The Midwest is home to many traditional architectural styles – Tudor, Colonial, Georgian, Federal, Cape Cod. The list goes on. We love designing in these homes, with their long architectural histories and great bones. But lately, we’ve had the opportunity to work with clients outside our geographical area, which opens up a whole new world of home styles to play in, ones that allow us to break the mold a bit.
This Spanish-style home in Carmel, California, is such a special example of this, and we are so excited to share photos and details of the finished spaces with you!
The project was a pretty comprehensive overhaul of the existing kitchen and butler’s pantry (featured previously here). These spaces had all the hallmarks of traditional Spanish-style homes: beautiful wood-beamed vaulted ceilings, terracotta tile flors, solid, heavy doors. We never want to whitewash out the details that make these homes unique, and this was no exception. Honoring these defining features, while also updating the home for modern living, were our primary goals.
We love a good before & after, so let’s start there.
Regular Park & Oak followers know that we are not afraid of dark cabinetry in a kitchen. You can see from the before and after that even though the original wood stained cabinetry is lighter in tone than the new cabinets – painted with Farrow & Ball Downpipe – the room feels more open and airy than it did before. One significant element in helping brighten up the room was painting the ceiling sections between each beam, and carrying that color down into the range hood, as well. We used Benjamin Moore White Dove here, and by keeping the range hood the same color as the ceiling, we were able to open up what might otherwise feel like an enclosed space.
Wanting to be intentional about honoring the Spanish-style architecture, we added a Tabarka tile backsplash to the range. Tabarka is renowned for their collections of terracotta tile that are formed, painted and glazed by hand. It was the perfect added Spanish-influenced element for this kitchen, and is a great foil for the La Cornue range top.
There are so many details to love in this kitchen, but one that may not immediately stand out, and lends so much character, are the custom reeded fronts of the Rift-Sawn White Oak island. We had an excellent Builder/General Contractor partner on this project – Masterworks Builders – and they knocked it out of the park bringing this vision to life. Take a closer look! Aren’t these gorgeous?
When you take in the full view of the kitchen, you may notice that the integrated refrigerator is not flush with the cabinetry. This is intentional, designed with architectural details that help it mimic an armoir, bringing character and warmth to the room, and making what can sometimes be a bit of an eyesore – big, metal refrigeration – into a beautiful centerpiece. Armac Martin hardware seals the deal on an elegant space.
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