{House and Home Magazine}—In many homes, the kitchen is the most used room of the house. Austere dining rooms and even comfortable keeping rooms are often passed with only a glance as families and guests cluster around bars, islands or other seating arrangements to be closer to the activity in the kitchen. Perhaps this is why many builders and designers pour painstaking effort into ensuring that no detail is overlooked in crafting a flawless kitchen.
Lafayette builders Clifton and Jodi Bolgiano, of Bolgiano Custom Homes, created an expansive kitchen for a homeowner that is marked by an expansive Old St. Louis brick wall and arch that separates the kitchen from the keeping area. The inspiration for the kitchen began with the homeowner, who wanted to accommodate the island while ensuring that the space would open well to the rest of the home.
The grandeur of the arched entry, created by Lafayette's Mike Baker Brick, is softened by the warmth of the kitchen. By pairing red mahogany with light earth tones, Bolgiano Custom Homes built a timeless cooking space.
The cabinets, one of the most notable features of the rich room, are a true mahogany with a slightly different grain pattern. Lafayette's Blackwater Design created the cabinet design and layout. "They did a very nice job," says Clifton Bolgiano. "The cabinets are full extension and are very well trimmed out; there are no bare edges."
The cabinetry includes special details such as pull-out spice racks on the sides of the stove and bookcases on either end of the island. According to Clifton, mahogany is often found in traditional homes, and the Bolgianos wanted to bring this design element to the home.
The lighter cream colors in the wall, flooring and countertop materials were used to balance the kitchen's design and accentuate the antique glaze finish on the cabinets.
"It's Jodi's signature to use neutral or earth tones in designs," Clifton says. "The lighter tones let the mahogany speak for itself."
While Clifton and Jodi own and work together at Bolgiano Custom Homes, Jodi also owns Bolgiano Custom Finishes, in which she specializes in fine wall finish applications. Jodi designed the wall treatment, which is a hand-trolled Italian plaster.
The flooring is a chiseled-edge travertine, set in a Versailles pattern with a wide grout line. "Usually that type of flooring is set really close together," Clifton says. "But the wider grout gives it the Old World look."
The large island in the kitchen creates a space for cooking, seating or other family projects. However, the sheer size of the island presented a challenge in building and designing the remaining space, Clifton says. "We had to fit the large island in the kitchen and create a pattern that would allow people to pass between the island and the walls and cabinets," he explains. "We also wanted it to have a nice aesthetic, so we softened the corners by rounding them out to relieve that sharp edge."
The countertops for the island and surrounding cabinets are 3cm granite, which is thicker than most countertops. To illuminate the large island, the homeowner wanted three lights above it. Jodi chose the pendant lights, along with the homeowner, at Shelton's Gallery in Lafayette. The other lamps, jars and accessories came from Bolgiano Custom Finishes. Jodi creates custom lamps, cushions and window treatments through her business.
For the Bolgianos, lighting is an important factor in lending softness to a room. "We always do above and below cabinet lighting," explains Clifton. "We include plugs and switches underneath the cabinets for the use of decorative lamps."
The kitchen also features a banquette, which accents the kitchen with its dark brown and light green hues. The cushions for the banquette were custom made by Jodi, along with the pillows which are made of faux silk. "I chose the faux silk for the durability," says Jodi. "It's in a wine room, and you wouldn't be able to wash real silk."
Since the glass doors open up to create a wine and cheese service area, the banquette is mobile. As for the fabrics, Jodi chose linen for the window treatment in the kitchen first and then chose accent colors for the banquette cushion and throw pillows.
A lofty 10 foot ceiling and GE Monogram appliances provide the perfect finish for this grand kitchen.
In another Lafayette home, Larayn Guidroz with Swags and Tassels created a chef's kitchen for a family of cooks. With a set of parents and four sons-three of whom live in the home-who all love to cook, Guidroz had her work cut out for her.
There was no room in the home to expand the kitchen, but she needed to double everything in the space, from cabinet space to countertops, and add up-to-date appliances. The end result is a beautiful kitchen with French details and unrivaled accessibility.
"I needed to make the kitchen more functional for this large family," says Guidroz. "This is a kitchen that truly is the heart of the home. There is constantly someone in there cooking."
The existing kitchen had 10 foot ceilings, and included 500 square feet of space. To create more room for storage, Guidroz moved several items and adapted the layout. The stove used to be where the television is now, which created room for a pantry. "I didn't enlarge the room, I just expanded cabinet space," says Guidroz.
A large part of the new storage space lies underneath the island, which measures 10 feet by 40 feet. The previous island was half the size. There is storage underneath, bookshelves on each end and a beverage center on the opposite side of the bar stools. Guidroz chose the bar stools with leather seats and no backs so they could easily slide under the island.
The cabinets also create additional storage. They are made from a lightly antiqued cream wood, and were designed to be what Guidroz calls a "furniture element."
The mix of the dark wood in the island and pantry, coupled with the cream wood of the cabinets, creates interest through varied tones and textures. Guidroz also used varying styles of cabinets, including straight-edged, square and glass-front versions with bonnet tops, in order to give the kitchen a more homey quality.
"The bonnet top is something you usually see on armoires," says Guidroz. "It just gives the room more detail, so it's not just a solid straight molding."
The kitchen's new banquette was built into an existing alcove, which brings more seating to the space. The cushion and window treatments were custom made by Swags and Tassels. The cushion is made out of outdoor fabric and unzips so it can be washed easily.
"The window treatments are made of black linen with gold, green and brick colors," says Guidroz. "I wanted something strong that wouldn't look too light against the cabinets. Then I chose the cheetah print to add a fun element. The colors-black and tan and gold-really accent the drapes. It's unexpected."
