It’s every designer’s dream: clients with clarity. Of the owners of the 1999 residence on Long Island who were looking to renovate their already-modern kitchen, designer John Starck, Jr. owner of Manhasset, NY-based Showcase Kitchens, said, “They knew what they didn’t want, and more importantly, what they wanted.”
What the homeowners wanted was to open up the semi-enclosed, two-walled space. What they did not want was a white kitchen, as it needed to complement the adjoining living and dining areas. For Starck, this meant engineering significant structural modifications, creating a clutter-concealing service kitchen, while the interior designer, Rhonda Scharf, curated a sophisticated color and materials palette.
Modern Kitchen Challenges
The house was essentially a work of modern architecture. None of the interior angles were 90 degrees, which added to the challenge of reconstruction. A faceted second-floor balcony floated over the kitchen, supported by three columns and a load-bearing wall.
To open the space required removing that wall and support beams. The ceiling was reconstructed with horizontal beaming and adding new columns. Since all the appliances would be relocated, the entire utility infrastructure was rerouted. The result was a spacious, open kitchen approximately 26-feet by 24-feet in size.
With the new kitchen visible throughout the ground floor, the client wanted to maintain its clean lines; they requested a staging area that could be used when entertaining. The designer salvaged unused floorspace behind the kitchen, repurposing it into a 5-foot by 14-foot scullery. The existing dishwasher and microwave were reused in the service kitchen, which also houses a trash compactor.
To fulfill the clients’ request for a contemporary metallic finish as part of the kitchen, Starck chose a brushed rose-gold finish for the Wolf ventilation hood, which works beautifully with the Calacatta Gold counters from Silestone and the ash brown of the Composit Kitchens cabinets. “I’m delighted with how the sleekness and tonalities of the kitchen serve as the perfect hub of the main floor, bridging the living room, family room and outdoors,” said Starck.
Filled with cold white cabinets and stainless steel appliances, the existing kitchen was defined by two walls. A split-level island acted as the edge of the L-shape space.
Sources
Design: John Starck, Jr., Showcase Kitchens; Interior Designer: Rhonda Scharf, RBS Designs; Photography: Tim Cree/Creepwalk Media; Cabinets: Composit Kitchens; Cooktop, Microwave, Vent Hood, Wall Ovens, Warming Drawer: Wolf; Countertops: Silestone; Dishwasher: Bosch; Faucets: Moen; Flooring: Carlisle; Lighting: Artika; Refrigerator: Sub-Zero; Seating: West Elm; Sink: Kraus
