Kitchen of the Week: Classic Style With Clever Storage
A designer creates an open layout with blue-gray cabinets, white tile, black details and hardworking storage features
Beautiful lake and mountain views and a spacious porch sold Mike and Olivia Sprague on their St. Albans, Vermont, home. But the kitchen was another story. Everything sat crammed into a 79-square-foot G-shaped layout with limited countertop space and elbow room. Aging cabinets, appliances and finishes did little to make up for the lack of functionality.
Wanting a more open kitchen with better flow and improved storage, the couple hired designer Britt Mee to design the cabinets and cabinet layout. Mike, who works for a custom builder, tackled the structural changes himself, removing a wall between the kitchen and dining room to expand the kitchen by 110 square feet. That allowed for a roomier L-shaped layout with an island, as well as a better connection to the spacious porch and views. Blue-gray cabinets feature tons of hidden storage components, and join white subway tile, white countertops and black details to create a classic style.
Wanting a more open kitchen with better flow and improved storage, the couple hired designer Britt Mee to design the cabinets and cabinet layout. Mike, who works for a custom builder, tackled the structural changes himself, removing a wall between the kitchen and dining room to expand the kitchen by 110 square feet. That allowed for a roomier L-shaped layout with an island, as well as a better connection to the spacious porch and views. Blue-gray cabinets feature tons of hidden storage components, and join white subway tile, white countertops and black details to create a classic style.
After: Mee and Mike eliminated the existing appliances, cabinets, counters, floors and thin peninsula. Mike knocked down the range wall to expand the kitchen into the dining room. That move added 110 square feet and gave Mee the chance to create an L-shaped run of cabinetry and a substantial island to greatly increase storage. The new layout also gave the Spragues plenty of countertop surface.
The custom frameless maple cabinetry is painted a blue-gray (Cadet by Sherwin-Williams), joining a backsplash of white elongated rectangular tiles and white marble-look quartz countertops, plus black stools, light fixtures and window frames to create a classic color palette.
Three new double-hung windows offer views of a lilac bush and apple trees.
Custom cabinets: Bouchard-Pierce; paint: Super White (walls and ceiling) and Swiss Coffee (trim), both by Benjamin Moore
Find a kitchen designer
The custom frameless maple cabinetry is painted a blue-gray (Cadet by Sherwin-Williams), joining a backsplash of white elongated rectangular tiles and white marble-look quartz countertops, plus black stools, light fixtures and window frames to create a classic color palette.
Three new double-hung windows offer views of a lilac bush and apple trees.
Custom cabinets: Bouchard-Pierce; paint: Super White (walls and ceiling) and Swiss Coffee (trim), both by Benjamin Moore
Find a kitchen designer
Before: Here you can see the range wall that came down to expand the space. The owners also felt it was time to move on from the green-and-white floor tile and decorative wallpaper border.
Need a pro for your kitchen renovation & remodeling project?
Let Houzz find the best pros for you
Let Houzz find the best pros for you
After: With the wall removed, Mee was able to give the kitchen some breathing room, as well as create a deeper connection to the screened-in porch and mountain views through a new sliding glass door. “Previously it was just a pair of windows there,” Mike says. “You had to go around to the living room to get outside.”
Aged brass-and-black conical pendants with a retro industrial look hang over the island. Sconces in the same style hang over the window bank. Recessed LED ceiling lights and undercabinet lights provide additional illumination.
New European oak wood flooring in a wire-brushed oil finish adds warmth.
Light fixtures: Truncated cone shade pendant and sconce in aged brass and black, Shades of Light
Shop for kitchen lights
Aged brass-and-black conical pendants with a retro industrial look hang over the island. Sconces in the same style hang over the window bank. Recessed LED ceiling lights and undercabinet lights provide additional illumination.
New European oak wood flooring in a wire-brushed oil finish adds warmth.
Light fixtures: Truncated cone shade pendant and sconce in aged brass and black, Shades of Light
Shop for kitchen lights
The interior side of the island features a microwave drawer, keeping the countertops and the area over the range from looking cluttered.
The 3-by-12-inch white glazed porcelain backsplash tiles with gray grout complement the overall kitchen palette.
