Kitchens are the heart of the home in almost every house, so having the perfect kitchen really helps to make a home feel complete. LaMantia’s artistic client in Forest Park had a modest-sized kitchen and dining area that didn’t offer enough storage for their needs and didn’t match their style or taste.
The homeowner’s love of color, sculpture, and natural stone gave LaMantia architect Gail Cabala-Lowry, NCARB and designer Annessa Zaharis, NCIDQ inspiration for a starting point.
Kitchen Renovation Challenges
There wasn’t an opportunity to expand this cozy kitchen, so Gail’s task was to work within the existing 300-square-foot kitchen and dining area. Because there was a need for more storage, the homeowner requested upper cabinets, and the kitchen layout needed to accommodate the owner’s new professional refrigerator.
The other challenge that our team faced with this Forest Park kitchen renovation was developing a design that would provide enough surface space to show off the unique, exotic granite that the owner had chosen for the backsplash and countertops.
Eye-Catching Colors Complete this Kitchen Renovation
The granite certainly stood as the focal point, so it was given ample display space surrounding the free-standing concave vent hood and cooking area.
To maximize the space, full-height Wood-Mode Alexandria inset upper cabinets were installed in a bright white finish in the corner, which helped to balance the wall oven cabinet on the other side of the vent hood.
Cabinet space was also increased by adding storage to the kitchen island and including two full-height flanking hutch cabinets, also in the bright white finish, in the dining nook.
The warm and cool colors of this kitchen renovation blend together with the materials, fixtures, and appliances to create a unique and vibrant aesthetic. The bright white finish of the cabinets complements the colorful granite, the warm brass fixtures, and the cool steel appliances, including a wall-mounted faucet. To accommodate for harsh Chicagoland winters, the backsplash was bumped out at the sink to create a heating cavity for the sink plumbing.
