Taking a Mt. Vernon Condo From Blah to Aaahhh

The once isolated kitchen is now part of the living space

When the owners of this Mt. Vernon condo in Bradenton began considering a new kitchen, they did their research. They looked online; watched HGTV; checked out the design magazines; and took a trip to the local home show – which is where I met them.

Before #1, from the living room

Before #2, the fridge

Before #3, the sink corner

Before #4, the range

Before #5, the bar

They were sick of the small, 70’s era kitchen they inherited when they bought the unit, and had definite ideas about what they wanted in their kitchen remodel: light finishes, a traditional look, plenty of storage, and a bigger feel. These folks also had an issue to work around: the tile floors continued through the entire house and couldn’t be matched – reusing the existing floor was essential to their tight budget.

The first design goal to tackle was a bigger feel. If you can’t match the tile floor, then you can’t remove walls. How do you make a kitchen bigger without removing walls? Our solution was two-fold: remove the old, dated, domed-ceiling, to free up another 12” in ceiling height; and greatly expand an existing pass thru to the dining area. 

Sliding the fridge allowed for a pantry. Can you see the patched the floor? Me neither.

Expanding the pass thru gave us an easy solution to another of the clients’ desires – a better breakfast bar. By wrapping the breakfast counter around a wasted corner, it not only gave them more eating space, but it visually increased the size of the kitchen without actually increasing its size. And with 12” more clearance in the kitchen ceiling, we were able to increase the height of the cabinets, thus adding thirty-three percent more storage by including another shelf in each.  More storage, bigger feel, same space – done!

Lazy Susan corner & hidden dishwasher (left)

After looking at a variety of cabinetry options, the homeowners opted for the budget-friendly Venezia doorstyle in Buttermilk finish from UltraCraft Cabinetry. (Venezia is part of UltraCraft’s unique Vision Collection which utilizes Eurotek veneer, a micro-woodfiber technology that is combined with baked-on, industrial-grade, catalyzed-conversion varnish, giving the Vision Collection a color fast, durable finish.) The great part is that the Buttermilk finish comes with a Caramel patina. My clients received the look of a painted and glazed door - without any of the upgrade costs!

Dishwasher on the left made room for pots & pans storage near the range

We chose to pair the antique white cabinet finish with Sapporo countertops, an earthy brown quartz composite from Viatera. The new, open kitchen made the dark counter the focal point. The terra cotta accent seen in an otherwise light tumbled stone backsplash was the inspiration for the rust paint tones that really set off the creamy cabinets. Finishing the appliances with stainless steel brings an upscale cohesiveness to the entire room.

More breakfast bar means more counter space

All in all, I think we took care of the homeowners’ desires of a bigger, lighter, traditional space – what do you think?