A Growing Family Kitchen

A couple with two small children came to designer Mark Williams of Mark Williams Design Associates when they needed a more functional kitchen for their growing family that would complement their modern taste while respecting the architecture of their bungalow home.

Mark shares with us how he worked with the home's existing design, while creating a kitchen that evokes the homeowners' own styles.

What were the main items on the family's wish list?

We designed this kitchen for a young couple that had widely differing styles. She liked cottage charm while he liked colorful and contemporary. The kitchen had to feel both "cottage-y and modern" at the same time, and that was the first order of business. Second, this kitchen was designed for a young family with two young children, so it had to be extremely functional.

How did you address obstacles in this family-friendly kitchen?

The toughest obstacle in this space was the small size of the room. You need to accommodate for certain functional realities when designing a kitchen for a growing family, so we commandeered the former side porch to become the new breakfast room and we located the beverage center there as well. By removing the coffee maker and wine storage from the main kitchen space, it left more room for storage and usable counter space.

How does this kitchen impact your overall design approach?

Prior to this project I had never painted cabinetry such a bold color. We started with this paint as an accent color, but the client loved it so much we decided to use it on a much larger scale. All of the cabinetry and the entire breakfast room, including the beadboard ceiling, were painted Benjamin Moore Stratton Blue. We loved the results and we're using a lot more saturated color in our current designs.