The dark wood banquette table adds to the warmth of the kitchen, and is accented with the iron, bronze and crystal chandelier from Swags and Tassels. The room's color scheme was continued in the Victoria Supreme granite that was used on the countertops and stove backsplash. A gold plaster wall treatment and two pendant lamps over the island made of iron, bronze and glass complete the kitchen's details. Underfoot, cream travertine with metal inserts provides a neutral foundation for the room.
Unique appliances also customize this kitchen for cooking aficionados. The oversized stove and oven is a LaCorne double oven with eight burners, which serves as another French element in the space. A hammered copper farmer's sink was also added to the kitchen.
While the fireplace existed, Guidroz added accessories from Swags and Tassels such as the antique starburst over the fireplace and the wall clock beside it. Since the family uses the back door more often than the front, Guidroz placed a small cabinet and a mail slot to keep keys and cell phones; which adds to the functionality of the room.
"Without changing anything structural in the kitchen, I had to create a place that is indestructible and functional and that looks great at the same time," Guidroz says.
For a large family who loves spending time in the kitchen, it seems Guidroz exceeded her task with flying colors-blacks, creams and golds. Even the golden lab, Maggie, seems satisfied.
In another kitchen design challenge, clients for Michael and Cati Hardy of By Design Interiors had lived in an old plantation home before building their new home. Although they wanted to incorporate modern elements into their new kitchen, they wanted it to have the old feel they relished in their plantation home. By combining textures of brick and limestone with green and red hues, the Hardys did exactly that.
Michael jumped into the building process about four months into construction, so it was easier for the Hardys to help their clients have the kitchen of their dreams.
"It was really nice to work with people like this," Michael says. "They were open to my ideas and it really made my job a pleasure."
Although there are several different textures in the kitchen, they all work together to create the lived-in feel the clients were looking for. The flooring, along with the entry behind the double oven, is made of Old St. Louis brick. To complement the brick, Michael said he chose a cypress wood for the island, cabinets and refrigerator.
For Michael, the most challenging part about creating this kitchen was the custom made limestone hood above the stove. "Lots of kitchens now have a stainless steel hood over the stove," he says. "But I wanted to use a different material just to add to the older look."
Michael said the hood arrived in several different pieces and was difficult to assemble; the pieces had to be mortared together like brick. Extra beams were added to the wall to support the hood.
The black backsplash behind the stove is a piece taken from an antique stove; a piece that used to be essential. The piece came from Baton Rouge's Lands Welding.
"The backsplash is something different; I wanted to use it to give more interest in the room," says Michael.
Other points of interest in the kitchen are the oversized lanterns above the island. The lanterns were custom made by Delgado Antique Doors in Baton Rouge, and the design was copied from an antique French lantern.
As for the colors, Michael said he chose the granite first, which is a medium green. "I knew I didn't want black granite, and I didn't want anything too light," says Michael. "I hadn't picked any fabrics yet, but I wanted very traditional colors in the kitchen, like reds and greens."
The neutral fabric with hints of green and red for the large, loveseat-type barstools was purchased at Brunschwig & Fils. "This is a family of four and they really enjoy those barstools," he said. "All of them can sit there at once."
Proving that kitchens can host a mix of colors and materials and still retain a sense of style and design, Baton Rouge design consultant William Evans of Abat-Jour L.L.C. added numerous interesting elements to a kitchen in a recent renovation.
"The kitchen required a major renovation," says William. "Although we utilized the existing space, we gave the kitchen a facelift. We added the granite, changed out all the cabinetry to add glass doors and reconfigured the space on the island to house trash pull-outs and an icemaker."
The granite came from Triton Stone Group and was installed by Assured Flooring, while the unique buff glass and granite backsplash came from Pro Source of Baton Rouge.
"The great thing about this project is that the homeowner wanted something modern, clean and different that would make a bold statement and draw attention when anyone walked into the kitchen," says William. "The backsplash at Pro Source jumped out at us and worked perfectly with the granite."
Although the homeowner had preselected the granite for the countertops and was specific as to color for kitchen cabinets, William says his job was to find bold, interesting and different elements to complete the look. "I knew as long as I stayed with the black and white variation, everything in the kitchen was going to work well together," says William.
The kitchen hood was original to home, and William said he and the homeowner decided to keep the hood intact to provide warmth from the rich wood.
Although the cypress beams along the ceiling were also retained from the original space to provide a rustic contrast to the kitchen's other modern elements, new glass door fronts were added to all the cypress cabinets.
An epoxy paint was applied to the brick floors for a soft, neutral base. A stove top surface was added, with functioning drawers underneath, although double ovens were included on the other side of the kitchen for a range of cooking options. Modern touches throughout the kitchen create visual interest. Acrylic hardware on cabinets from The Front Door in Baton Rouge keeps the lines of the kitchen clean. "We wanted to make the cabinet hardware featured, but wanted the focus to remain on the backsplash and granite," says William. A bold sink from LCR/The Plumbing Warehouse adds another contemporary detail, while preserving the comfortable and welcoming quality of the space.
Lighting underneath the cabinets that was installed using dimmers creates a softness that offsets the kitchen's modern elements. "A motion detector on the kitchen lighting was added to the toe kick underneath all the cabinets so that the lights illuminate when someone walks in the kitchen, and the lighting stays on until the motion stops, and then shuts off automatically," says William.
The final look for the kitchen is a melding of many different elements such as copper, glass, painted wood, granite and brick, says William, which together creates a perfect blend-much like a favorite recipe.