Before & After: Out With the Fake Tuscan Kitchen, In With the Elegant Plaster Work

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Domino Reno: Before + Afters, DIYs, and Advice From the Pros

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After a decade of cooking in an ornate kitchen straight out of a Tuscan villa—regardless of residing in Fayetteville, Arkansas—inside designer Whitney Romanoff’s purchasers have been greater than prepared for a reset. (Even in the event that they’d beloved the flowery vent hood, it didn’t really work.) The founding father of Meet West Studio appeared to a distinct European vacation spot for inspiration: a contemporary Parisian pied-à-terre. In got here a brand new sculptural plaster hood (a collaboration with Color Atelier), numerous marble, and a breakfast nook with a one-of-a-kind desk. “Their two young kids have busy schedules filled with dance and basketball,” explains Romanoff. “Breakfast is their primary family meal together, so creating a place for them to gather every morning became a huge priority.” Here’s how she gave a busy household kitchen that je ne sais quoi.

A Range Hood That Finally Does Its Job

No spectacular ornamental options with little sensible worth right here. Romanoff’s redesigned vent hood is as a lot a hardworking air flow system as it’s an architectural point of interest. “Hand-applied plaster softens the hood and transforms it into a sculptural feature rather than simply an appliance surround,” explains Color Atelier cofounder Burcu Garnier. The end additionally displays gentle otherwise all through the day, creating depth and motion that flat paint merely can’t replicate.

A Marble Island Worth the Extra Effort

Even untouched, it will be onerous to overlook the Borghini marble within the area—it makes up the counter tops, the backsplash, and even a slender shelf. But Romanoff pushed the fabric even additional, selecting a chic bullnose profile for the counters across the perimeter and devising a fluted edge therapy for the island that required in depth prototyping and a fabricator prepared to deal with the complicated job. Each piece was individually formed and assembled to take care of the rhythm of the veining, creating the phantasm of a single carved block of stone. That course of alone took roughly eight weeks. But the consequence was nicely value it, including drama with out overwhelming the room.

Small-But-Mighty Layout Tweaks

Because the couple cooks day by day, they wished easy accessibility to often used home equipment with out sacrificing visible calm. Romanoff’s answer: A fluted-glass equipment storage with push-to-open doorways. Nearby, the sink is positioned straight beside the vary, streamlining the stream of rinsing, chopping, and sautéing. Last however not least, the designer tucked a pebble ice maker into the island. “We’re obsessed with it,” she says. “It makes every drink feel special.”

A Breakfast Nook

To make room for each the breakfast nook and a bigger, devoted eating space, Romanoff reworked a not often used closet and adjoining area of interest simply off the kitchen. A curved wall helps outline the previous, and creates a comfy backdrop for one of many undertaking’s standout items: a uncommon 1969 Angelo Mangiarotti marble pedestal desk. “It was love at first sight,” says Romanoff. “The stone has these incredible veins of blush, purple, and slate that pull tones from nearby rooms and break up all the warm neutrals.”