Kitchen & Bath Design News

APR 2013

Kitchen & Bath Design News is the industry's leading business, design and product resource for the kitchen and bath trade.

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Project Case Study { Spotlight on creative, problem-solving kitchens and baths } By Kim Berndtson Add Visual Drama Working within the confnes of support walls, designer Becky Sue Becker opens up this kitchen to improve family conversation and entertaining. small, crowded and lacked counter space for prep work," says the designer. The previous layout included a peninsula that left an awkward, essentially useless space at one end of the kitchen. "My goal was to update the kitchen and open it up to the living area to enhance family conversation and entertaining." While Becker couldn't entirely remove any of the support walls, she did open up an expanse along one of them to expose the kitchen to the living area. After removing much of the wall, she encased its header in a rustic wood facade to add interest. It complements the new peninsula, which functions more as an island to separate the kitchen and living area. Private-label custom maple cabinetry by BSB features a custom blend stain and provides storage for mixing bowls, utensils, knives, etc. The peninsula/island includes a hidden niche at one end, with just enough space to tuck a stool so the cook can enjoy a cup of cofee, watch TV or read the newspaper. Copper pendants suspended from the ceiling add a fnishing touch to the area. • Eliminating an expanse of wall between the kitchen and living area opened up the home (right). • Design details, such as this pull-out shelf, makes this family's busy life easier (below). transforming the space, Becker stresses. "It equates to a long walk from one work station to another," she says. This extended length also had the potential to create a visually tedious wall of cabinets. To prevent that from happening, Becker varied the elements and the depths of those elements used along that wall. In particular, the appliance center – which houses a cofee maker, toaster and blender – protrudes 6" deeper into the kitchen than the rest of the cabinetry (18" for upper cabinets and 30" for lower cabinets). Its butcher block top also provides a visual break from the adjoining length of Carrara marble countertop, which is repeated on the peninsula/island. "I wanted to minimize the monotony of a long wall of cabinets," says Becker. "Changing cabinetry depths and countertop materials adds interest." The custom-designed hood, with Vent-A-Hood liner, also breaks up the expanse of cabinetry, as does the Wolf range. "The clients wanted to keep the hood understated to maintain the cottage architecture of the kitchen and the rest of the home," Becker explains. "This style isn't typically elaborate, so I wanted to design with minimal details and clean lines." This expanse of wall also includes an interior window over the sink that provides visual access into an ofce/ mud room area Becker previously remodeled. It ends at the wall of windows which, according to the designer, takes center stage given the wide entrance – 40"-plus – the clients desired from the formal dining room at the opPhotos: Jan Stittleburg, JS PhotoFX Atlanta, GA — A major beneft of having a kitchen designer work on a project is that a professional can look beyond t he ex isting footprint and see the potential of a space. The clients of Becky Sue Becker, CMKBD, CAPS, certainly appreciated this ability when they commissioned the designer – owner of Kitchen & Bath Designs by BSB in Lawrenceville, GA – to transform their Atlanta kitchen. Becker worked with Atlanta contractor Parkman Properties to transform the space. The home had gone through a number of previous renovations, including one that extended the home but left supporting walls. "The old kitchen was ELIMINATE MONOTONY • Copper pendants add a fnishing touch above the peninsula/island, which features custom maple cabinets and Carrara marble countertop. With seating for three, this peninsula/island was designed to be the center of the prep zone, which is an important consideration given the length of the kitchen. "It's 21'8" from the face of the refrigerator and ovens to the wall of windows," she says. This extensive distance proved to be one of the biggest challenges when 42 | Kitchen & Bath Design News April 2013 • Becky Sue Becker varied design elements and their depths to minimize monotony along the 21' 8" wall.

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