Kitchen: Calm, Expansive Space For Family Gatherings

After: To match this up with the previous photo, look at the large new window on the left, which is in about the same place the existing windows were. The renovation included replacing the hot water heater with a tankless water heater in a different location. This allowed Glaister to straighten out the angled wall.

The layout of the kitchen is U-shaped and zoned. The left side has a beverage station and lots of countertop workspace. Glaister centered the main cooking area on the back wall. “We flanked the Wolf range with pullouts that contain the utensils, oils and spices needed for cooking there,” she says. “The range area is the command center for the kitchen, and this is the husband’s favorite spot.”

The wife’s favorite area is the baking station. Located on the right side of the kitchen, it contains a dedicated baking pantry and a lift for the KitchenAid stand mixer. The right side of the kitchen also has a run of floor-to-ceiling cabinets for pantry storage. The fridge is located along this wall.

The 12-foot-long island plays a key role in helping the family work together successfully. It can seat up to six people on one side. Glaister designed the opposite side, seen here, for serious prep work, as well as cleanup.

The flush-inset workstation sink is 5 feet long, has two faucets with pull-down sprayers and a variety of inserts for prep, including a colander and cutting board. The island’s base cabinets include a dishwasher on the left and a pullout trash and recycling cabinet and microwave drawer on the right.

The look of the cabinetry is sleek and uncluttered by hardware. Glaister used touch-latch cabinet hardware to maintain the clean-lined look.

Workstation sink: Mila

Floor plan: The placement of prep, cooking, beverage, storage and baking areas was key to making this layout conducive to several people working in the kitchen at the same time. While these placements should keep people out of each other’s way, there was also moving traffic to consider.

For example, when lots of family members are working together, someone might be standing at the sink prepping while another works at the range, and someone else might want to scoot in between them. Accordingly, Glaister left a generous 52 inches between the island and the perimeter countertops. By comparison, the bare minimum recommendation between these areas is 36 inches, while 42 to 48 inches is recommended by kitchen design experts. This is a good example of listening to clients about the ways they function in the kitchen and designing for their specific needs.

The approximately 25-foot-long range wall is covered in a beautiful hand-cut ceramic tile. The mix of the natural green hues in the tile, the wood tones in the island base and the flooring, the sintered stone of the countertops and the trowel-textured concrete finish on the pendant lights creates a calming, organic feel. The materials were a big part of achieving the zen feeling that Glaister’s clients craved.

Symmetry was also important for creating calm, and it was important to the homeowners. With the window on the left throwing off the symmetry of the range wall, Glaister had to find a way to rebalance things.

“I knew I needed to bring in symmetry in an architectural way,” she says. She balanced custom metal and wood shelves on either side of the vent hood. These shelves and the spacing of the three pendant lights over the island lend a strong sense of symmetry.

Counters: Silestone by Cosentino, fabricated by Jim Hulstrom of Purestone; tile installation: Jason Parris of Parris Tile & Stone; lighting: Phillips Lighting & Home

The black metal offers contrast to the light materials in the kitchen. The white oak shelves are thick, giving a strong presence along the long wall. “I custom-designed these because I find that sometimes ready-made shelving like this can be kind of wimpy,” Glaister says. “A local metalworker made the frames and powder-coated them matte black. Then I had my cabinetmaker, David Azevedo, craft the shelves from the same white oak veneer we used on the island cabinets. David did an amazing job of routing them out so that they fit perfectly within the metal frames.”

Lights inside the metal rods provide light above and below the top shelves and from beneath the bottom shelves to the countertops.

Glaister also added subtle texture to the design. The perimeter cabinets are a veneer with a linen texture. “Kitchens, with all their glass, tile and stone, can feel cold awfully quickly if you aren’t careful,” Glaister says. “I needed something that would keep the contemporary style from leaning too sterile.”

Letting in lots of natural light was a design priority for the couple. Glaister replaced the existing windows in the house with energy-efficient ones supplied by Stockton vendor All American Glass. “These windows meet all the Title 24 requirements and have a lifetime warranty,” she says. “Warranties that will protect my clients are very important to me. Also, I lean heavily on local vendors. I know them and I know they will deliver and install when they say they will. I let my clients know in advance that these are the vendors we’ll be using and why.” In this project, Glaister used local vendors for the lighting, flooring, tile, cabinetry, metalwork, countertops, plumbing fixtures, appliances and windows.

The counters run right into the window frames, providing the clean lines the homeowners love. “This also draws the eye outside and gives more visual access to the yard,” Glaister says.

The left side of the kitchen has another large picture window. Glaister brought in one of her favorite collaborators, landscape designer Mary Dewing, to create a seamless look between indoors and out. “This was a very important part of the renovations,” Glaister says. “We have gigantic windows and 16-foot sliding glass doors in here, so the landscape had to jibe with the kitchen.” This part of the project was in progress when these photos were taken.

Windows and doors: Ultra series, Milgard Windows & Doors, All American Glass

After: Glaister moved the family room into the existing formal living room so this area could be fully incorporated into the dining area. She redesigned the fireplace surround, giving it a clean, minimalist look. She also ripped out the wall-to-wall carpeting in this area to extend the new wood-look luxury vinyl planks throughout the entire space.

She designed a dining table that could seat 10 between this area and the working end of the kitchen. The table is a custom design and wasn’t finished by photo shoot day. “I also got them 10 really comfy upholstered chairs for the dining table,” Glaister says. “They can sit and visit at that table and be cozy by the fire for hours. Plus, there’s room for six more to sit at the island, so a large group can gather together in here.”

Flooring: Pikes Peak by Paradigm, House of Carpets