Transform Your Kitchen: Expert Interior Design Tricks

Summary

Podcast Summary: Dear Alice | Interior Design – "Transform Your Kitchen: Expert Interior Design Tricks"

Release Date: July 31, 2025
Host/Authors: Jessica Bennett and Suzanne Hall of Alice Lane Interior Design

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Introduction

In the episode titled "Transform Your Kitchen: Expert Interior Design Tricks," hosts Jessica Bennett and Suzanne Hall delve into the bustling world of kitchen redesigns, especially during the summer months. They share insights from their extensive experience, showcasing six of their favorite kitchen projects to illustrate key design principles. This comprehensive summary encapsulates the essential discussions, expert advice, and inspiring transformations presented in the episode.

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Why Summer is the Busiest Time for Kitchen Redesigns

The conversation kicks off with an exploration of why summer is prime time for kitchen remodels.

• Jessica (00:05): "Is the busiest time for kitchen redesigns and remodels. Like, why do you guys think that is is the season for it?"

• Alice (00:11): "Why are architects designing these main spaces like this? There's no need for a 14-foot kitchen or a 12-foot kitchen."

The hosts discuss practical reasons such as better weather, families being more active outdoors, and the necessity of functional kitchen spaces during holiday entertaining.

• Sue (03:24): "Holidays. During the holidays, you have to have a kitchen."

• Alice (03:33): "Nobody's wearing pants. It's summer."

They highlight that the motivation for summer projects often stems from the desire to maximize outdoor enjoyment while ensuring the kitchen remains a central, functional hub for family gatherings.

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Trade Program for Design Professionals

Before diving into the main content, Alice briefly mentions their exclusive trade program designed for professional designers.

• Alice (01:22): "We wanted to make sure and help you navigate this huge decision with some of the better decisions that we've made over the years."

• Sue (01:53): "If you are a designer, you're not hooked up with our trade program. You need to get there because we not only do exclusive product..." [02:50]

This program offers designers access to exclusive products, dedicated support, and a network of vendors, enhancing their ability to execute high-end projects efficiently.

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Project Showcase: House of Kennedy Remodel

The first project discussed is the House of Kennedy, a remodel completed in 2019 for a young, hip family seeking to modernize a 1990-built home.

• Alice (04:10): "We were really trying to maximize the footprint. It wasn't a huge home, but some of the design tricks here were..."

Key Design Elements:

1. Floor-to-Ceiling Storage:

   • Alice (05:35): "The floor to ceiling storage is amazing, especially with the eight-foot ceiling."
   • Sue (05:35): "We did a metal cabinet with an automotive finish... durability was fantastic."

2. Built-In Banquette:

   • Alice (06:27): "Built-in banquet allows for flexible dining options, accommodating both adults and children."
   • Sue (07:11): "It really stretches the space and provides depth for dining."

3. Visual Expansion Tricks:

   • Alice (07:43): "Floating shelves across the windows preserve natural light and make the space feel larger."
   • Sue (09:14): "Surfaces are forgiving, ideal for families with children."

4. High-Gloss Finishes:

   • Alice (09:35): "High gloss bounces light and elevates the finish, making the space feel expansive."

Notable Quote:

• Sue (10:02): "Just be bold. Do the tricks you would in a powder bath... go for the wow factor." [10:42]

This project exemplifies how strategic storage solutions, thoughtful material choices, and design elements can transform a compact kitchen into a chic, functional space.

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Project Showcase: Jessica’s Personal Kitchen

Next, Alice shares insights from her personal kitchen, a new build completed in 2015, focusing on handling unusually high ceilings.

• Alice (10:44): "I have a smaller footprint, but I do have tall ceilings. These are 10-foot ceilings."

Key Design Elements:

1. Soffit Design:

   • Alice (12:00): "I did a soffit on top of my cabinets... painted white to maintain continuity."

2. Balancing White Oak with Colored Elements:

   • Alice (14:00): "Used a grayed-out stain on white oak to reduce yellowness, paired with white soffits."

3. Island Design for Space Expansion:

   • Alice (14:40): "Brass legs extend beyond the island, creating a sense of depth and transparency."

4. Reflective Finishes:

   • Alice (14:50): "Antique mirrors over cabinetry doors reflect light, making the space feel larger."

Notable Quote:

• Alice (28:00): "Use really classic finishes, like a combination of white and walnut, but get that designer payoff with the slab." [28:40]

Her approach demonstrates how to manage vertical space effectively while maintaining a cohesive and inviting aesthetic.

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Project Showcase: Lovers Lane Project in Dallas, Texas

Sue discusses the Lovers Lane Project, a 2023 remodel for a large, segmented home aimed at creating a more open and engaging kitchen space for a family of five.

• Sue (16:33): "The kitchen was very small, and the formal dining wasn't being used. We decided to blow the walls out and expand the kitchen."

Key Design Elements:

1. Creating a 'Keeping Room':

   • Alice (18:19): "A keeping room serves as a petite family room adjacent to the kitchen for gatherings."
   • Sue (18:43): "Guests can mingle while cooking without overcrowding the kitchen space."

