Mid Century Modern with a Contemporary Flair Kitchen in Washington DC

This beautiful Capitol Hill Row House had been remodeled by the current owners a couple of decades prior.  The kitchen and family room area are located at the back of the house, a small area but large enough for a functional yet comfortable space.  Although the existing layout in the kitchen worked well for them, they were tired of the very traditional style with raised panel dark cherry doors in the kitchen and white cabinets on the fireplace wall.  The space felt very disjointed and didn’t compliment the rest of the house, especially the beautifully landscaped yard that is very visible from this space.

They hired us to make the kitchen and living area brighter and more contemporary while blending in with the traditional style of their house.  We decided to create a warm contemporary by blending light European rift oak flat doors on the tall and base cabinets and then painted white post-modern doors that are mostly flat with a narrow outside frame on the wall cabinets.  We kept the original layout, moving the range a bit further toward the exterior wall to give ample counter space between the refrigerator and the range.  We replaced a 36” Sub Zero with a 30” all refrigerator and a set of 30” freezer drawers next to it.  This allowed us to maximize the counter space and to have the refrigerator more in proportion with the size of the entire space.

We lengthened and widened the island somewhat and made the island one level without a breakfast bar.  Storage was more important so in lieu of the bar, we put a 9” deep cabinet with sliding doors so that this cabinet could be opened with furniture in front of it.  The entire island is in horizontal rift oak.

The fireplace wall was simplified from the original design using the white painted cabinets and floating shelves.  We changed out the fireplace from a traditional gas fireplace to a much more updated contemporary one, widening the flue area and covering it with tile that blends perfectly with the oak finish on the cabinets.

The Monte Blanco marble countertops and backsplash are treated, only two quarries in the world have the ability to do this.  The client was thrilled to be able to have indestructible marble counters!