Kitchen of the Week: Soft Transitional Feel in Taupe and Wood
A designer helps an empty-nest couple streamline their layout and create an elegant kitchen with more storage and style
After raising two kids, this newly empty-nest Maine couple wanted to rethink the complicated layout of their 1995 traditional-style coastal home to create a larger kitchen with a fresh look and new appliances.
They hired designer Mary O. Adams to reimagine the floor plan. Adams relocated the dining area to a former TV room to expand the size of the kitchen, creating space for an island and more cabinets. She also rejiggered other areas to add a spacious butler’s pantry and a sitting area with a TV. A light taupe cabinet color, rustic hickory cabinets and accents and stained maple flooring give the new design a soft and welcoming style.
They hired designer Mary O. Adams to reimagine the floor plan. Adams relocated the dining area to a former TV room to expand the size of the kitchen, creating space for an island and more cabinets. She also rejiggered other areas to add a spacious butler’s pantry and a sitting area with a TV. A light taupe cabinet color, rustic hickory cabinets and accents and stained maple flooring give the new design a soft and welcoming style.
Patterned 6-by-6-inch stone tiles form the backsplash behind the new 36-inch dual-fuel range. “It creates a lovely focal point, since the rest of the kitchen is very simple,” Adams says.
Brass sconces and framed artwork flanking the hood give this area a refined look. “We wanted those sconces to complement the lighting over the island,” Adams says. “We didn’t want them to overly match but be a nod to each other.”
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Brass sconces and framed artwork flanking the hood give this area a refined look. “We wanted those sconces to complement the lighting over the island,” Adams says. “We didn’t want them to overly match but be a nod to each other.”
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The kitchen cabinets extend to a tall pantry cabinet beside an operable window that allows fresh air in.
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“The pantry cabinet provides really nice storage and didn’t need rollout shelves because it’s not super deep,” Adams says. “It takes the place of having a lot of wall cabinets.”
A slab of the same marble-look quartz used for the countertops forms a backsplash beneath the window.
A slab of the same marble-look quartz used for the countertops forms a backsplash beneath the window.
On the other end of the kitchen, the outer side of the island features two small drawers and two deep drawers. Pronounced legs give it a furniture-like look. “The drawers were designed to hold linens for the seating area of the island and also to look pretty from the dining room view of the kitchen,” Adams says.
This photo also provides a closer look at the hickory-paneled refrigerator with mercury-glass-front cabinets above. “I wanted it to feel more like a hutch,” Adams says. “The glass also adds architectural interest to the space.”
The door to the right leads to the updated back porch.
This photo also provides a closer look at the hickory-paneled refrigerator with mercury-glass-front cabinets above. “I wanted it to feel more like a hutch,” Adams says. “The glass also adds architectural interest to the space.”
The door to the right leads to the updated back porch.
The interior side of the island features a paneled trash and recycling center, a cutlery drawer and paneled dishwasher drawers. The cabinet fronts have a bead detail and the pulls have an Ash Gray finish. The hickory cabinet has Honey Bronze pulls.
An antique-inspired red-and-blue runner adds a touch of pattern and color.
Rug: Georgie collection GER-01 in red and navy, 2½ by 9½ feet, Loloi Rugs; cabinet hardware: Davenport pull in Honey Bronze and Ash Gray finishes, various sizes, Top Knobs
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An antique-inspired red-and-blue runner adds a touch of pattern and color.
Rug: Georgie collection GER-01 in red and navy, 2½ by 9½ feet, Loloi Rugs; cabinet hardware: Davenport pull in Honey Bronze and Ash Gray finishes, various sizes, Top Knobs
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To the right of the paneled refrigerator is a flat-panel microwave drawer and four storage drawers below a countertop. A salvaged window with wood grid hangs above as a decorative element.
This seating area off the kitchen gives the couple an informal space for watching TV. A space-saving white pocket door leads to the relocated laundry room. (See floor plans below.)
Hickory cabinetry with Honey Bronze cup pulls and knobs coordinates with the paneled refrigerator and freezer.
