A Light, Airy Kitchen by Fiorito Interior Design

Acquiring a new house is an exciting occasion but often has many challenges. So when my clients moved here to California from the east coast and purchased a home that was built in 1967, they came to me to help modernize and update the house that clearly had not been touched since the 70s. For the kitchen, we removed the dated orange oak cabinetry, tile counter tops (with pesky large grout lines), and cracked terra cotta flooring. This enabled us to start from scratch so we could create a light, bright kitchen in the soft fog and forest colors of the coastal mountain region of our area here in Northern California.

White cabinetry and light neutrals in the space create an airy, open feeling. European white oak flooring contributes to the organic feeling and grounds the space. New appliances (including a French-door Sub Zero refrigerator and a Wolf oven with coordinating microwave), hand-forged iron light fixtures, and a luxurious Crema Marfil marble counter and mosaic backsplash elevate this kitchen while the custom drapery panels, trestle table, and custom chairs in the dining area allow the kitchen to retain a casual, contemporary-California atmosphere.

All after photos by Bernardo Grijalva

Here is what it looked like before we gave it a new lease of life!

And here is the empty kitchen, just in drywall and ply sub-flooring, waiting to be made beautiful.

Do you have a dated kitchen that needs a lift? Call me!

Happy designing!

Luxury Wood Panels by Tabarka Studio

Arizona-based tile company Tabarka Studio has just released a new collection of engineered French oak parquet panels called Orly, which is based on the design of vintage luggage (ahem...Vuitton?). Each large scale panel (26" x 26") has some kind of brass detail so that when the tiles are placed together, they create a marvelous edge reminiscent of the strapping on steamer trunks. They are listed as flooring material but really, there's no reason why they couldn't be used on a wall...in, say, a powder room for a unique, high-impact look!

This feature in September's Elle Decor shows what an installation of panels side by side will look like:

Happy designing!