed-wood LVT flooring and the entire space covered with new LED lighting, floor-to-ceiling cabinetry on south wall with upgraded appliances and inside-lit cabinetry.
A gorgeous quartz countertop with a waterfall effect on one end covered the 10’ long dark blue island, and floor-to-ceiling cabinetry was installed on the south wall with upgraded appliances. Three pendent lights hang over this massive island to brighten up the space and add to the open feel.
“The design team spent a lot of time with the couple for details like color scheme, backsplash design, countertop slab and floor design to bring what they desired their new space to look like,” says Sonny. “The use of white custom cabinets with burnished gold hardware, for example, really adds a warm, charming feel to the space. The blue color of the island really pops against the white. The simple decision to make the island countertop thicker brings an elegance to the space.”
The new pro-range and hood are now eye-catching features of the kitchen, and with the modern farmhouse sink directly across in the island, the cook’s workspace is extremely functional and easy to work in. The crackle glass backsplash tile and lighted glass cabinets add more flair to the design. Now, whether it is just cooking for the family or having guests, everyone is involved in the fun.
Pull quote:
“The use of white custom cabinets with burnished gold hardware, for example, really adds a warm, charming feel to the space. The blue color of the island really pops against the white," -Sonny Nazemian, master designer/remodeler