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Collection by Jacqueline Leahy

Light-Filled Kitchens

A bright kitchen can transform a home and energize its residents as much as the day's first cup of coffee.

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In the kitchen, the showstopping ceiling’s herringbone pattern is echoed by the terra-cotta tiles on the floor. Architect Michael O’Sullivan, who designed the steel-and-glass kitchen cabinets, the table, and the pendant lights (made by Lava Glass), further amped up the richness of the room by specifying an onyx kitchen island. Interior designer Yvette Jay, a collaborator and classmate of O’Sullivan, kept her material palette “tight and limited. I had to restrict myself so that everything here ties in with the architecture.”
In the kitchen, the showstopping ceiling’s herringbone pattern is echoed by the terra-cotta tiles on the floor. Architect Michael O’Sullivan, who designed the steel-and-glass kitchen cabinets, the table, and the pendant lights (made by Lava Glass), further amped up the richness of the room by specifying an onyx kitchen island. Interior designer Yvette Jay, a collaborator and classmate of O’Sullivan, kept her material palette “tight and limited. I had to restrict myself so that everything here ties in with the architecture.”
A Rais wood-burning fireplace heats the central space and the architectural element surrounding it was designed and installed by Charlie Lazor. The sleek, minimalist kitchen is outfitted with zinc countertops and the counter stools are by Blu Dot.
A Rais wood-burning fireplace heats the central space and the architectural element surrounding it was designed and installed by Charlie Lazor. The sleek, minimalist kitchen is outfitted with zinc countertops and the counter stools are by Blu Dot.
The budget was nearly as tight as the space in this cheerful renovation of a 516-square-foot flat in Bratislava. The centerpiece of Lukáš Kordík’s new kitchen is the cabinetry surrounding the sink, a feat he managed by altering the facing and pulls of an off-the-rack Ikea system. The laminate offers a good punch of blue, and in modernist fashion, Kordík forwent door handles in favor of cutouts. “I wanted the kitchen to be one simple block of color without any additional design,” he says.
The budget was nearly as tight as the space in this cheerful renovation of a 516-square-foot flat in Bratislava. The centerpiece of Lukáš Kordík’s new kitchen is the cabinetry surrounding the sink, a feat he managed by altering the facing and pulls of an off-the-rack Ikea system. The laminate offers a good punch of blue, and in modernist fashion, Kordík forwent door handles in favor of cutouts. “I wanted the kitchen to be one simple block of color without any additional design,” he says.
“Things that have the virtue of being simple have become some of the most complicated forms of construction,” Cobb says.
“Things that have the virtue of being simple have become some of the most complicated forms of construction,” Cobb says.
The fourth-floor kitchen features appliances by Miele, and Heracleum II pendants by Bertjan Pot for Moooi hang over both the kitchen island and the dining table.
The fourth-floor kitchen features appliances by Miele, and Heracleum II pendants by Bertjan Pot for Moooi hang over both the kitchen island and the dining table.
The designers fabricated everything in the house, down to the quarter-sawn pine and macrocarpa-wood kitchen cabinetry and concrete floor. “Physically the most challenging part of the build was wrestling an incredibly slippery concrete pump up the muddy driveway in the rain!” says designer Ben Mitchell-Anyon. The enamel pendant light is vintage. Photo by: Paul McCredie
The designers fabricated everything in the house, down to the quarter-sawn pine and macrocarpa-wood kitchen cabinetry and concrete floor. “Physically the most challenging part of the build was wrestling an incredibly slippery concrete pump up the muddy driveway in the rain!” says designer Ben Mitchell-Anyon. The enamel pendant light is vintage. Photo by: Paul McCredie
Pendant lights are lights that hang from a cable, cord, or pipe from an attachment at a ceiling. They primarily provide light in a downward direction, known as a downlight.
Pendant lights are lights that hang from a cable, cord, or pipe from an attachment at a ceiling. They primarily provide light in a downward direction, known as a downlight.
The view from the front door toward the rear of the house, through the kitchen to the stairway.
The view from the front door toward the rear of the house, through the kitchen to the stairway.
The Deans’ new kitchen is long and narrow, punctuated by the small windows that dot the façade and one large light-giving window at the end.
The Deans’ new kitchen is long and narrow, punctuated by the small windows that dot the façade and one large light-giving window at the end.