The Solar Wind Designs team transformed this Durham, NC kitchen from a dark, storageless “problem child” to a EUROPEAN DREAM. We were asked to take over this project from a previous team’s design that had failed to achieve any of the client’s wishes and had far exceeded the available budget. Starting from scratch, we first re-designed the entire work area, “popped up” 1/3 of the 8′ ceiling to an arched 12′ ceiling (worthy of a chandelier) and added a laundry room space to accommodate the client’s existing washer and dryer. The original design had located the refrigerator opposite the peninsula creating an awkward bottleneck in the kitchen. We removed an unused chimney from the corner of the kitchen to create an ideal space for the refrigerator also setting up a natural flow through the kitchen’s work spaces. Additionally, this enabled us to incorporate our client’s favorite LARGE antique cabinet into the new kitchen (with less and 1/8′ to spare.) We greatly enlarged the window above the sink and replaced the back window with gorgeous french doors opening to the back yard. Good quality flat pack cabinets from RTA Cabinets fit perfectly into our European design and saved $10K from the budget. We custom built 2 perfectly matching cabinets to complete the look. As an alternative to butcher block, the peninsula was custom built with 30 yr. prefinished carbonized tongue bamboo and designed with an overhang for in-kitchen seating. The tile work was designed by Cat Manolis inspired by artist Eduard Monet’s kitchen in France. The tiles were hand made in Mexico and special ordered. Cat did an outstanding job of installing the tile designs that punctuated this transformed EUROPEAN DREAM kitchen.
BEFORE AFTER
BEFORE AFTER
BEFORE AFTER
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