Traditional, Warm Kitchen

This modest kitchen originally had no pantry storage and an unfortunate step-down into the adjacent, sunken family room. The step-down limited the kitchen’s overall size and created a ceiling height difference. It was impractical to remove the step down, so we deftly designed around it. We pushed the peninsula farther out over the steps, increasing the kitchen’s size, and we added a shallow pantry wall with matching kitchen cabinets in the family room area, giving the appearance of a larger kitchen and adding much needed storage. We used a combination of open shelving, wine storage cabinets, and lift-up cabinets to maneuver around the differing ceiling heights to create a look that seems purpose-built from the start. We stuck with a traditional palette to blend with the rest of the house, and found a granite countertop with gorgeous veining that tied in the rich, hand-scraped wood floors. Lastly, we accentuated the range area by switching the orientation of the backsplash tile from subway to herringbone, bordered with petite glass tiles that span the kitchen’s perimeter.

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