When the kitchen floor of this Metro West home needed to be repaired and refinished due to water damage, the homeowners decided to go a little bit further.
“The house is about 20 years old and the kitchen had never been renovated,” says interior designer, Scott Bell, principal of Theo and Isabella Design Group. “The owners decided it was the right time to do a complete overhaul of the kitchen.”
The wife told Bell, who worked on the design with his partner, Susan Schaub, that she wanted a white kitchen. “She said that she knew that the current trend was to go for brighter colors, but she really wanted a classic, timeless white kitchen,” recalls Bell. “It’s a very traditional home and we loved the idea of an elegant white kitchen.”
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To design the kitchen, Bell and Schaub collaborated with Wellesley-based Custom Architectural Kitchens. Danby marble was selected for the counters.
“The homeowner was initially against having marble because she was concerned about its maintenance,” says Bell. “We looked at man-made materials, but they didn’t have the beautiful warm tones that we were looking for.”
Ultimately, the designers circled back to the marble after they discovered Clearstone Coating, a finishing product put on by the installers that provides a 15-year warranty against etching, scratching, and staining.
A Calacatta marble backsplash adds textural interest and keeps the room feeling light. The island has a thick walnut top that punctuates all of the surrounding white tones. Dennis & Leen stools have ivory leather seats and textured woven backs.
Above the island two oversized bronze and glass pendants were selected for their similarity to the chandelier in the adjacent breakfast room, which the homeowners have had for a while. The pendants, by Vaughan Design, “are a contemporary design off a traditional fixture,” says Bell. “They bring something new to the space as well as a nod to the past.”
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Roman shades above the sink and in the breakfast room are made of an embroidered Cowtan & Tout fabric that reflects a soft shade of green with beige trim. Hand-knotted Persian rugs in soft green hues add softness to the space. To contrast the predominantly white kitchen, the breakfast room walls are painted Alexandria Beige, part of Benjamin Moore’s Historic Color collection.
“It’s a lovely, elegant space,” says Bell. “At the same time it’s a very practical, working kitchen.”