Kitchen & Bath Business - January 2019 - 48

Balanced Budget

existing structural beam that was in the kitchen and
adjacent guest room saved the client thousands of
dollars.The kitchen cabinets were originally intended
to have back-painted glass doors,but instead floating
shelves were installed to save on cost.
Similarly, the original specs for the flooring called for a wide wood plank -
specifically, European white oak - but in the end, they had to compromise with
smaller,5-in.-wide plank with red oak.Le explained that while red oak is much
less expensive than white oak,it shows more of the vein,which meant they had to
apply a dark stain to hide that,but it was a better economical choice nonetheless.
SHOW ME THE MONEY

The clients had a few splurges on their kitchen wish list, the main one being
the high-end tile used for the countertops and an engineered Cambria quartz
island that resembles marble in gray and cream tones. Originally, the only
walnut in the kitchen plan was that in the island, but Le said it looked too
sterile, so they ended up spending more to get some walnut accents elsewhere
in the space.
The geometric black-and-white handmade backsplash was also pricey, but
it was important for the clients to add a touch of pizzazz and whimsy to the
kitchen while keeping with the timelessness of the mid-century modern style.
"To add interest and create a focal point at the range hood, we decided to
tile only the range area and [use a simpler backsplash on the rest of the walls],"
said Le, who explained that this was another way to save money, as the plan
had been to place backsplash tile on all the wall surfaces in the kitchen.
INTEGRATING THE OUTDOORS INSIDE THE BATHROOM

The kids' bathroom renovation budget was much tighter than the kitchen
budget, topping out at around $50,000. Le carried over the mid-century
modern theme in this space with a design inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's
iconic Fallingwater, an organically designed home in western Pennsylvania
that integrates the indoors and outdoors. Similarly, the goal was to bring the
natural elements indoors to create a tranquil space. For example, the floor tile
resembles the look and feel of concrete, though it is actually Italian porcelain.
"The shower niche has a beautiful blue glass that mimics the movement of
water," said the designer, who added that this tile was one of the splurges in
this bathroom."The tile in the niche is also applied to the backsplash behind
the sink countertop to bring a soft contrast of color and material and tie in
the whole design concept."
The same concept of flat-panel cabinet doors in the kitchen was used in
the bathroom, but instead of the pristine white, Le and his team reversed the
palette and used a dark, wenge wood laminate.
SAVING IN THE MASTER

Le substituted chrome finishes for brushed nickel
to cut costs. While he usually uses glass doors for
most of the showers he designs, in this case he
decided to use the shower curtain from the former
bathroom and cut out the existing glass enclosure
to save money. Because of this budget compromise, they had to hot mop the entire shower area.
"With a shower curtain, there will be more
splashing, so we waterproofed the entire shower/
tub area, including the floor at the toilets," said
the designer. "The cost for hot mopping is much
less than having the glass enclosure and glass barn
[door] hardware."


48

RIGHT Porcelain tile gives a
woodsy look to an otherwise
pristine space, while the
mosaic glass is both elegant
and playful.

Kitchen & Bath Business / JANUARY 2019 / KBBONLINE.COM / The official publication of KBIS (KBIS.com)

SOURCES
DESIGNER: Kyle Le,
Timeline Design + Build;
PHOTOGRAPHER:

Curtis Finger

KITCHEN

APPLIANCES: Bosch;
BACKSPLASH: Fireclay
Tiles; CABINETS:

Columbia Cabinetry;

COUNTERTOPS: Cambria;
FAUCET: Hansgrohe;
FLOORING: Monarch
Plank; HARDWARE:

Atlas Homewares & Top
Knobs; HOOD: Zephyr;
PAINT: Benjamin Moore;
PENDANTS: Tech Lighting;
SINK: ROHL

MASTER BATH

CABINETRY: Columbia
Cabinetry; COUNTERTOP,
FLOOR TILE & SINKS:
Porcelanosa; DECORATIVE
TILE: Lunada Bay;
HARDWARE: Atlas

Homewares & Top Knobs;
SHOWER FIXTURES:

Hansgrohe; TOILET: TOTO
http://www.KBBONLINE.COM http://www.KBIS.com
Kitchen & Bath Business - January 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Kitchen & Bath Business - January 2019
