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Ana Borras and Marga Raffucci, a thirtysomething couple who work in the restaurant industry, asked for a sleek, Scandinavian-style kitchen. That’s easier said than done in an off-kilter historic home. “Everything is at an angle,” designer Ariel Roth of Helios Design Group says. “Nothing was plumb.”
Roth began by moving the door and closing a secondary entrance to the living room to make room for cabinets and a range on a previously blank wall. She collaborated with nearby Boston Building Resources on the cabinetry design, which incorporates exposed plywood edges and white laminate surfaces. “Ana and Marga like a monochromatic look; everything in the house is black and white with pops of red,” Roth says. “The whole time I tried to incorporate color.” Mission accomplished.
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1 The Farrow & Ball Stiffkey Blue wall paint allows the cabinetry to pop. “The color uplifts the room,” Roth says.
2 A new glass door connects the kitchen to the patio and lets in light, as does the new wider window.
3 Cabinetry cutouts in place of handles and pulls eliminate the fuss of hardware and add a fun, modern touch.
4 Speckled penny tiles from Discover Tile bring in color and texture.
5 The homeowners kept their fridge but splurged on a new Wolf range with red knobs.
6 The glossy top of the CB2 table seems to float on the powder-coated-steel base, which adds visual interest without much weight.
7 Gray-laminate-lined cubbies provide display space and easy access to appliances and cookbooks, in addition to breaking up all the white. “The open volumes helped the arrangement seem more balanced,” Roth says.