Design Impact | Kitchen Renovation
A total kitchen renovation can completely change the feel of an entire home. When it comes to big design impact and high-function spaces, kitchen design can be that perfect sweet spot for making the most of your time and budget. And as designers, creating a complete transformation within an existing footprint brings in that good ole’ design challenge that you know we love to love here at CFD. We’re going to take you through one of our recent kitchen renovation projects with all the gorgeous details (and a little before-and-after action too!).
Cat getting into the design details at a walk-through on-site
Design Impact- Form and Function
Why is it that we all can't help but get excited about a fresh kitchen reno? Because for most of us, the kitchen is the hub of the house. If you think about where you spend the most time while you’re at home, usually it’s going to be that kitchen space. If it’s an outdated, less-than-functional, or just plain uncomfortable space, it can impact how we feel about our home in a big way. The work that happens in the kitchen is an ever-present part of our day, and just as in all things- the atmosphere matters. As a place where family naturally gravitates and spends time day in and day out, the feel of the space is just as important as the function when it comes to our vision and Master Design Plan.
Renovation Imagination
Let's talk logistics- we all know renovations can be tricky, especially in these high-traffic areas of a busy home. But working within specific dimensions (i.e., re-imagining a space completely, but without moving walls) is a great opportunity to flex the design muscle and start getting really creative. And as always, we love the chance to work side-by-side with talented contractors. For this project, working in tandem was even more important for this complete gut-and-rebuild renovation. One big-ticket design item was re-creating the entire kitchen island. This changed both the function and the flow of the room, making it more usable and beautiful. We also brought in a gorgeous custom hood above it, which centered the entire space and created a beautiful focal point for the room. Before (post-demolition):And that beautiful "after"!
All the Right (Design) Moves
Big changes were in store for this kitchen renovation, and it all started with completely re-defining the functional areas in the space for cooking, cleaning, and storage. Because as awesome as it is to have a beautiful kitchen(!), it's just as important that you actually want to spend time cooking up all the delicious food in there. Moving the major appliances into more accessible locations and strategically creating a functional and intuitive flow for work and storage was the foundation of the transformation. This redesign helped us create huge value-add when it came to the usability of the kitchen on a daily basis. We also designed and brought in full custom cabinetry for the entire kitchen, in addition to a glorious custom-created "drop zone" near the kitchen entry- the perfect place for storing all those items that naturally tend to collect around family spaces and need a dedicated spot to live.
Kitchen Renovation Curation
Now, let’s talk about layering in that full design goodness. Rather than seeing the kitchen only for its utility, our design hive-mind also seeks out every facet of how this space can add value and richness to a home through robust, full-scale design. And if you’ve been around a little bit, y'all know that we’re not afraid of some color- and the kitchen is no exception! Color is one of the most impactful tools we have as designers to curate the feel of a room (and long we want to hang out in there). Combined with strategic choices in textures, tones, and shape, we can create something that feels lock-and-key- so personal and unique in every way. One of our favorite high-impact elements was bringing in this incredible custom slate-colored tile. The texture and tone is so rich, and it creates so much depth in the space- also acting as the perfect balance against the warm tones of the custom cabinetry and seamlessly drawing in the stainless steel accents.
Design Impact: Color
And in any space- but especially in a kitchen renovation design- we want to tie elements together to create a feeling of continuity, intention, and purpose. Our design here was centered on organic elements- shapes, textures, and colors that create a very natural and inviting feel- but also still maintaining those clean lines and openness that we all appreciate in a kitchen space. Warm wood tones and incredibly gorgeous natural wood grain in the cabinetry play against a soft blue-toned wall color and act as the base of the color palette. The custom tile work on the backsplash brings in clean white and the perfect reflectivity to open up and brighten to space, as well as providing contrast to the deeper tones in the floor and countertops. The color story came together beautifully to create the perfect balance of light and warmth.Ultimately, there's nothing better than being able to make the kitchen an integral part of the home, and a happier place to be. We loved having the chance to not only make it more beautiful and inviting, but a more usable, workable, enjoyable space for spending time together.
We love taking you along with us and sharing new designs. If you'd like to see more, head over to our Portfolio Page to take a look at some of our other projects. Have a design challenge of your own? We'd love to help. Reach out to us at hello@catfrenchdesign.com or via our Contact Page. To see more of the happenings and going-ons of this busy team, follow us on Facebook or check us out on Instagram @catfrenchdesign. See you soon, friends!