White Shiplap Kitchen

With white shiplap walls and an unusual layout, this weekend home kitchen is full of surprises.

Shiplap is the theme of this stunning white kitchen in an Alabama lake house. Designed by Tracery Interiors’ Paige Sumblin Schnell, the painted, 6-inch horizontal wooden planks, also called shiplap, are often associated with barns and sheds. Here, they become a highly effective wall and ceiling treatment as well as a neutral backdrop for stunning reclaimed weathered wooden beams and barn-salvage white oak floor. The planked walls also have a neat symmetry and pleasing visual pattern that read as clean and modern. Open shelves used to display white stoneware contributes to the easygoing feeling for a weekend home. And despite the standard pro-style Wolf range and chimney hood as the focal point (with a wall-mounted Rohl potfiller), this kitchen departs from the packed-in cabinet-centric white kitchens we see so often.

What intrigues me is the way the kitchen combines formality and comfort. First, there is no massive barrier island with awkward seating. Instead, the center of the room is opened up and accentuated by the 4-foot square, black-framed “table over chest” island that is topped with Carrara marble. One side has a microwave and warming drawer while the dining room cabinet face has flatware and napkin storage drawers. The island is on the long side of the work triangle between the range and the sink (left of the island just out of view) and the unique size offers ample functionality plus terrific flexibility. Instead of trying to build an awkward seating ledge onto the island, the two functions were severed. The Carrara-topped dining table is the same size as the island but just has legs — no cabinet below. Served by Lee Industries Bongo stools, with faux-leather upholstery and nail head trim, the table also has casters, which makes it moveable for entertaining. Overhead, a pair of Aspen Large Shade pendants, from Circa Lighting, echo the black and white elements below.

Another view of the kitchen, taken from the dining area, shows the farm sink wall set in front of a large window. The impressive 800-pound glass door SubZero Pro48 refrigerator/freezer is, essentially, tucked into a corner but it’s a spot convenient to both the sink, the range and the main prep area on the island. Benjamin Moore’s China White paint paint was chosen for its compatibility with the stoneware and other whites used throughout the open room.

Steps from the refrigerator is a butler’s pantry built into a hallway which can be repurposed for storage especially in a space where windows add excellent natural light. Since the ladder and soffit cabinets are black, the butler’s pantry counter follows suit. A double dish drawer dishwasher is part of the mix in the china cabinet, as is a paneled Sub-Zero.

The full 12-foot ceiling height is exploited by unusual soffit cabinets. A 9-foot black library ladder, custom sourced from the 200-year old Putnam Rolling Ladder Co., in New York,  provides access to the top row of cabinets and top shelves of the dish hutch. Sliding glass doors were used for the hutch to accommodate the ladder. All the better to reach into the top cabinets with their cut-steel door panels — an unexpected feature of a wonderful white kitchen chock full of luxe surprises.

(Source: Tracery Interiors)

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