An amazing update from disco silver to natural country wood
When Margie B set out to renovate the ‘70s kitchen in her New England home she hoped to keep the original footprint of the room but wanted a peninsula instead of an island. “We were a bit apprehensive about this as the trend is to do the reverse,” she says. “But this setup works really well for us as it creates better [work] zones and a better flow.
In the end, she got both. The sculptural, semi-circular peninsula provides casual seating facing into the kitchen that home owners prize these days — without closing up too much space between the cooking and living/entertaining areas.
In a dramatic departure from the silver and white Disco Era kitchen that came with the house, Margie wanted something more traditional. Glazed cherry perimeter cabinets, colonial gold granite, and a quarter-sawn white oak floor delivered the overall look that inspired her.
A whiff of country was added by creating a white-painted maple work-station with a polished absolute black top — essentially an island shrunk to the size of a highly functional table with room left to traverse the kitchen freely while still providing a “setting down” space in the middle. Margie uses the lined basket to store onions, ginger, garlic and potatoes.
Her knives, in the island’s top drawer make this a prep area par excellence.
Two strong points in this kitchen include the selection of appliances and special cabinet features. Miele double ovens are the workhorses here. The microwave, toaster oven and a Miele steam oven are stacked next to the big Amana refrigerator – the “one thing I kept from the original kitchen,” she says. In the Winter, the steam oven replaces her outdoor grill. “I can cook a complete meal in there — chicken with artichoke hearts, olives, sun dried tomatoes with rice and broccoli — in about 20 minutes, with very little clean up. It’s also great for reheating pasta, Chinese food, and corn on the cob. You just have to know that you’re not going to get a seared, or browned finish,” Margie explains.
Choosing a top-of-the-line Julien stainless steel sink along with the ultra-fashionable MGS Italian Progetti pull-out faucet, Margie layered luxury with convenience. The kitchen also boasts a Miele Diamante dishwasher. The Chiaro glass mosaic backsplash, from Vetrolux Mosaico, weaves in a more modern accent and picks up gold tones in the granite.
Custom cabinets have the added benefit of made-to-measure features. Who wouldn’t love a walk-in pantry as roomy as this one, complete with pull outs? It was efficiently placed behind closed doors to the left of ovens, allowing ample food storage for a family kitchen.
The super susan (below) is tucked into the corner as a spacemaker between the dishwasher and the cabinet adjacent to the cooktop.
No kitchen tour would be complete without showing you the Wolf 5-burner glas cooktop and an overall cook’s-eye-view of a kitchen transformation that is nothing short of amazing.
Originally published: August 18, 2009
