Kitchen and Bath: Material Mix
Author:Lindsey ShookThis kitchen by interior designer Grant Gibson began with a call for help. The plea came from the wife of a contractor he works with often—she and her husband had purchased this Castro district condo, gutted the kitchen and were ready to move forward. “She told me she liked the work I’d done for projects her husband had worked on, and she asked if I could assist her family,” says Gibson. And thus, a kitchen was born.
The clients were looking for a family friendly space (they have two children) that had a “French-European flair.” Since home has clean lines, Grant leaned in by creating a space with a rich material mix, vibrant color and glittering accents. “If this kitchen were in a traditional Victorian, it would be too much,” he says. “But in this space, the showstoppers really shine.”
Grant says the La Cornue range is a design highlight. The hardware on the drawers is from E.R. Butler & Company.
Those steal-the-limelight moments include a La Cornue range done in black, stainless steel and brass; a custom brass range hood; rich blue cabinets and brass hardware the designer likens to jewelry.
That’s not to say this is a room that’s all looks. The galley style kitchen has maximum storage thanks to two banks of floor-to-ceiling cabinetry on each side of the space. Slabs of distinctive marble make up the backsplash, but the surface is hard-working Caesarstone. “The quartz composite is indestructible, and it’s a great choice for a family with kids,” says Gibson.
The black-and-white shade is crafted with Schumacher fabric. Gibson says that the high-contrast colors make it contemporary.
At the beginning of the project, Gibson would not have predicted the cabinets would be blue. “Originally, we were thinking about white or gray, but those were colors we had seen over and over again, so we landed on blue,” Gibson says. “This color, Drawing Room Blue by Farrow & Ball, has real depth to it.”
With so many layers, smart function and design exclamation points, you could say the same about the kitchen itself.
