Our clients are a professional chef and his wife who run a local restaurant on Longboat Key. The existing kitchen was very compact and out of date, and not suitable for the gourmet meals he often cooked. For this clients kitchen remodel, it was imperative that the new space be spacious enough not only for preparing and cooking, but also entertaining. They enjoy hosting dinner parties, so it was important that their new kitchen was open to their living room and included a bar for additional seating.
Throughout the duration of this remodel, from the planning to the layout, design and product selection, our clients were very hands on, as they knew exactly what they wanted. In designing the new kitchen layout, our client along with the designer, decided to incorporate an open seating area next to where the original kitchen sat to make the new kitchen much larger. This would allow for additional countertop space, providing the homeowner with more room for food prep and providing a bar area for seating.
Using this extra space in the new layout would also allow for the appliances to be properly positioned to the chef’s liking.
As previously mentioned, the original kitchen was compact, so we first started this remodel by tearing out everything including cabinets, appliances, drywall and flooring, which extended through to the living area. Our clients chose a two-toned look for the cabinets by selecting one color and style for the uppers and another for the bases. A Showplace plywood “slab” door style in a grey wash color was installed for the base cabinets, which also included soft-close drawers, and a soft cream color with a brushed texture was chosen for the upper cabinets.
Once the cabinets were installed, we attached the brushed nickel hardware and installed energy efficient LED under-cabinet lighting. Our client chose a stunning granite for their countertop with lots of movement. For the bar top, a curve was incorporated to return the top back to the column near the front door. This also created a nice flow into the main living area as you walk into the home.
Directly off of the kitchen, there was a door that led out to the garage. To provide additional storage, the designer recommended opening up that area and connecting it to the main living area to create a pantry storage center with tall cabinets. So, we removed the existing door, poured concrete to raise the floor to the same level as the kitchen, and installed the same soft cream cabinets that were used for the base cabinets in the kitchen.
Additionally, we made a few improvements in the main living area. Our carpenters installed tongue and groove on the walls, as well as new wood-look tile on the floor of the kitchen and living room. Our client desired more height and interest at the ceiling, so we removed the original drywall and popcorn texture, exposing the bottom of the trusses and installed tongue and groove boards up between the trusses. We then wrapped the trusses for a beam look and painted them white to match the tongue and groove on the walls.
As if looking into the new kitchen was not aesthetically appealing enough, looking out of the kitchen provides a beautiful view of the water while cooking.