Microwave drawer: Sharp
The 3-by-12-inch white glazed porcelain backsplash tiles with gray grout complement the overall kitchen palette.
Microwave drawer: Sharp
A two-tier drawer near the microwave stores everyday forks, knives and spoons.
10 Perfect Gray Paint Colors for Kitchen Islands
10 Perfect Gray Paint Colors for Kitchen Islands
Mee moved the fridge over a few feet and placed a new 30-inch, five-burner electric double-oven range in its former spot.
White oak shelves fill a corner. They bring in some warmer tones and work beautifully with the wood floor.
Cabinetry hardware: Bradbury knob and Bradbury Pull in warm brass, Atlas Homewares
White oak shelves fill a corner. They bring in some warmer tones and work beautifully with the wood floor.
Cabinetry hardware: Bradbury knob and Bradbury Pull in warm brass, Atlas Homewares
A pullout to the right of the range stores bottles of oil and vinegar, and holds hanging canisters for often-used utensils.
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
A kidney-shape pullout in a blind corner to the right of the range keeps baking pans and a teakettle within easy reach. “That’s the most useful option,” Mee says. “A blind-corner pullout makes great use of that space.”
A three-tiered drawer to the left of the range makes it easy for a cook to spot needed spices. Underneath the spice drawer is a shallow drawer for storing measuring spoons, pot holders and smaller kitchen utensils, such as a citrus juicer.
Beneath the two shallow drawers is an extra-deep drawer for pots.
Paneling and crown molding around the 36-inch counter-depth fridge give the appliance a built-in look. “Those kinds of details are possible because these cabinets are custom,” Mee says.
An upper cabinet features dividers for sheet pans, but the homeowners also use it to store cooling racks, muffin tins, cookbooks and liquor bottles that are too tall to fit elsewhere.
An upper cabinet features dividers for sheet pans, but the homeowners also use it to store cooling racks, muffin tins, cookbooks and liquor bottles that are too tall to fit elsewhere.
An undermount single-bowl apron-front sink sits below the window bank. “Before, we had a stainless double-bowl sink, a cheapie,” Mike says. “This was the sink my wife really wanted.” A single-handle pro-style stainless steel faucet complements the industrial look of the light fixtures.
Sink: Whitehaven, Kohler; faucet: Crue, Kohler
Shop for farmhouse-style sinks
Sink: Whitehaven, Kohler; faucet: Crue, Kohler
Shop for farmhouse-style sinks
A pantry area to the right of the sink features a countertop cabinet for small appliances and other items. Pullouts below store dry goods. “We recommend having pullouts on the bottom, because it allows you to have access to what’s in the back of the cabinet,” Mee says. “Otherwise things get lost back there.”
The base of the island across from the sink area includes, from left to right, a set of three drawers (top: junk drawer, middle: drawer for entertaining items, bottom: drawer for water bottles and travel mugs); a 24-inch flat-panel microwave drawer with deep a drawer below for plastic storage containers; and another set of three drawers (top: tiered cutlery drawer, middle: drawer for napkins and linens, bottom: overflow storage for casserole dishes).
Before: This floor plan shows the cramped layout of the former kitchen, at top right, and how the range wall separated the kitchen from a spacious dining room. “My wife has three younger sisters, so when the family was over, there was no room for everyone to be together [in the kitchen],” Mike says.
After: With the wall gone and the dining area relocated to another area of the home, the kitchen more than doubled in size. The move also improved the overall flow of the house, Mike says.
More on Houzz
Read more kitchen stories
Browse kitchen photos
Hire a kitchen remodeler
Shop for kitchen products
More on Houzz
Read more kitchen stories
Browse kitchen photos
Hire a kitchen remodeler
Shop for kitchen products
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: Mike and Olivia Sprague and their dog
Location: St. Albans, Vermont
Size: 189 square feet (18 square meters)
Designer: Britt Mee of Vermont Interior Design
Before: The former kitchen had a lot squeezed into just 79 square feet, but the short, aging cabinets offered limited storage space and the laminate countertops insufficient work surface. The range wall separated the space from a dining room. An incredibly slim peninsula seemed like a pointless afterthought. And overall, the kitchen lacked the kind of fresh look the owners wanted.
“The setup was not great for entertaining, or even for more than one person in there at a time,” Mee says.