This sprawling historic craftsman retains many of its original refined details, from the exquisite woodwork, coffered ceilings, to the stained-glass windows and butler stairs. However, by the time the homeowners bought the place, it had been divided into five individual apartments. We sought to simplify the floor plan and consolidate some bedrooms and restore the house.

The design of the space took into account the homeowners’ desire to have a monochromatic living room and primary bedroom yet very fun and graphic elements in other spaces. Blending realistic and abstract, exuberant and restrained, curvilinear and geometric, there is an intention to embrace the comfortable elegance of Craftsmans, whilst creating a wholly new aesthetic experience. 

“We wanted to respect and highlight the linear nature of the Craftsman features of the house, but then by incorporating movement via materials, shapes and lighting, we create an inherent flow through the otherwise rigid spaces, and simultaneously create a sort of soft coziness in rooms that would otherwise feel formal.”

The kitchen in this house was a very fun challenge. It was previously a very small galley kitchen that we had to turn into a chef’s kitchen. One of the homeowners loves to cook and entertain so we had to create a space that could both accommodate the needs of a home chef, and become a worthy center of the party when they entertain.

To make this happen, we first fully planned the cabinetry to accommodate the client’s workflow in the kitchen, what they used the most, what they used the least, where the items needed to be, how they needed to be put away, etc. We then space planned every drawer and cabinet to accommodate the challenging shapes of the pans and tools. We managed to design a kitchen that not only fit all the cooking implements the client needed but it made the act of cooking a little bit easier, where everything has a place and it is easy to put things away.  After we figured that out, we created a nice coffee bar that can be covered up with cabinetry doors, and pan storage that can be concealed but fully accessible in a moment's notice.

We believe good design is led by function first, so the utility and usage of the room is first and foremost for us. But after we tackled the functional challenge of the room, we got into the fun stuff!

The house is naturally shaded, and the kitchen was dark. The clients wanted a light and bright kitchen, but we don’t really believe in white spaces so our mission was to create that feel without resorting to layering whites.

There is access to the backyard here and the room is heavily trafficked from the outside, so we chose a dark glazed brick with a contrasting grout to create a graphic base to the room. We then created custom cabinetry in a warm greige tone that had to work with existing hard elements in the room. We created an appliance garage and an island accented with a wood wrap that is both beautiful and functional. The countertop has been leathered, and finished out the room with a flat colored large scale tile that emulates the texture of unfolded paper. The monochromatic kitchen became a light airy space, letting the magnificent foliage outside shine.