Batwing Kitchen Remodel

In the new space, small-scale, 24-inch appliances from Fagor are incorporated into Ikea’s Applåd cabinetry.

Wardle’s firm designed the end-grain butcher’s block (left), which serves as an end-of-day gathering point where their kitchen meets the dining area. “We were happy to let John go free and see what he came up with,” the wife says. “He thought of things we would never have thought of, like the chopping board. He knew what we wanted.”

Because the original kitchen had been removed, Alexandra made the decision to widen the gallery-style room by ten inches. Floor-to-ceiling glass makes for ample natural light in the eating area, while the Vitra wall tiles provide a contemporary touch.

The coffee station features a professional-grade Rocket Espresso machine. Jang and King designed a stainless-steel pullout shelf for a cream and sugar station.

All appliances in the kitchen are from Thermador, save for a Miele dishwasher. Bright white Caesarstone bounces yet more light into the space.

A post-renovation view of the kitchen shows it opening into the family room. Replacing the former white cabinets are Island drawer fronts and wall panelling of teak wood and reclaimed American elm countertop, milled by Vintage Material Supply. The differing grains of the teak veneers and elm countertop vadd complexity and rhythm to the kitchen's wood motif. Stuc Pierre plaster ceiling selected by the homeowner, Sloan Houser, adds an airy feel to the opened space.

In the kitchen, the couple added a skylight and replaced blue Formica counters with white quartz, but they kept the cabinetry installed in the 1980s and a vintage Thermador bread warmer.

Cedar planks and gray-stained oak flooring line the interior. A minimalist LED lighting strip by Systemalux runs through the kitchen area, enhancing the wood ceiling’s reddish tone.

Dan Pacek and John Roynon of Leonia, New Jersey, expanded and renovated their tiny kitchen, integrating it more sensibly into their 1911 house while borrowing natural light from secondary sources, such as a window on the landing leading to the second floor.

A wide view of the renovated home situates it as it sits on Austin soil. Where the gentle swoop of the driveway meets the overhanging garage, the home's patio is just visible. A light in the new kitchen window further integrates the home with the neighborhood just beyond it.

The Bulthaup b2 brings the woodshop into the kitchen with utilitarian workspaces and pristine, orderly wooden cabinet systems.

In this sleek kitchen renovation in San Francisco, the kitchen backsplash is an easy-to-clean glass backsplash that mimics the glossy finish of the surrounding white cabinets. Painters accomplished the high-gloss finish on the cabinets of a kitchen in San Francisco by applying a coat of paint, polishing it with very high-grit sandpaper, repeating the process for each layer, then topping it with three coats of clear varnish. "It’s like an auto body," says builder Jeff King. "It’s incredibly beautiful." The island provides shelving space and storage as well as a second sink, an is topped with pietra grigio marble.

Aaron and Yuka Ruell transformed a 1950s Portland ranch house into a retro-inspired family home with plenty of spaces for their four children to roam. In the kitchen, interior designer Emily Knudsen Leland replaced purple laminate cabinets with flat-sawn eastern walnut, and added PentalQuartz countertops in polished Super White for contrast. The kitchen island is clad with original red tiles, and hanging cabinets above it were removed to maximize light and family-room views.

Emilie Bédard and Maria Rosa Di Ioia of EM Architecture gave Erik Rydingsvärd’s top-floor apartment in a Montreal triplex a subdued, modern look that evokes his native Denmark. The range hood and satin-finished teak cabinets are by Kastella. The floors are Douglas fir and the walls are spruce, painted white.

With a custom design by Scalo, the kitchen is “white and simple; we didn’t want handles,” notes De Graaf. The hotplate, oven, and teppan-yaki grill are from Falliss.

Because the kitchen is so open, Erik designed it in such a way that there’s room for everything from cookbooks to wine racks. Even the Viking stove hood disappears into the counter at the touch of a button. “People ask if we spend a lot of time cleaning, but that’s just not the case. There’s a place for everything.”