One of the biggest draws of a minimalistic design is its calming effect. With a simplistic look and a neutral palette, this type of style can suggest stillness and tranquility to busy homeowners. Designer Abigail Syltie of Farmers Branch, Texas-based Redstone Kitchens had two clients that requested this feel in their home.
“These homeowners wanted a serene space where they could entertain their guests or just enjoy a cup of coffee,” she said.
Changing the Layout
To accommodate entertaining, the kitchen needed to open onto the nearby living room, which was currently closed off by a wall.
“Tearing down the wall between the kitchen and living room was one of the biggest challenges because we did not know if it was possible,” said Syltie, explaining that this was a load-bearing wall and the potential opening would be 15 feet long. “When we did though, it made a huge impact on the space.”
They overcame this challenge by adding in a glulam, or glued laminated timber, beam. This innovative material is stronger than steel and has more strength and stiffness than lumber, and it holds the heavy weight well across the long opening.
With the room opened up, the design team used AutoCAD to plan one wall of cabinetry, an adjacent long countertop with minimal upper and lower storage and two islands with seating: one large working island in the center of the kitchen and a smaller island near the living room. The bigger island holds the sink and will serve as a place for prep work, and the other island offers a second area for guests to sit.
Disguising the Kitchen
Another requirement of the clients was that the renovated room did not look like a typical kitchen. The design team was able to achieve this by installing all appliances and tall cabinetry on one main wall and storing any small countertop items, like blenders or mixers, in the base cabinets. Without having additional kitchen clutter exposed, the room maintains its simple look.
The storage itself looks less like cabinetry because of its lack of hardware. Instead of hindering the minimalistic design with pulls and knobs, the design team used c-channels. This type of pull is hidden on the top edge of the base cabinet doors, where there is a groove in the shape of a “C” and is easily grabbed.
“With the c-channel installed in the cabinetry, we were able to minimize extra lines from regular hardware pulls,” said Syltie, adding that panel-ready appliances, which have the same fronts as the cabinetry, were specified so they blended in.
Blum lift-up hinges were installed on the upper cabinets above the ovens. These mechanisms raise the cabinet doors for easy access to the higher storage, without the use of exposed hardware.
A Little Warmth
Even all-white, minimalist designs can use a touch of color. In this case, the clients wanted some wood elements to warm up the kitchen. The most visible wood element is a section of upper cabinetry directly across from the islands.
“Rift-cut veneer brings an elegant surprise to this set of cabinets,” said the designer, explaining that the cabinetry above the cooktop contrasts the white, high-lacquer cabinets below.
A 3-in.-thick, rift-cut walnut surround also encases the adjacent wall of tall cabinetry where the ovens are. This adds architectural detail to the space and ties into the walnut veneer upper cabinets.
“I love the fact that when you walk into the space it feels serene, and it looks like the kitchen belongs in the home,” said Syltie. “The walnut cabinets give it the interest this contemporary kitchen deserves.”
