Kitchen

Closet Case To consolidate most appliances and food storage, keep his compact kitchen looking neat, and save money on cabinets, Sherman built a closet into the kitchen wall (“Cabinets are expensive but closets are cheap,” he offers). Inside is a countertop, blackboard surface, toaster oven, garbage cans, magnetic knife rack, and plenty of shelves. When the doors are closed, the unit recedes from view.

Dan Pacek, left, and John Roynon prepare cocktails at their 12-foot “display island” in the renovated kitchen of their home in New Jersey. The couple bought handles matching those on their Thermador refrigerator and used them on a set of pantry doors, one of which conceals the steps to the basement.

The almost-entirely tallowwood kitchen is custom. Muuto pendant lights, bar stools by Alvar Aalto for Artek, a Vola faucet, and a ceiling fan by Beacon Lighting finish the room.

Contreras can take his breakfast at a polished marble bar overhung by Tom Dixon pendant lights. A walnut cabinet system reaches from floor to ceiling, dividing the kitchen from the master bedroom.

Carpenter Matti Salminen, a family friend, built the birch cabinets and island for the kitchen of a new home outside of Helsinki. The architect, Tuomas Siitonen, situated a lofted family room on the mezzanine above.

The client’s house, located in the center of the building, caters to the couple and their two children. The clean, understated kitchen features a hulking travertine island and views of the garden below.

The new kitchen borrowed space and light from the original courtyard. The spirit of the courtyard remains with the buffer between the kitchen and the exterior wall. The cabinets are from Ikea, the countertops are quartzite, and the grill top is from Bertazzoni.

The careful coordination of color continues in the kitchen, where the gray and white marble backsplash, lit with faint orange lights, mediates between the ashen column and ochre cabinets.