Kitchen

No-fuss, sturdy materials, like Kahrs oak chevron floors that camouflage dirt and easy-care black metal siding, free up time for family. “The more durable the material, the less work to maintain it,” says Susie. Also in the kitchen is a quartz countertop by Daltile and faucet from Kohler. The windows are by Milgard.

In the kitchen, the couple found barely used appliances instead of new ones to save money. The cabinetry and butcher block counters are from Ikea.

Hidden Kitchen Pantry Opened

Custom pendant lights from Sydney’s Anchor Ceramics hang above the vintage table. The company also made the backsplash behind the coffee counter.

In the kitchen, Ben removed a peninsula counter unit with upper cabinets, which previously separated the kitchen and dining rooms and impeded flow. Ceiling soffits were removed as well to open up the space.

The kitchen’s original galley layout was retained, and the walls and utilities were kept in place.

Ben fashioned the stove-side cabinet as a freestanding unit. This area functions as the couple’s main prep space, and a deep drawer below holds bigger appliances like the food processor and a stock pot. The custom pot rack is by Kari Merkl of the local design and manufacturing company Merkled Studio.

The cabin is constructed predominantly with plywood that Christie finished with a custom whitewash of 4:1 water to white paint, with a dash of green. "I wanted it pale,

The owners of this home selected a geometric-patterned glass tile backsplash by Island Stone. The glass tile keeps the space bright, and the pattern adds interest.

Pros: Marble is elegant, heat resistant, and comes in a range of colors. Cons: Its high price, especially for more unusual types like Calacatta marble (known for its purer white and bolder veining compared to more common marble like Carrara), means that it isn’t an option for everyone. It is also quite high maintenance, requiring regular resealing.

A kitchen backsplash idea that will never go out of style is a slab of marble that matches your countertop. In this home, the stone counter and backsplash cut from the same slab of Vermont marble, achieving a continuous graphic pattern.

To add natural vibrancy and variable depths of color, ModOp Design used tile selections from Heath Ceramics' Modern Basics line for the kitchen backsplash and all bathroom tiles in this Los Angeles renovation.

At this Passive House-certified home in Oregon, the kitchen backsplash is composed of 2" x 4" subway tile in Meadow Green, which brings a sense of warmth and personality through the varied tones of soft green. If you're on a budget, subway tile is a great idea for a backsplash because it comes in a range of colors and sizes to suite a range of prices.

The kitchen's overhead cabinets have been built from solid timber recycled from re-milled Messmate hardwood floorboards. The dainty scallop tiles cover the kitchen backsplash, giving the space a visual identity.

The use of both black and white kitchen cabinets is a unique design choice for black and white kitchens, but it works well in this lovely kitchen, a study in dark and light. It incorporates a fantastic black-and-white marble backsplash, which brings together the kitchen’s many other elements, like dark hardwood floors and a white quartz countertop.

Dark furnishings, light fixtures, and cabinetry complete the insular, protective feel of the interiors. The dining table was custom-designed by the architects and crafted from recycled wood from Vinuela's grandfather.

A dusty-pink facade is only a hint of what’s inside this 18th-century structure. For Sérgio Antunes, cofounder of Lisbon-based Aurora Arquitectos, the charming exterior and its rich pigment provided a fascinating starting point for the renovation of the Rose Building—a single-family residence in southern Portugal that his team turned into five glowing apartments in collaboration with Lisbon architecture studio FURO. Throughout are huge swaths of color with unique touches: For example, painted on the ceiling of the central stair is a moody mural of a woman in the style of a fresco, and in one of the unit’s bathrooms, more ceiling artwork depicts a mermaid emerging from a swirl of waves. Elsewhere, arched windows, sloped ceilings, ornate moldings, and wooden doors elegantly play off Portuguese marble and patterned ceramic tiles. With the go-ahead from the city, the architects were also able to construct a modern addition at the rear—The Mustard Building—that pairs natural wood partitions with the subdued tones of creamy terrazzo.

Light oak panels by Finsa clad both the kitchen cabinetry and the built-in units that appear in the living room and entryway. "We used natural materials where we could, but we were also mindful of keeping high-touch surfaces durable," explains Anne-Marie Armstrong, co-principal of AAmp Studio.

In the kitchen, a concrete Caesarstone countertop echoes the flooring material; the slatted pine mezzanine is a nod to the ceiling finish. “Everything is referencing something else,” says Armstrong.