REVEAL: Bridlemile Midcentury Kitchen + The Sweetest Kitchen Nook
We've saved the best for last! The final space we are revealing from our Bridlemile Midcentury home is our favorite spot in the house. The perfect place to sip coffee and enjoy a lazy Sunday morning! This week we'll be going behind the scenes of the kitchen revamp and addition of this lovely kitchen nook.
However, this gorgeous space almost wasn't in our scope. The clients originally wanted to hold off on remodeling their kitchen. The attached kitchen nook was a space they DID want our help with and when we proposed a built-in banquette for the space, they fell in love!
They loved the casual feel of the banquette, and because their formal dining table was nearby it provided some much needed contrast between the two eating areas. However, we soon realized that installing cabinetry for the built-in banquette meant that the existing cabinetry would need to be addressed. Lucky for all of us, it snowballed into a full kitchen revamp!
Here are some photos of the space before. As you can see, the space was very dated with bright green walls, dark wood cabinetry and granite countertops. It had to go, and we're so happy that it did!
We pulled some inspiration photos and landed on the image below, which incorporated a full height cabinet and under bench storage. This was exactly what we wanted to incorporate into our design. We also liked how the bench seamlessly joined the kitchen cabinetry. That was our goal, but it was challenging with the existing kitchen.
We got to work drawing up the design for the cabinetry. For the full height cabinet, we incorporated both closed and open storage for cookbooks, serve-ware and such. Under the banquet bench we included hidden storage as well. Because of the low height of the gorgeous windows in this space, we ended up eliminating any kind of back for the bench and instead had a custom bolster and back pillows made for comfort.
Once we had landed on our design, we tapped Old Portland Carpenters to start on the built-ins. Meanwhile, we developed a color palette for all the cabinetry (new and existing). The existing cabinetry was a dark wood that made the whole space feel heavy. We knew we wanted to lighten up the room. In our 3D model we experimented with all white and all grey cabinetry, which just didn't give us the personality that the space was calling for.
We decided to try a beautiful medium blue color, similar to the blue Cle' tile we choose for the bathroom. We landed on Benjamin Moore Stillwater Blue, which looked light enough that it didn't make the room too dark, but really set it apart and made it unique. We gave our clients the option of all blue cabinets or blue on the lowers and white on the uppers. They liked the all blue option to keep the color consistent with the full height cabinet being built for the corner of the nook.
After we chose the cabinet color, our clients decided they wanted to also replace the countertops in the kitchen to even further brighten the room. We were so excited they made the call to lose the dated granite! We chose a clean, white quartz from Caesarstone (also installed in the bathroom) and our material palette completely came together!
Our clients decided while all this other work was happening, they also wanted to address an awkward empty space next to their refrigerator. We all wanted to give this space a purpose, but what?
After discussing our options, we decided that what this kitchen was missing was a wine cabinet with a wine fridge. So we worked with the clients and Old Portland Carpenters to create a custom piece to fit the space perfectly! Our "lite" remodel was really starting to snowball into a full kitchen overhaul.
Installation of the banquette and new cabinetry built-ins began, as well as painting of the walls and cabinetry. Lastly, the new countertops, new sink and plumbing fixtures were placed. It was already looking so beautiful!
Once all the work was done on the cabinetry and kitchen, a marble tulip table, custom bench cushion, bolster and pillows were placed in the nook banquette. We also placed a mirrored backsplash in the wine cabinet to reflect the greenery from the kitchen window.
By making select upgrades and freshening up the finishes, this kitchen overhaul was not only beautiful, but SO much more functional for our clients.
Stay tuned next week...we'll be revealing the transformation of a Dutch Colonial kitchen and bath. The before and afters are EPIC!
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