Currently Viewing / 
Browse by topic
and/or by category
myTrends - your complete scrapbook of design ideas
|
Away from sight from Kitchen Trends volume 2403
As its name suggests, the living room is where most people spend the majority of their time at home. For this reason, any adjoining spaces should be attractive to look at.
Double-height ceilings and large windows overlooking the city made the living room in this loft apartment an inviting space to spend time in. However, the adjoining kitchen was unattractive. Rather than redesign the layout in relation to the living room, as would be the more usual practice, Andreas Charalambous of Forma Design decided to adopt an out-of-sight, out-of-mind philosophy.
"A window cut out of the wall put the unattractive kitchen in full view of the living room. Instead of removing a wall or expanding the kitchen, I blocked it from sight."
When in the kitchen, the homeowner liked to be able to interact with guests in the living room, so Charalambous left a slot in the wall between the two rooms. As the kitchen is two steps down from the living space, this slot is at eye level from the kitchen and creates a shelf that can act as a breakfast bar on the living room side.
"The shelf continues along the living room wall, to become part of the fireplace surround. By reducing the size of the opening, we also made room for another set of overhead cabinets in the kitchen," says Charalambous.
A large refrigerator was the dominant feature of the kitchen, which also lacked counter space. The architect replaced the refrigerator with two, smaller under-counter Sub-Zero models, and made room for an extra countertop.
"The existing overhead cabinets were all of different heights and felt imposing in the room. These were replaced with handleless cabinets that are aligned along the bottom and painted in the same color as the walls, giving the illusion of more space."
To link the kitchen with the rest of the house, flooring was changed to white oak.
This living room features double-height ceilings and large windows with city views. Reducing a gap in the wall between the living room and kitchen makes the space more inviting.
The gap between the living room and kitchen is illuminated with soft down lights.
Fluorescent lighting seemed to set the kitchen apart from the rest of the house, which was lit in incandescent lighting. A more atmospheric lighting scheme was created by using halogen bulbs throughout the apartment.
Because the gap between the living room and kitchen is smaller, the architect was able to add more overhead cabinets. These are handleless and painted the same color as the walls, increasing the sense of space.
Tiled flooring in the kitchen was replaced with white oak, which is used for all the floors in the apartment. This helps the kitchen fit aesthetically with the other rooms.
Countertops were replaced with polished concrete in an olive shade, and all appliances are now stainless steel, giving a more contemporary look. The resulting space is small, but efficient, with plenty of storage and ample work areas.
A large refrigerator dominated this galley kitchen. Two under-counter refrigerators were installed in its place, providing more workspace.
Credit List
Architects
:
Andreas Charalambous, Juan Gutierrez, FORMA Design (Washington, DC)
Countertop
:
Concrete counters in Loden by Renovations Unlimited
Lighting
:
Lightoiler recessed lights; pendant fixture by LightProject
Backsplash
:
Glass with baked enamel color by Custom Glass Services
Oven, cooktop, microwave
:
General Electric
Barstool
:
Jamaica barstool by Knoll
Story by Camille Butler
Photography by Geoffrey Hodgdon
|
