Before and After: This Kitchen Is Packed with This Year’s Biggest Trends

This little kitchen was described as “an afterthought,” but its new incarnation is anything but. The space has been completely reimagined and reconfigured, and the results are totally dreamy. It’s filled with some of this year’s biggest trends: painted green cabinetry, vertically-laid backsplash tile, and open shelving.

First, if you’re confused about the kitchen’s layout, know that I’ve made no attempt to post corresponding photos together because the entire space has been altered. Geneva Vanderzeil of A Pair & A Spare explains:

We took out the original kitchen and then extended the house, locating the new kitchen along the northern wall in that new open plan living space. The big windows were added to let in some much needed light.

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk design. The new color palette is so soothing yet cozy, with the wood elements—countertops, floor, table—and that wonderfully subtle green paint adding organic warmth. Those features all have a bit of an old-fashioned kitchen feel, yet they’re minimal and modern enough to fit right in with the sleek and lustrous range hood, dishwasher, and oven. The tiles appear to be the rather ubiquitous subway tiles, but arranging them vertically is a clever way to make a classic feel fresh. The new backsplash clearly demarcates the kitchen in this open-concept space, allowing the high ceilings to float above.

What looks like the pantry cupboard is very interesting, but it was somewhat overwhelming in the small space; it looms just a bit.

Geneva renovated this kitchen with her partner, designer Ben McCarthy of Charlie & Rose. This photo shows the slatted ceiling, which offers texture in the primarily white space and continues the vertical lines of the backsplash tile. We can also see how the kitchen relates to the living room: There’s plenty of room to walk around the table, and the sofa clearly marks the border between the two spaces. The rich woods of the table and floor work so well together, acting as the dark contrast to the paler elements. Also, I have to mention that slim-as-a-whip dishwasher—it’s so cute.

Here we see the pantry cabinets on the opposite side of the room, a continuation of the lovely green cabinetry—this time with large concave black wooden knobs, as opposed to the smaller cylinders on the other cupboards. This pantry offers such a luxurious amount of space, but the fact that the doors are flush with the wall makes the storage space seem completely unobtrusive, a very different feeling than if an equivalent of cabinets were mounted on a wall. This is an excellent design trick for anyone who happens to be able to completely rebuild a kitchen.

This kitchen has gone from one small window to one larger window and an entire wall of windows. Here’s a look at how the cooking and eating space flows into the outdoor seating area.

Thank you, Geneva Vanderzeil of A Pair & A Spare and Ben McCarthy of Charlie & Rose!

• SEE MORE BEFORE & AFTER PROJECTS
• SUBMIT YOUR OWN BEFORE & AFTER PROJECT