From tired to timeless: The power of earth tones
Into our lives came the wonderful Smith family. Recently relocated from Florida, they purchased a home in beautiful Kahiti, a neighborhood in Tellico Village. While the house had great bones, the kitchen layout felt awkward and didn’t meet their needs. Six months later, they have the sanctuary they had hoped for.
KITCHEN
We started by doing a thorough home consultation and walked around room-by-room with homeowners Karen and Spencer. They let us know all of their pain points and everything they wanted changed. Storage and counterspace was limited, the dated linoleum flooring had to go and the carpet throughout the home was drab and needed to be replaced. Karen had dreams of beautiful neutrals and earth tones, yet the coloration throughout the home just wasn’t right. We also discovered that the bathroom was … needing some love (chokes down other verbiage).
Before
We did a full home measure, took plenty of notes and made sure we understood the Smith’s vision. Next, we got to work reconfiguring the space plan for the heart of the home: the kitchen. These are some of my favorite types of work days! I get up early, close the drapery in my home office, light a few candles, put some music on, pour myself a cup of coffee and begin creating. My pom-chi Ozzy likes to curl up next to me or in my lap. He is the best/laziest assistant I could ask for! <3
Ozzy Pawsbourne
While working on the plan, I noticed that we had dead space in the garage next to the laundry room adjacent to the kitchen. Behind that and the laundry area, however, was a stairwell to the basement. I decided to push the laundry room out into the garage and several feet into the stairway, taking it back as far as we could while allowing for ample headspace as you walked down the stairs.
Laundry Room Before / After
That’s better.
The space planning didn’t stop there!
We extended the kitchen into the old laundry room space, widened the opening to the dining room, framed up the opening to the foyer and built soffits where the cabinetry could terminate. Karen didn’t want to have to dust the exposed cabinetry tops and we can’t blame her! She loves a wood tongue-and-groove, so we added that to our soffits to dress them up.
By framing in the foyer entry, we were able to build a beautiful custom buffet area. The possibilities on what can be stored there and how it can be decorated are ENDLESS.
Moving the sink to a new large central island allowed us to open up space on the back wall for a cooktop, custom hood, double ovens, a refrigerator, and — you guessed it — even more storage. The transformation has been dramatic, and we couldn’t be more proud of the end result.
After
For our selections, we chose a beautiful wire-brushed, white oak hardwood floor and continued it everywhere but the bathrooms. We selected some beautiful neutral wall and off-white cabinetry tones so we could achieve a light-and-bright feeling without the stark, sterile feeling of bright white. With the rustic alder custom island grounding the space and giving us subtle contrast, we were able to go super soft on the perimeter, allowing the island countertops to be a showstopper when you walk into the space. Nothing is competing, but rather working together harmoniously. The brass hardware and faucet added some beautiful warmth and just the right amount of bling for the finishing touches.
Bathroom
Next was the primary bathroom, which didn’t even have a shower! We removed the tub they said they would never use, demo’d the dead space to give them room for more storage, walled up the extra entry that led to the garage (never seen THAT before!), then created space for “his and hers” vanity areas before framing for built-in medicine cabinet mirrors.
Before
After
I must mention our beautiful antique doors before moving on. If you’ve ever been on the hunt for unique doors, you know that the search can sometimes seem hopeless when you have a specific look in mind, are working with a specific-sized opening and you want to find the right balance of antique yet good quality; rustic but not too rustic, worn and loved, but not damaged. It can be a long time before you stumble across “the one.” We found these beautiful French doors at one of our local secret treasure chests and we couldn’t be happier with them. Karen actually stained them herself! I love when we are able to include truly one-of-a-kind elements with history like these.
Movie Room
Last but not least, is the wonderfully transformed movie room. We widened the entry, wrapped the opening in hand-selected antique reclaimed wood, gave the space a fresh coat of paint with new flooring and baseboards and left it ready for Spencer to work his magic. He constructed beautiful entertainment built-ins, painted them a gorgeous moody hue and completed the look with walnut countertops and shelving. The art TV looks like stunning artwork when the TV isn’t in use and we are absolutely obsessed with those! Rosie and the Smiths are loving their newly remodeled custom home and have become very dear to my heart. I told Karen it’s always so bittersweet when our time together comes to an end and she replied, “Don’t worry this isn’t goodbye. We will for sure be giving you a call in the future.”
Perfect. :)
Rosie
