From Pillows to Parties

Read along for our latest installment of “Catching up with Katie!” This might be my personal favorite project reviewed to date.

As always, let’s start with a little background on this project:

This homeowner is a big entertainer and has guests over on the regular. He wanted space for friends to gather around comfortably, so the remodel took 3 previously small, compartmentalized rooms and turned them into an open concept kitchen, dining area, and front sitting room. All the dividing walls were knocked out, but the kitchen perimeter layout was maintained to save on cost. Those cabinets were given a fresh coat of paint, and an updated island was added. Coming in at a whopping 11', it was the largest Katie has designed to date. The range was relocated to the middle of the kitchen island with a freestanding hood.

In addition to the layout and design, Katie provided assistance with cabinetry hardware, lighting, backsplash, and countertop selections. This remodel took approximately 6 months to complete.

Now, for some highlights:

When asked about her favorite feature of this kitchen, Katie had a few to share!

• Backsplash: this favorite feature was a larger format tile with a blue metallic geometric shape unlike any Katie had seen before. She stumbled upon it at The Tile Shop and used it as the inspiration around which the entire space was designed. To complement that backsplash, she used Cambria’s Portrush, which has specs of blue and gold in its highly defined veining.

• Island: the island is loaded with storage and a mixture of organizational inserts such as spice tiers, utensil dividers, tray dividers, and drawer stacks. Additionally, the cabinets were painted with the bold Benjamin Moore’s “Hale Navy” to complement the backsplash and countertops. Finally, the hardware was all updated to a sleek brass to highlight the gold flecks found in the quartz.
  

• Functional Art: to enhance football get togethers, a large flat screen TV was installed. However, what makes this television special, is that it serves multiple purposes. When not in use, it displays live interchangeable art scenes. Katie and the homeowner selected an unframed version to align with the contemporary aesthetic of the design.

Any surprises?

Katie was amazed and how much bigger and functional the space feels. There was originally a room to the right that was so pointless that it literally served as the “pillow storage room.” Now, the pillows are gone, and there can be multiple cooks in the kitchen!

Lessons to share from this project:

When installing a large island, you always need to make sure that the countertop material is available in that size. There are certain quartz options that will come up to 120” and only a select amount that are offered in jumbo slabs which exceed that limit. If your island exceeds the available slab size, you are subject to having a seam in your countertop. Sometimes seams are necessary (like in L-shaped and long run countertops). If this happens in your project, work with your designer to make sure the seam is placed in an inconspicuous place.