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Kitchen Ceiling Lighting Metal Counters Wood Cabinets Pendant Lighting Design Photos and Ideas

The kitchen is located in a bespoke timber joinery unit that divides the “living shed.” The timber has been stained black to contrast with the surrounding timber cladding, and brass counters and backsplashes echo the use of brass details throughout the interior. “Brass was a very special material—used sparingly—that has come to be a hallmark of the project,” says architect Ben Shields.
Whereas others might look at a board-formed cement wall in a basement and see, well, a concrete wall, Jess and Jonathan Taylor, the design duo behind the L.A.-based firm Taylor + Taylor, were inspired. The couple had purchased a virtually untouched 1952 house in east L.A. and that concrete wall became the backdrop for a new guest kitchen in the basement. "It was really the starting point of the whole design," says Jess Taylor. "As designers, our goal is to always try to incorporate the existing surroundings whenever possible, utilize them in practical ways, and be inspired by them."
Black appliances and fixtures blend seamlessly into the cabinetry. The lack of a large fridge helps give the kitchen its streamlined and minimal appearance. The couple carefully integrated appliances to make the small space fully functional for entertaining. Two CoolDrawers are tucked under the counter to chill wine and store enough food for the weekend. Two ovens allow home cooks to bake bread and roast meat simultaneously. “It just works really well for us,” says Daniel. “Our counter space is at a premium, and we just didn’t need a giant refrigerator. This way, we can have the L-shaped counter. That was a very strategic decision—it doesn’t need to be more than what it is.”
The blush-colored Rojo Alicante marble table in the center of the kitchen doubles as a dining table and kitchen island. A Craiglist score for $200, the table is another kitchen hack conceived by the architects. “It was really a diamond in the rough. Originally, it was a rectangle shape, in a weird ’90s, Italian kind of style, covered in a thick, resin-like finish that made it look almost orange,” says Daniel. The table was honed down to soften its color, and its top was reshaped with rounded corners.
Open shelves balance out the hard-working wall of cabinetry opposite. "In a space like this, every fraction of an inch matters," says Jonathan, and making room for display and a sense of openness is also important.
The designers developed the preliminary schematic for the tile, then refined the layout on site. "We wanted to bring in six or seven different tiles that were all geometric and make it such that there's no pattern, there's no repeat. Everything is unique," says Jonathan. "Once we had the tiles, [we] laid things out and confirmed and made some adjustments. Everything is just a little different when you get it in real space."
The couple installed a window over the sink to brighten up the dark basement space. The counters are stainless steel, so as to cede nicely into the concrete wall rather than compete with it.
"The wonderful thing about this line of tile from Fireclay is that there's no order minimums," says Jonathan. Considering that the designers were dealing with such a small footprint, this meant that they didn’t have to order more tile than what was needed.
"We started to piece together this idea of a floor that's all just geometry and chaos, but that still honors the monochromatic elements of the space and highlights the bluish-gray-green tones of the original cement walls," says Jonathan.
At a home about half an hour from Lake Tahoe, architect Jack Hawkins and interior designer Cheryl Chenault built a house that would support their clients’ unique requirements in a home that would be 8,000 to 10,000 square feet. In the kitchen, two islands, one in the shape of an L and the other a smaller rectangular island, are layered table over one portion create generous space to spread out. Norman Cherner barstools from Design Within Reach line the island in the kitchen, which is crowned by an open loft office. The faucets are from Dornbracht; the countertops are Caesarstone. Hawkins integrated a steel-clad casual eating nook, at left.
Double height kitchen with the warm mass of cabinets rising like a stalagmite in the cavern scaling the height while the hung pendant lights from ceiling coming down like stalactites to the human scale.
The open plan kitchen flows seamlessly into the living area.
kitchen
Grade A Maple “For us, the dinner table is huge,” says Katie. The pair met furniture designer Seth Eshelman—whose Rochester-based company Staach produces what she called “environmentally conscientious furniture”—at a teatasting event, and they felt he shared their “vision and values.” Eshelman’s Cain dining set is made from maple. Now Yukimi “The meditation room is where we get our Japanese ya-yas out,” says Scott. “I wanted yukimi, which means ‘snow-viewing,’ shoji screens because they open from the bottom as well as side to side. Glen Collins, a guy in Oakland, California, is the one American I could find whose company makes them.”