Sam Fentress
Sometimes, it’s actually a very good thing not to be the first. Especially when it comes to big, permanent, expensive projects—such as kitchens. Here are four homeowners who recently built or renovated their kitchens and who have graciously agreed to share which things worked, which things did not, and which things were so worth the money.
Rich and Suzy Bacino
What They Wanted: To combine a tiny kitchen and breakfast room into one kitchen, to siphon off the view and light from the adjacent patio, to bring in modern amenities without disrupting the house’s 1920s cottage vibe, and to do it all without spending tons.
What They Got: A simple, efficient kitchen clad in handsome shades of gray and darkest brown. The dark-chocolate cabinetry, custom-made by Yoder, fronts a bank of drawers around the perimeter, more drawers around the center island, plus the Sub- Zero fridge and pantry. Square gray stone tile from Global Granite & Marble covers the walls where cabinets would be. “It lets in more light that way,” Mr. Bacino says.
Lessons Learned: “Sometimes not having tons of money is what keeps things under control,” says Mr. Bacino, who, as an architect with Cannon Design, did most of the plan himself. The Silestone quartz countertops look just as nice as more expensive concrete. Their $4 metal IKEA drawer-pulls look just as classy as $15 steel pulls. And wet bars aren’t all that great. “We had big plans for a wine fridge and an ice maker next to the bar, but I really don’t miss them,” Mrs. Bacino says. “I mean, for one thing, the refrigerator’s ice maker is about four steps away!”
Lisa and Joe Murphy
What They Wanted: “It all started with our kitchen island,” says Lisa Murphy of her kitchen renovation last year. “There are six of us, but we could only sit around three sides. I wanted something we could all sit around.”
With that impetus, Mrs. Murphy got busy dreaming up the look of her new kitchen. A trip to Chesterfield’s Old House in Hog Hollow provided the template. “I wanted the room to look like it was filled with individual pieces of furniture. I didn’t want anything to look the same,” Ms. Murphy says. “I wanted it to look like my grandma gave me the hutch; my aunt gave me the pie safe.”
What They Got: A kitchen that looks old, acts new, and wears no less than 15 different textures. Carpenter Ron Bain found a way to make each surface, dimension, color, and finish slightly different from the next.
Mr. Bain also built the family a long harvest table with a line-drive view of the new fireplace. “Our first meal in this room was Thanksgiving dinner,” Ms. Murphy says.
Lessons Learned: “I wish we would have distressed the floors a little more,” Ms. Murphy says. “And I wish I had flopped the heights of the sink and the countertop next to it. The way it is now, I can barely reach the windows to open them. I love having the windows open.”
DeAnna Bender
What She Wanted: Just a pretty little kitchen. “DeAnna is a working person, and she doesn’t cook a lot, so we knew it wasn’t necessary to outfit it with a lot of appliances and gadgets,” says Julie Abner, Allied ASID, of Julie Abner Interior Design, the interior designer on the project. “But she did want it to look good. She wanted it to be a showstopper.”
What She Got: A 300-square-foot galley space with lots to look at—metallic mosaic backsplashes from Daltile, glass-front cabinets that go up to the ceiling, lit to display porcelain dishware and branch vases, and a triplet of cabernet-red pendant lights—but not a lot of bells and whistles. “I’ve probably only used my stove three times since we moved in in March,” Ms. Bender says. “But it’s perfect for the way we use it.”
Lessons Learned: “I wish I would’ve put cabinets next to the computer instead of a chair and a desk,” Ms. Bender says. “My computer is a laptop and I use it all around the house. I don’t sit there, ever.” From wishing to doing: Ms. Bender and Ms. Abner are now retrofitting the station with more cabinets.
Karen and Larry Kotner
What They Wanted: A layout anchored around their condo’s panoramic view of downtown, Forest Park, and the sun’s rising and falling.
What They Got: A live look at the Arch every time they sauté and boil at the cooktop on their zebrawood kitchen island. “It’s like a work of art,” says architect Helen Lee of Tao + Lee Associates. “It’s almost better than that, because it’s ever-changing.”
A prep station at one end of the rectangular layout lets the husband and wife cook together without ever tripping over each other, and an adjacent laundry room/mudroom makes cleanup and storage a snap. “You always try to get as much mileage out of a home as possible,” says interior designer Brad Penturf of Hb Penturf Interiors. “How great is it to have this space that not only can you easily carry dirty laundry and dishes into, but you could also use as a staging area when entertaining?”
Lessons Learned: Induction cooktops are awesome. “There was no gas in the condo unit, and I always preferred to cook with gas,” Ms. Kotner says. Then their contractor suggested a Fagor induction cooktop. “I really love it,” Ms. Kotner says, demonstrating its lighting-fast boiling speed. “It heats up extremely quickly, cooks very evenly, and cools down immediately when the pot is removed.”
