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Jennison also gutted a powder room that’s tucked behind the kitchen. New cement tile floors, chunky traditional-style fixtures and a striking blue palette make for a simple yet elegant space. Paint: Phillipsburg Blue HC-15, Benjamin Moore; floor tile: Four Leaf Clover, clé; toilet and sink: Tresham collection, Kohler; faucet: Highgate collection, Waterworks; Vintage English oval double sconce in bronze: Restoration Hardware
Jennison reconfigured the kitchen, moving the range to the center of the room in a walnut butcher block-topped island and aligning the sink and refrigerator along one wall. She splurged on some of the kitchen fixtures but saved by outfitting Ikea cabinets with Shaker-style wood doors that she hand-painted bluish black.She punched through the rear kitchen wall and added a sliding door to bring in natural light and connect the space to a new deck. Cabinet paint: Black Knight 2136-10, Benjamin Moore; cabinet doors: Semihandmade; Jack stool: M. Crow; island butcher block: Boos; refrigerator: Sub-Zero
AFTER: Jennison gutted the space and removed interior walls to open up the floor plan and make the 17-foot-wide home feel more spacious. She removed the ceiling tiles and the plaster ceiling above them to expose the original structural beams, which needed only a light sanding and cleaning. She also replaced all of the electrical and plumbing systems, lighting and flooring and added air conditioning. But not to be outdone in this room is the power of paint. Calm, by Benjamin Moore, on the walls and trim, brightens the space like never before. Contrasting black paint on the interior side of the entry door adds a touch of traditional style.Side tables: custom in white oak with leather top, Pernt; lamp and shade: custom, Victoria Morris; Roman shades: The Shade Store
AFTER: “My client’s middle school-aged daughter loves to bake. She wanted her daughter to have her own special spot in the room for baking,” Storm says. So this end of the kitchen — the space gained from taking down the wall — serves as a baking area. The long drawers house baking sheets and other tools, and the bottom drawers have bins for ingredients like flour. The cabinet atop the counter on the right conceals the mixer. The countertops are a Zodiaq engineered quartz that resembles Carrara marble but is more durable.
Photos by Joe KwonKitchen at a GlanceWho lives here: A family of fourLocation: Glen Ellyn, IllinoisSize: 328 square feet (30.5 square meters)Designer: Amy Storm of DesignstormsAs it turns out, Storm had scouted this house with other clients when they were thinking about buying it, to give them ideas on how to renovate. Those clients didn’t wind up purchasing it, but another woman Storm happened to know did. “I ran into her and told her I’d figured out how to redo her kitchen and that she should call me,” she says. The woman did, and the designer proposed taking down a wall that used to stand where the beam by the vent hood is. Her client wanted radiant floor heating, so they ripped out the existing flooring and installed this patterned tile. The tile looks like encaustic cement tile but is porcelain. “It’s incredibly durable,” Storm says. She then picked up on the charcoal hues, which have slightly blue undertones, when working on the palette for the rest of the kitchen. The cabinet paint is a custom mix that matches the tile.Tile: Marca Corona
Fireplace: The area that now includes the fireplace used to be part of a small den. The builders raised the fireplace and covered it in marble tile. It’s wood-burning and adds cozy warmth during Portland’s damp, gray winters. The large kitchen window is new, as are the built-ins with leaded glass doors. Custom-designed light fixtures add a special touch here and throughout the house.
Kitchen (After)Bumping out the back of the house to add space to the kitchen was the only change made to the home’s footprint. “It was a tiny kitchen, and it’s not huge even now,” says Kris Mitchell of The Works, which was the general contractor for the project. The ceiling beams are new. Carrara marble tile covers the walls. Countertops are Pietra Gray quartz, and Pyrolave glazed lava covers the island. The new mudroom is visible through the door at the back of the photo.
The new steam shower is almost four times larger than the homeowners’ original walk-in.Shower wall tile: Chic flat and relief tiles, 5 by 15 inches and 3 by 15 inches, in matte white, Eurotile; flooring tile: Provenza Gesso in pearl grey, 12 by 24 inches, Tierra Sol; handheld slide bars and ceiling-mounted rain head: Kubik, Riobel Pro
While the designer’s original plan called for a pony wall separating the steam shower from the vanity, a happy accident led to the framing of a full floor-to-ceiling wall on the end of the vanity. “The owners ended up loving it as it gave them an opportunity to have a bit of privacy if needed when using the slide bar on the vanity side,” Treadgold says.Shower door hardware: Grazia collection, Agalite Hardware
After. Designer and general contractor Tara Treadgold stole about 70 square feet from an adjacent guest bedroom to push the vanity area back and expand the bathroom. Now, a new walnut double vanity, eye-catching sconces and a dramatic wall color spans the entire back wall. “The wrought-iron-colored wall behind the mirrors over the vanity really makes the white shower tiles pop and makes the vanity look extra luxe,” Treadgold says. Solid slab walnut cabinetry: Pure Woodcraft Custom Cabinetry; brushed nickel and chrome pulls: Marathon Hardware; paint colors: Ultra White (trim), Barren Plain (main walls) and Kendall Charcoal (accent wall), all Benjamin Moore; ottoman: Home Sense; flooring: Provenza Gesso flooring tile in pearl grey, 24 by 24 inches, Tierra Sol Browse double-sink walnut vanities
The second floor previously didn’t have a bathroom, so the Jennisons transformed a small home office into the new master bathroom. A space-saving pocket door separates it from the bedroom.A claw-foot tub, traditional-style furnishings and Carrara marble countertops exude classic style, while a wall-mounted towel warmer adds some modern luxury. Tub: Sunrise Specialty; vanity base: Restoration Hardware; Industrial chandelier: Workstead; tub faucet: Highgate collection, Waterworks; towel warmer: Amba ProductsBrowse more homes by style: Apartments | Barn Homes | Colorful Homes | Contemporary Homes | Eclectic Homes | Farmhouses | Floating Homes | Guesthouses | Homes Around the World | Lofts | Midcentury Homes | Modern Homes | Ranch Homes | Small Homes | Townhouses | Traditional Homes | Transitional Homes | Vacation Homes
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