Kitchen of the Week: White-and-Wood Style With Breathing Room
A designer reimagines a layout and embraces a soft white palette with warm wood details to create a light and airy space
The first time this Long Island, New York, couple remodeled their 1950s ranch-style kitchen, in 2013, their budget was tight and they ended up with a space that, years later, didn’t exactly work for their growing family. More recently, the couple decided to right some of the wrongs, which included dark, low-cost cabinets that were falling apart and a closed-off awkward layout.
For help they hired designer Ellen Lopez and looked at inspiration photos on Houzz. To give the couple the brighter, more open space they wanted, Lopez removed a support wall and header to open up the layout. This allowed her to replace a peninsula with an island that offers more seating and better traffic flow. White cabinets, walls, backsplash tile, countertops and appliances brighten the look, while a white oak island base and range hood detail, as well as refinished red oak flooring, add warmth.
For help they hired designer Ellen Lopez and looked at inspiration photos on Houzz. To give the couple the brighter, more open space they wanted, Lopez removed a support wall and header to open up the layout. This allowed her to replace a peninsula with an island that offers more seating and better traffic flow. White cabinets, walls, backsplash tile, countertops and appliances brighten the look, while a white oak island base and range hood detail, as well as refinished red oak flooring, add warmth.
After: Lopez knocked the kitchen back to the studs and removed the peninsula, header and support walls.
She relocated the fridge to the wall containing the range and used the now open space to add a large island that created breezier circulation.
New custom paint-grade inset perimeter cabinets in a matte off-white finish join white appliances, countertops, walls (Swiss Coffee by Benjamin Moore) and zellige-style backsplash tile for a light and airy look. The rift-cut white oak island base and range hood detail, brass details and red oak flooring refinished with a light walnut stain balance the space with warmth.
“When somebody comes to me wanting light and bright, I like mixing white with the warmth of wood,” Lopez says. “There’s something clean and bright about this uncluttered kitchen. It has a farmhouse look, but the clean lines make it look more modern.”
Cabinet hardware: Freestone in satin brass, 5 inches, Emtek; ceiling paint: Decorator’s White, Benjamin Moore
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She relocated the fridge to the wall containing the range and used the now open space to add a large island that created breezier circulation.
New custom paint-grade inset perimeter cabinets in a matte off-white finish join white appliances, countertops, walls (Swiss Coffee by Benjamin Moore) and zellige-style backsplash tile for a light and airy look. The rift-cut white oak island base and range hood detail, brass details and red oak flooring refinished with a light walnut stain balance the space with warmth.
“When somebody comes to me wanting light and bright, I like mixing white with the warmth of wood,” Lopez says. “There’s something clean and bright about this uncluttered kitchen. It has a farmhouse look, but the clean lines make it look more modern.”
Cabinet hardware: Freestone in satin brass, 5 inches, Emtek; ceiling paint: Decorator’s White, Benjamin Moore
Find kitchen remodelers near you
Before: This photo shows how the dark cabinets dominated the look of the kitchen. A small casement window didn’t let in much light.
After: Lopez installed a new window that’s nearly double the size of the old one, maximizing light and views of the backyard.
An elegant white farmhouse sink offers a classic look. A paneled trash and recycling center sits to the right of the sink, a paneled dishwasher to the left. “We used a panel-ready dishwasher with a door and drawer design to create symmetry for the right and left of the sink,” Lopez says.
A commercial-style faucet in a brushed brass finish complements the cabinet hardware.
Marble-look quartz countertops feature a white background with barely-there veining. “It’s brighter than the cabinets, so it adds brightness to the space,” Lopez says.
Countertops: Smithfield, Cambria; sink: Franke; faucet: Crue in Moderne Brass, Kohler
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An elegant white farmhouse sink offers a classic look. A paneled trash and recycling center sits to the right of the sink, a paneled dishwasher to the left. “We used a panel-ready dishwasher with a door and drawer design to create symmetry for the right and left of the sink,” Lopez says.
A commercial-style faucet in a brushed brass finish complements the cabinet hardware.
Marble-look quartz countertops feature a white background with barely-there veining. “It’s brighter than the cabinets, so it adds brightness to the space,” Lopez says.
Countertops: Smithfield, Cambria; sink: Franke; faucet: Crue in Moderne Brass, Kohler
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An existing doorway leads to a powder room and a doorway to the basement.
New matte white appliances add to the light and bright effect. A custom hood over the 30-inch slide-in range features white shiplap and a white oak detail that matches the island base.
New matte white appliances add to the light and bright effect. A custom hood over the 30-inch slide-in range features white shiplap and a white oak detail that matches the island base.
The backsplash consists of 4-by-4-inch glazed ceramic tiles in varying shades of white that have a handcrafted look. “It kept things bright but added texture,” Lopez says.
Backsplash: Portmore in white, 4 by 4 inches, Tile Bar; refrigerator and range: GE Cafe
Backsplash: Portmore in white, 4 by 4 inches, Tile Bar; refrigerator and range: GE Cafe
This wide view from the living room shows the improved circulation and open connection between the kitchen and dining area on the left.
10 Dos and Don’ts of Designing a Kitchen Island
10 Dos and Don’ts of Designing a Kitchen Island
The interior side of the island holds a flat-panel microwave drawer and drawer storage.
The dining area features banquette seating and a pantry storage cabinet in the corner.
Microwave drawer: Sharp
The dining area features banquette seating and a pantry storage cabinet in the corner.
Microwave drawer: Sharp
The vintage chandelier over the dining table once belonged to the husband’s grandmother.
Pendants with glass globes and brass details provide task lighting over the island. “They don’t compete with the vintage chandelier and don’t visually take up lots of space,” Lopez says. “They just add to the airiness of the newly designed kitchen.”
(The kitchen and dining area also have LED recessed lights in the ceiling that were digitally removed from these photos by the photographer.)
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Pendants with glass globes and brass details provide task lighting over the island. “They don’t compete with the vintage chandelier and don’t visually take up lots of space,” Lopez says. “They just add to the airiness of the newly designed kitchen.”
(The kitchen and dining area also have LED recessed lights in the ceiling that were digitally removed from these photos by the photographer.)
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
Before: This floor plan of the former kitchen shows the support walls around the refrigerator (bottom center) and the peninsula (center), which cut the kitchen off from surrounding areas. “The refrigerator doors were protruding into the traffic,” Lopez says.
After: An island (center) replaced the support walls and peninsula. “We were able to create a light, bright and airy space that suits their lifestyle better,” Lopez says.
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More on Houzz
Read more kitchen stories
Browse kitchen photos
Hire a kitchen remodeler
Shop for kitchen products
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with a son, 10, and daughter, 9
Location: Bethpage, New York
Size: 238 square feet (22 square meters)
Designer: Ellen Lopez of EL Design Studio
Before: The former kitchen had a header and support walls surrounding the refrigerator that visually closed off the kitchen from the living room, right, and created a bottleneck. A peninsula separated the kitchen from a dining area to the left.
Cabinets in a java finish gave the kitchen a dark feel. “After living in the space for eight years, the cabinets were falling apart, the space was dark and gloomy and it was too tight for the growing family,” Lopez says.