A Lighter Shade of Pale(6)
A Lighter Shade of Pale
Realizing that their finished house would be the setting for dinner parties and other gatherings for friends and family, Loi and Thomas wanted the galley kitchen to be hardworking and happy so they could easily prepare food. Cabinets were torn out and replaced with recessed-panel Shaker-style ones, which were then painted sunny yellow, a departure from the suite of whites that illuminate most of the rest of the house.
As antiques dealers, Loi and Thomas sought to salvage as many existing elements as possible. “We didn’t want anything in the house that was too foreign to the original architecture,” explains Loi. Instead of buying new hardware for the cabinetry, they took the kitchen’s original brass hardware and had it nickel-plated—a solution that gives a recycled item modern spirit.
The terra-cotta tiles on the kitchen floor were exchanged for limestone. In the breakfast area, a round table and modern wicker chairs are set in front of a wall with soaring windows that afford views of the garden with its striking urns and architectural embellishments.
Sources:
Cabinetry: Barrons Custom Kitchens, 301/948-6400.
Oven; range; hood: Viking, 888/845-4641.
Countertop: Silestone by Cosentino, 800/291-1311.
Limestone floor tiles: Architectural Ceramics, 301/762-4140.
Pulley light, mat; chairs: owner’s collection.
China: Tone On Tone, 240/497-0800.
Tablecloth (Great Plains): Holly Hunt, 312/661-1900, trade only.
