Kitchen & Bath Business - September 2019 - 41

LEFT A farmhouse pantry door,

a rustic table and hardwood
ﬂoors are contrasted with
sleek, modern cabinetry and
gleaming countertops to complete a transitional space

BELOW In addition to the island,

the new countertops - also
quartzite - provide plentiful
workspace. Uncluttered
countertops, combined with
replacing the old cabinetry with
a wall of windows, gives the
kitchen a clean and crisp feel.

SOURCES
DESIGNER: Brittany
Rizzolo, Design Line
Kitchens; PHOTOGRAPHER:
Nettie Einhorn

kitchen table that would work equally well in a
farmhouse kitchen as it does in a modern one.
The homeowner also wanted to brighten up the
space, which translated into lighter color choices.
The maple doors are painted white, and the final
touch selected by the client was white subway tile.
Rizzolo is particularly fond of the custom range
hood, also in white, and says white is a trendy
color for kitchens, especially for a house located
by the shore.
FUNCTION MEETS BEAUTY

When Rizzolo took out the old cabinetry on
either side of the sink, the homeowner might
have lost a lot of storage space if the designer
hadn't engineered a creative solution. She replaced the original granite island with a much
larger marble-like quartzite island, which features a built-in microwave drawer, and the extra
hidden storage added onto the back of it makes
up for the lost cabinetry.
"A lot of people aren't willing to let go of wall
cabinets; usually clients want every square inch
covered with them, but there are so many possibilities," said Rizzolo.
A kitchen cannot be without any cabinetry, of
course, so she transformed the cabinetry on either
side of the range hood into stacked cabinets with
clear glass and puck lights. Stacked cabinets were
necessary in a room with 9-ft. ceilings and help
provide a balanced look.
A bench seat under the window next to the sliding glass door serves double duty as an extra seat for
guests and provides additional storage below. The
former kitchen also featured a desk to the right of
the pantry, but it took up unnecessary space. Riz-

zolo removed it and replaced it with a butler's pantry, along with additional
stacked-glass cabinetry that reaches the ceiling.
"The homeowner entertains a lot and needed more of a bar area, so we
added glass doors above the cabinets to showcase specialty glasses," said the
designer, who added that drawers below offer even more storage.
Although the square footage and general layout did not change all that
much post-renovation, the effect of the redesign was that the space feels larger,
and the enlarged workspace makes for a more functional kitchen. Rizzolo
said she attended a gathering at the client's home after the project was over,
and she saw firsthand how seamlessly guests could move through the new
kitchen - she said she even saw a guest sitting at the window seat.
Importantly, the new kitchen melds with the rest of the home from a
design standpoint, as the cabinet door style and sleek layout transformed a
traditional kitchen into a transitional space - one with plenty of storage and
light sources.

CABINETS: Design Line
Kitchens; COUNTERTOPS:
Taj Mahal Quartzite;
FAUCET & SINK: Kohler;
FLOORING: Armstrong;
HARDWARE: Top Knobs;
HOOD: Stanisci Hoods;
LIGHTING & STOOLS:

Restoration Hardware;
MICROWAVE DRAWER:

Sharp; PANTRY DOOR:
The Home Depot; RANGE:
Wolf; REFRIGERATOR: LG;
WALL PAINT: Benjamin
Moore

Kitchen & Bath Business - September 2019

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