Kitchen & Bath Business - November/December 2018 - 47

A Lake Michigan home gets a modern refresh
By Carrie Whitney

MOVE FROM THE CITY to a rural area provided a couple with significantly
more square footage and amazing views, but bringing their preference for a
modern aesthetic required a serious renovation. Homeowner Jill Maremont
called on friend and award-winning designer and custom builder Scott
Dresner of Chicago-based Dresner Design to transform the A-Frame
she and her husband had purchased by taking advantage of its existing
good bones and simple, clean design and giving it the sleek look for which
Dresner is known.
"We were just ready for a place where we could have a little more peace and
quiet, room to spread out and have a little bit more nature," said Maremont,
who holds a degree in interior design and is CEO and principal of a public
relations firm specializing in art and design.
Her educational and professional experience enabled her to assist in the
project. For example, she was often on site while work was completed, and
Dresner could not be present because of the home's distance from Chicago.
She also chose colors and finishings in the powder room and laundry room.
"This was a project where two friends, who are both professionals, united,"
said Dresner.

GAINING SPACE AND MODERNITY

Situated in Michiana Shores, Ind., the 3,800-sq.-ft. home included a spacious first level with an open floor plan. However, even though the home
boasted large expanses of glass, skylights and cathedral ceilings, the kitchen
was tucked into a corner, and its footprint was small. Without taking space
from the adjacent living area, Dresner was tasked with expanding the kitchen
and bringing a modern aesthetic to the entire space.
"We do a ton of entertaining, and we love to cook," said Maremont, who
added that she wanted the home to be functional for welcoming guests and
allow for multiple people and happenings to be possible in and around the
kitchen at the same time. "I always dreamed of having a brand new kitchen
that would actually work."
The directive to create a space that encouraged entertaining meant a
large island was a must, yet despite the initial small footprint of the kitchen,
Dresner made no structural changes. Instead, he elongated the layout to
visually incorporate the dining room into the kitchen. Where previously all
cabinetry had been justified to the left, he stretched the line of gloss-white
cabinets all the way across the wall, even adding a shelf above the sliding
doors between the kitchen and dining room, which pulls the whole space
together instead of making it look like two distinct rooms. Where the cabinets extended into the dining room, Dresner also created a coffee bar area.
To meet the second goal of creating a modern aesthetic, Dresner turned to
Stosa Cucine,a modern,Italian kitchen brand for which he is a U.S.distributor.
The flat-paneled cabinetry he chose features a gloss-white lacquer on MDF
and recycled particleboard boxes. In fact, all of Stosa's panels are recycled and
taped all the way around so no gas is emitted. Even with its high-end look,
durability and eco-friendliness, the line does not require a big budget. According to Dresner, Stosa sells 30,000 kitchens a year, which demonstrates
its accessibility to a wide audience. Another budget-friendly bonus, Dresner
shipped Maremont's cabinets in a container with other projects to save money,
something he does whenever he has the opportunity.

Kitchen & Bath Business - November/December 2018

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