I thought I’d take a second to spotlight the kitchen at Riverbluff, as the kitchen is a space where we love to play with different textures and finishes. It’s usually the kitchen that is the time capsule and tip off for when the house is built, whether it’s avocado appliances and orange Formica counter-tops from the 70′s or cherry cabinets and granite cabinets in the 90′s.
I’d like to think we are building something that is timeless, but who knows. I mean we are using stainless steel appliances, which I have to think at some point will fall out of vogue. My tastes skew to both the comfort of the country farmhouse and to the crispness of modern design. Maybe it’s too much of a mish mash, but I like this eclecticism and believe country and modern play well off each other.
Excuse the photos as I quickly took them myself. It’s also a little difficult to capture as it’s a pretty narrow, galley kitchen. This kitchen is another take on what we were playing around with on the Rockland house. I love using two different sets of cabinet faces and counter-tops in a kitchen and how they play off each other. On one side we have the sleek stainless cabinets with the soft butcher block top. On the other side, we have the more coarser appearing concrete counter-top with the crisp white, foil finish cabinets.
The devil is in the details, and here are a few in this kitchen: I hate how hulking fridges are and how they protrude past the cabinets. So we made sure to place the fridge at the entry way to the kitchen, where a wall hides this fact. The cabinets are from IKEA, but they unfortunately don’t make a stainless steel toe kicks, so we are having custom made brushed stainless toe kicks made up (one of many punch list items). The IKEA farm sink, also from IKEA, which we love, is not meant to have the backside exposed, so Tommy made a custom wood trim piece that wraps the sink and masks the unfinished areas. Thinking about lighting, we made sure to put in a bulkhead between the kitchen and dining area as it both defines the kitchen and keeps the overhead lighting from spilling out into the dining room. I also acknowledge that there is not a lot of upper cabinet space, as I love open kitchens with windows. Obviously, got to keep all the food somewhere, so we have a dedicated pantry closet with ample shelving right off the kitchen.
As far as appliances, we are sticking with a Bosch brand dishwasher, as it has proven to us over numerous houses to be extremely reliable and quiet. This is also the third house where we have installed an induction range by Samsung. Induction uses magnetism to heat cookware directly, so the actual cooktop stays pretty cool to the touch and is a great safety feature for kids. Plus, induction boils water faster than gas or electric and has the same precision of temperature ranges that great a gas range would have. My dad always had great industrial restaurant style gas ranges and I have a great nostalgia for that, but there is something to be said for the the ease of cleaning a glass top and not sacrificing performance.
