Kitchen

To complement the white-washed custom cabinetry in her kitchen, architect Julie Salles Schaffer has designed a tile backsplash to resemble "melting butter in a white pan." Daltile arranged her two-color AutoCAD design—white and off-white—onto a mesh backing for a small fee. To soften the edges of the cabinets’ drawers and doors, Schaffer requested radial edging.

A family enlists Brooklyn design-build firm MADE to renovate a brownstone using surplus and salvaged materials for a budget-conscious patina. In the kitchen, the island and cabinets, fashioned from remilled Douglas-fir beams salvaged from upstate New York, sport inexpensive drawers from Ikea.

Viola Park ranks high on the list of great, modern kitchen systems and offers a range of kitchen islands. Among the features in their islands is the Pivot Storage System, shown here. Mounted below the counter to preserve counter space, the wood bins can be outfitted as knife block, utensil holder, or garbage bin. The system conveniently keeps your utensils where you need them, without taking up much-valued counter space.

Choosing a kitchen or bathroom countertop can be nerve-wracking, and we understand why—they can be one of the most expensive aspects of a renovation, with the added responsibility of impacting the aesthetics of a space. Read on as we work our way through the pros and cons of seven of the most common countertop materials.

A Carrara marble backsplash adds cool contrast and a sense of drama when set against the custom oiled-steel black cabinetry in the renovation of the kitchen in this A. Quincy Jones home in Los Angeles.

Open shelving is a kitchen trend that shows no signs of slowing down.

The white-oak palette continues in the kitchen, where full-height cabinets are made with handcrafted, slatted detailing that wraps up the ceiling, and back down around to an opposite wall of drawers. The island countertop is made of Glassos, a durable, crystal-glass material. It is partially topped with a white-oak slab, with a slight overhang that makes for an apt workspace. The pendants are by Caravaggio, and the dishwasher is by Bosch.

This kitchen combines functionality and affordability with minimalism and clean lines. The solid wood and plywood are completed with MDF panels and come in two options, natural oiled or varnished.

If you find a particular tile with black accents, do like Tim and Merrill Melideo and work with the shade throughout your kitchen.

Angelica Becerril prepares food at the kitchen island; the Carrara marble countertop is one of the few luxury materials used in the house.

The large, naturally lit kitchen is the heart of the house. Messmate-clad cupboards and huge expanses of glass dominate the space where Angelucci uses the sink, Gorman works at the kitchen island, and Pepa and Hazel look on. Play in the courtyard between the kitchen and garage is easily supervised and enclosed from the alley behind the house.

Just because your kitchen is on the smaller side doesn’t mean you can’t make it as efficient and effective as possible.

Their creative confections may ruin our diets, but we’re happy to be their taste testers anytime.

Black accent pieces create the illusion of a black and white kitchen in the home of San Francisco architect Cass Calder Smith. A black reading nook coordinates perfectly with the stainless steel countertops and white cabinetry.