The cabinet doors open to a work storage area where the couple keep their laptops. Deep drawers below hold files, while small drawers store pens, papers and other office items. “They didn’t want a place they would actually sit at, just a place they could keep their laptops and work when they wanted to,” Adams says.
Cabinet hardware: Hollin cup pull and Kinney knob in Honey Bronze, Top Knobs
The cabinet doors open to a work storage area where the couple keep their laptops. Deep drawers below hold files, while small drawers store pens, papers and other office items. “They didn’t want a place they would actually sit at, just a place they could keep their laptops and work when they wanted to,” Adams says.
Cabinet hardware: Hollin cup pull and Kinney knob in Honey Bronze, Top Knobs
A butler’s pantry off the kitchen and around the corner from the seating area adds a bit of drama with blue cabinetry. The same patterned backsplash tile used in the kitchen helps connect the two spaces.
The bar sink has a pull-down faucet in a satin brass finish. Paneled refrigerator drawers and paneled dishwasher drawers make this area super functional.
Upper cabinets give the homeowners a place to display and store finer glassware. “We did a wood finish interior to tie this area to the kitchen and to add warmth to the space,” Adams says.
Upper cabinets give the homeowners a place to display and store finer glassware. “We did a wood finish interior to tie this area to the kitchen and to add warmth to the space,” Adams says.
Before: This floor plan shows how the former compact kitchen (top right) and dining room (top center) had a complicated arrangement in relation to surrounding spaces. The TV room (bottom center) felt redundant given the living room (top left) and den (bottom left).
The kitchen felt pushed into a back corner of the home, which kept it from having a strong connection to the living room. Also notice how the TV room took up prime floor space off the front entry, as well as the small size of the side door area and existing pantry compared with the mudroom and laundry room.
The kitchen felt pushed into a back corner of the home, which kept it from having a strong connection to the living room. Also notice how the TV room took up prime floor space off the front entry, as well as the small size of the side door area and existing pantry compared with the mudroom and laundry room.
After: Adams repurposed the former TV room as the new dining room and used the gained space to expand the kitchen (top center) and add an island and more cabinets.
A TV seating area (top right) occupies what was once a small breakfast area. Adams also reconfigured the laundry area, pantry and mudroom to create the spacious new butler’s pantry (bottom right). “We really changed the entire flow of the house with this renovation,” she says. “The kitchen set the tone for all of it.”
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A TV seating area (top right) occupies what was once a small breakfast area. Adams also reconfigured the laundry area, pantry and mudroom to create the spacious new butler’s pantry (bottom right). “We really changed the entire flow of the house with this renovation,” she says. “The kitchen set the tone for all of it.”
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Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: An empty-nest couple
Location: Cumberland, Maine
Size: 376 square feet (35 square meters)
Design: Mary O. Adams of Kitchen Cove Design Studio
A warm and inviting palette is the highlight of the newly expanded kitchen. Shaker-style cabinets in a soft taupe finish join a hickory hutch-style unit that conceals the refrigerator and freezer. A band of hickory on the custom plaster range hood adds a warm detail at eye level. Stained maple flooring brings more warmth, while off-white walls with a slight gray undertone (Seapearl by Benjamin Moore) and soft, creamy trim (White Dove by Benjamin Moore) create a soothing backdrop. “We wanted the space to be light but not white,” Adams says.
A stainless steel workstation sink with a pull-down faucet in a graphite finish sits in the new island. Marble-look quartz countertops feature subtle blue, gray and gold veining. “The white countertops help create a welcoming space,” Adams says.
She designed the island with seating on two sides for easy conversation. The upholstered counter stools have a metal frame in a matte antique brass finish that coordinates with the hand-rubbed antique brass finish on the elegant traditional-style chandeliers overhead.
Cabinetry: Hampstead door in Stone Bluff matte finish and Hanover door in Hickory with Sunwashed Grey stain and Van Dyke Brown highlight, Crystal Cabinets; chandeliers: Reed, Visual Comfort; countertops: Calacatta Gold quartz in polished finish, Silestone by Cosentino: faucet: Modern PLP pull-down in Graphite, Waterstone Faucets
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