Editor's Note: Step into the kitchen with Susan Rocco of The Kitchenworks, who talks to Haute Design about reviving the kitchen of a Spanish Colonial home.
From the moment you enter this sprawling Spanish Colonial home, almost a hundred years old in age, you are transported to decades past. You are enveloped with curiosity and admiration for the essence that makes this home a bridge between the here and now and the heyday of a 1920’s South Beach. This home evokes the wonder and desire of "if walls could talk." You can’t help but conjure visions of what life might have been like with each passing decade and the lives this home has seen.
When the new homeowners undertook the kitchen remodel, their primary goal was for the new kitchen to hold the same undeniable magnetism. They approached our firm with a very specific vision of details that drew from deco and Spanish influences. The palette envisioned would complement the warmth and richness of the natural materials employed through the home as well as feel like an extension of its glamorous character and coastal proximity. Under the design direction and project management of our very own Oscar Corona, their new kitchen was everything they had hoped for and more.
The custom pattern of the cabinet door style is reminiscent of the stepped outlines in art deco architecture. The sink wall is free of wall cabinets for simplicity. The interest and detail of the cabinet doors are balanced by their colors, which steer the design into a timeless and neutral take on deco decadence. A deep shade of navy is used for the tall cabinetry and the island, adding elegance and a subtle reminder that this home is steps away from the ocean. The appliances are from Dacor’s Modernist Collection. This new collection of graphite stainless steel appliances lends itself to be seamlessly integrated into the design, both physically and visually. The commanding visual presence of the dark cabinetry and appliances is contrasted by off-white cabinetry along the perimeter. These brighten the edge of the room, enhancing the feeling of spaciousness. Above, open wood shelves in a custom finish, to match the floor, heighten the sense of lightness and openness while adding Old World charm. Undoubtedly, the focal point is the hand-painted tile that borders the island, almost like a carpet, continuing on the floor up to the cooktop and over on the hood wall. This design statement is kept to one section. All else recedes in elegant restraint to allow this gesture to become the dramatic, focal point of the kitchen.
Through meticulous execution of details and finishes, careful thought and creative design, we were able to bring to life a kitchen of simultaneous striking singularity and retro nostalgia. It is a kitchen that feels organic to the original home and becoming of the present day.
Photos provided by The Kitchenworks
