Entertainer's Delight:
A Light and Bright Kitchen

Who says light and bright kitchens are always white? With a busy lifestyle and young children, these homeowners wanted a big, bright kitchen - that could also handle everything they could throw at it! By refinishing the hardwood floors in a lighter shade and keeping the paint colors, countertops, and backsplash light, we went with a soft wood stain (with gray undertones) for the cabinets and still achieved a kitchen that is not only a light and airy feeling, but also shows a lot less mess than an all-white kitchen!

A look at the full kitchen space, featuring solid hardwood flooring, custom stained walnut cabinetry, a large center island with four bar stool chairs. on the left side is a Wolf stove range, in the back is the refrigerator, and on the right is the w
Another view of the kitchen from the Wolf range. In the center of the kitchen you can see the curved countertop island with four bar stools. On the left, just behind the kitchen island is the large stainless-steel fridge.
A closer look at the Wolf range with custom spice storage pullout on both sides of the Wolf range.
A look at the Wolf range surrounded by custom stained walnut cabinetry, glass backsplash, and quartz countertops.
A look at the kitchen island and quartz countertops from the refrigerator area, looking into the living room beyond the curved island.
A closer look at the custom stained walnut cabinetry that surrounds the kitchen sink and dishwasher. You can see glass tile backsplash above the quartz countertops. The floor is a lighter refinished solid hardwood flooring.
A closer look at the stainless-steel fridge, to the left of the fridge is more walnut cabinetry, unique open shelving, and pull-up upper cabinetry for easy to reach storage.
A look at the right side of the kitchen, featuring custom stained walnut cabinetry and floating shelves, accordion window that allows food to be passed to the exterior for BBQing, stainless-steel apron front sink, dishwasher and dishwasher drawer.
A closer look at the custom stained walnut cabinetry surrounding the kitchen sink and dishwasher. Above the sink is the accordion window, and to the left are floating shelves.

Project Details: This kitchen was a complete remodel and reconfiguration. We took the kitchen and nearby living room down to the studs, and only changed one wall (we turned part of a full height wall into a pony wall for the raised countertop near the fridge). This family loves to cook, has young kids and wanted a space that could accommodate entertaining lots of kiddos and adults so we created work zones - the sink stayed in pretty much the same location, but we replaced the small window with an accordion window that allows food to be passed to the exterior for BBQing, we moved the range so it was on the wall opposite the sink and we located the fridge between the two zones for easy access from either one. We designed an island with a curved countertop so we could fit 4 stools and a secondary raised (bar height) counter with two more stools near the fridge. This kitchen features custom stained walnut cabinets, quartz countertops, a full height metallic glass backsplash, stainless steel appliances, a stainless-steel apron front sink, and solid hardwood flooring (which was refinished during the remodel).

Project Location: Aptos, CA 95003

Photography Credit: Devi Pride Photography

Contractor: Thompson Construction

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