Small But Mighty

Create a space that feels like a whimsical, elegant forest retreat, playful enough to charm a child, yet refined enough to suit adult tastes.

This 1994 townhome was in desperate need of an update. The clients wanted their new kitchen to be bright and open, with plenty of counter space and additional storage. The builder grade honey oak cabinetry has seen better days, along with the tired laminate countertops. Their new full-sized refrigerator took up too much space into the walkway to the back entry. They wanted proper ventilation over the range and a space to display a collection of vintage M&M dispensers that is dear her.

The kitchen is located in the center of the main floor of the town home, surrounded by shared walls and bearing walls that couldn’t be changed. The designer presented a completely new open L-style layout to open the space. With this plan, we were able to move the appliances into a better work triangle, getting the refrigerator out of the back entry walkway, and offer much more countertop space and storage by adding cabinetry and display shelving on the stair wall where there was none before. With storage in mind, many of the cabinets have specific internal accessories and pullouts to keep the small kitchen organized and tidy. Upper cabinets were fit to the ceiling to capture that much needed last 12” of upper storage space.

Due to the location of the kitchen, an exterior vented range hood was not an option, so a 300CFM recirculating VentaHood system was installed over the new induction slide-in range, this was still an improvement over the old non-vented OTR microwave. A new drawer microwave was specified in a base cabinet for more ergonomic access. There was no natural light source in the kitchen space, so lighting was improved in the space by adding several LED recessed cans and LED task lighting under the upper cabinets and open shelves.

Coordinating, custom-sized forest murals create the feeling of emerging from a dense woodland into a sunlit glade.

Frameless cabinetry was specified to maximize storage. To keep the space light and bright, a transitional flat panel door style was selected in a soft white painted finish, with carrara-style veined white quartz countertops. New LVP flooring was selected in a warm gray wood tone. The subway tiled backsplash was selected to complement the lightest warm grey tones in the floor and the open shelving was finished in a dark stain to bring some contrast into the space.