The new island provides more countertop space for cooking at one end; the other end, which is set at bar height, accommodates four stools. “She also has seating in the breakfast nook,” notes Alexander.

She further installed two sets of French doors. One set is located on the same wall as the refrigerator and cooktop, leading to the outside deck. The second is situated on the back wall of the breakfast nook leading into the sunroom.

Keeping the Tradition
To blend with the rest of the home, Alexander incorporated traditional styling into the new kitchen, using a palette of warm colors “to create an emotional reaction [to induce a sense of] calmness and warmth.”

For starters, Alexander installed light maple wood Custom Cupboards cabinetry in Ginger with a Van Dyke Brown glaze. She used two different door styles, one for upper doors, and another for the base doors. The base doors feature dentil molding, a furniture-base toe board and matching door panels for all of the appliances.

Puck lighting and several glass panels are mixed in to accent glassware, while lighting installed midway under the cabinets illuminates the Voyara Gold granite countertops.

“The front of the island was designed to look like a piece of furniture, setting the tone for the rest of the kitchen. I wanted to give the front end of the island a furniture look, since it was seen from the dining area. We achieved that look by creating a chest facade with three drawers, corbels, fluted ends, corner pilasters and curved legs,” says Alexander.

She then grouped the cabinets in order to create four distinct cabinet towers. Each one is flanked with fluted columns and carved rosettes, giving all of them a common theme.

“The first cabinet tower was created with a wall cabinet and drawer that rested on the countertop and the Fisher & Paykel double DishDrawer dishwasher that was elevated to 42". The second cabinet tower houses the microwave. The third consists of two pantry cabinets stacked on top of one another. And the fourth houses the double oven and the TV above it,” explains the designer. Three of the four towers are located on the 279" sidewall.

Since the owners wanted a timeless feel, Alexander suggested paneling the appliances. “We decided to only expose the black glass on the cooktop, ovens and microwave. We also paneled the dishwasher,” she notes. “[And] the counter-depth refrigerator [furthers the] built-in look. I had the cabinet installer mount the cabinets above the refrigerator out from the wall to create the look.”

The original kitchen had two large pantries for storage, but Alexander decided “to install a larger 92" pantry for her large stock items with base cabinets on another wall for paper goods. The small appliances are now stored in the corner garage of the cabinets. There’s also lots of drawer space to store items that were once stored in other parts of her home,” she says. The new island further provides storage.