Luxury Kitchen
Our clients wished for a professionally-detailed kitchen that would be worthy of a gourmet chef. As the design developed, more items were added to really improve the luxury and function of this home. This intensive project touched on nearly every room in the house.
DESIGN
As the design evolved, 3 primary focus points were decided on. Each adds something unique without working against each other.
First is the giant island with seating for six. Our clients really wanted to be able to comfortably host a small gathering without having to spread out. The unique shape of the island allows traffic flow while still comfortably seating six people. After deciding on the perfect island layout, our design team determined that the refrigerator would stick out too far into the room to achieve good traffic flow. Our solution was to open up the wall behind the fridge to create an alcove for it to recess into. This involved removing a load-bearing wall and installing a header, as well as moving ductwork and drain piping that was in the way.
The next focal point is the copper exhaust hood. Our client found this and fell in love with it. It’s a beautiful piece of art that happens to serve a ventilation purpose. The hood required careful coordination between the design team, HVAC installer, carpenter, and electrician to make sure that it fit just right and functioned perfectly. Due to some overhead structural beams, the exhaust ductwork needed to remain below the ceiling level of the kitchen. Our cabinet company did an amazing job of creating a chase within the upper cabinets to hide the ductwork.
Our clients live along a lake, so a giant window was specified in order to maximize the view. Our only concern was losing all of that upper cabinet storage space. As usual, our design team came up with some wonderful alternative storage, including huge drawers in the island with organizers for plates and bowls that would normally be stored in an upper cabinet. The view from the window is absolutely stunning and we are so glad that we went for the large window.
CABINETS
The cabinetry is custom made, and every single inch of it is made to be useful as well as beautiful. Features include soft close inset doors and drawers, toe-kick drawers, rollout trays, giant drawers in the island, as well as glass-front cabinets. The primary kitchen cabinets are finished in white, while the island is a custom slate-blue. The dining room cabinets are maple with a custom stained finish.
COUNTERTOPS
The giant size of the island posed 2 challenges. First, a piece of stone that large would cause strain on the floor support system due to the enormous amount of weight. Second, there was not a single piece of stone large enough, and seaming 2 pieces together would not guarantee that the movement in the stone would continue uninterrupted. One of our talented trade partners was able to duplicate the look our clients craved in an epoxy overlay. This is truly a piece of art that happens to be a countertop. The epoxy is far less weight than stone and provided the giant seamless look that we were looking for.
LIGHTING
Our team specified a variety of lighting for different purposes. General overhead lighting is accomplished with LED recessed lights. Task lighting is achieved with undercabinet lighting, as well as pendants over the island. Accent lighting is included in the glass cabinets to highlight treasured pieces. All lighting is LED for energy savings and long life. Dimmers are included for each element as well, allowing our clients to fully customize the lighting to suit their needs and mood. Our clients found blue glass pendants while on a trip to Italy that are the perfect touch over the island.
APPLIANCES
These professional chef-grade appliances could be found in a commercial kitchen. The dishwasher is whisper quiet. The cooktop has safety features to prevent accidental use and burns. The fridge is not only huge, but includes features to keep food from spoiling.
OTHER FEATURES
The kitchen backsplash is simple but really ties the other elements together without distraction. The home’s interior was painted with a lush matte finish from Hirshfields. The wood floors on the main level were refinished. Minor upgrades were made to plumbing fixtures throughout the home.
DESIGN TEAM
Julie & Brian Widiker – Layout and Cabinets
Jennifer Leslie – Finishes and Colors
Eric Bader – Lighting
PROJECT MANAGER
Eric Bader
TESTIMONIAL
Eric and Ruth are extremely organized, detail oriented, knowledgeable, ethical, and professional. Allrounder overcame challenges that came up—which were quite a few. Including finding a vendor to create a nine-foot island countertop in one piece, moving ductwork to recess our Sub Zero refrigerator, configuring a large picture window in the kitchen, and venting for a custom copper hood.
Allrounder protected our existing hardwood floors, doorways, staircase, and wall edges. Barriers were put up to keep dust contained yet allowed access to most of the house.
Allrounder has excellent craftsmen they work with. They showed up every time scheduled, on time, and cleaned up before leaving.
We had many meetings to plan our remodel prior to beginning. Allrounder provided a detailed calendar of the project plan as well as a contract. The project was finished on time.
We love how our kitchen turned out. It is STUNNING!
We will be using Allrounder for our next home project. We hope you will too.
–Bob & Pat, Inver Grove Heights MN