The owners of this home in DC’s Woodley Park wanted a kitchen
that would be practical enough to suit the needs of their four young
children while still feeling urban and contemporary.
To open up the cramped space, Hamilton Snowber Architects and
Horizon Builders tore down the walls that separated the kitchen and dining
room. Working with interior designer Lori Graham, the homeowners chose a
crisp, cool palette of white, robin’s-egg blue, and chocolate brown. “It’s
timeless but still feels modern and playful,” says Graham.
Perimeter cabinets in lacquered white and stainless steel are
functional—“Smeared spaghetti sauce wipes right off,” says one of the
owners—and helped make the space feel bigger. “In a small space,
reflective surfaces really help to bounce light around,” says Nadia N.
Subaran of Aidan Design, which supplied the cabinets.
For a pop of color, Subaran created custom aqua-colored
lacquered cabinets to go under the island. “People are really em-bracing
color right now,” says Subaran, “and lower cabinets are an ideal place to
introduce it. Above waist level, the color starts to dominate, not
complement.”
Keeping the rest of the space subdued and neutral—white Corian
countertops, a simple glass backsplash—tempers the impact of the colored
cabinets. “We didn’t want the effect to be ‘wow, that’s an aqua kitchen,’” says Subaran. “Instead, it’s a timeless, practical style that they won’t
tire of in years to come.”
Explore More Dream Kitchens ››
This article appears in the October 2012 issue of The Washingtonian.