2. Service Window and Soda Bar:

   • Sue (20:05): "Added a soda bar with a service window near the pool, enhancing the entertaining experience."

3. Colorful and Functional Design:

   • Sue (21:37): "Picked 'Lend me some sugar' for their neon, adding personality and functionality."

Notable Quote:

• Alice (19:20): "Use a color. Use wallpaper. Go for it on the tile."

This remodel highlights the importance of reimagining unused spaces and integrating functional yet stylish elements to cater to active family lifestyles.

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Project Showcase: Manchester House

The Manchester House, a new build completed in early 2024, focuses on creating a cozy yet grand kitchen space inspired by English charm.

• Sue (21:40): "The homeowner grew up in England and wanted a charming yet spacious kitchen."

Key Design Elements:

1. Marble Framing for Coziness:

   • Alice (22:33): "Enclosed the space with marble to add warmth and coziness."

2. Transom with Colored Glass:

   • Sue (23:20): "Added a transom with colored glass, enhancing architectural interest."

3. Balanced Ceiling Treatments:

   • Alice (23:12): "Used soffits to manage the tall ceiling, preventing the space from feeling exposed."

4. Chandeliers and Scale:

   • Sue (24:11): "Installed large chandeliers to match the 14-foot island, maintaining proper scale."

Notable Quote:

• Alice (24:27): "Architects think more is more, but in reality, the space needs to feel cozy." [23:15]

This project exemplifies how to marry grand architectural features with intimate design elements to achieve a balanced and inviting kitchen environment.

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Project Showcase: 2017 Kitchen Remodel

The final project discussed is a 2017 remodel where the team repurposed existing cabinetry to create a modern, cohesive kitchen.

• Sue (31:23): "We repurposed cabinetry by painting and adding new finishes to reduce costs and maintain character."

Key Design Elements:

1. Repurposing and Painting Cabinetry:

   • Alice (35:33): "Used a tinted lacquer to revitalize and modernize the existing cabinets."

2. Monolithic Stone Island:

   • Sue (36:23): "Installed a full-height white macaubas slab island, creating a singular, striking focal point."

3. Unique Island Designs:

   • Sue (36:40): "Custom gold leafing and metal legs add artistic flair to the functional island."

4. Edge Profiles and Final Touches:

   • Sue (29:40): "Enhanced counter edges with double bull nose details for a refined look."

Notable Quote:

• Alice (28:00): "Challenge yourself on the slab. Using obscure slabs makes the kitchen feel more designer and European." [28:40]

This remodel demonstrates the effectiveness of creative repurposing and unique material choices in transforming a dated kitchen into a modern masterpiece.

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Conclusion and Final Tips

In wrapping up, Alice and Sue consolidate their expertise, offering final tips for kitchen transformations:

• Maximize Light: "Never remove windows; use floating shelves to maintain natural light." [08:32]
• Be Bold with Colors and Materials: "Use colors, unique slabs, and mix materials like white and walnut for added interest." [28:00]
• Functional Layouts: "Ensure that storage and functional areas are practical, especially in high-traffic kitchens." [Various sections]

They encourage listeners to implement these expert tricks to achieve stunning and functional kitchen spaces, emphasizing the importance of thoughtful design and personalized touches.

Final Quote:

• Alice (37:40): "We hope these tips help you in planning your kitchen and rethinking your space. Thank you for listening."

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Additional Resources

For professional designers, Alice Lane Interior Design offers an exclusive trade program. Interested individuals can apply via their website at alstanehome.com under the Design Service tab.

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This episode of "Dear Alice" serves as a treasure trove of design wisdom, illustrated through real-life projects. Jessica and Suzanne's blend of expertise, creativity, and practical advice provides listeners with actionable insights to transform their kitchens into beautiful, functional spaces.

Transcript

[Sue]

Foreign.

[Jess]

Is the busiest time for kitchen redesigns and remodels. Like, why do you guys think that is is the season for it?

[Alice]

I kind of want to get in a fight with architects because, oh, gosh, who, who on earth is drying these main spaces like this? Kitchens. There's no need for a 14 foot kitchen or a 12 foot kitchen.

[Jess]

One of my favorite projects Alid has ever done. Yeah.

[Alice]

Hello, everyone. Welcome to Dear Alice. Today we're going to be talking about kitchens. We know that it's summertime and you guys might be working on projects or you might be anticipating a new big kitchen project, and you're like, where do I go? Who am I in this process? So we thought we would do an episode for you where we get five or six really great kitchens that we've designed over the years that teach different principles so that if you are anticipating a new kitchen, making updates to yours, you can lean into some of this expert advice that we're going to give you to help solve some of your problems. Each of them illustrate very different things. So we're calling today's episode Expert Tricks for Kitchen Transformations. And we're going to take you through six of some of our favorites over the years that I feel like are enduring. Because the kitchen is one of those things that, let's be honest, it's probably the most expensive room in the house.

[Jess]

100%.

[Alice]

Yeah. Appliances and all in. So wherever you are in your kitchen journey, maybe you don't need new appliances. Maybe you do. Maybe you're going to be all in. And, you know, kitchens cost what houses used to cost. So. So we just want to make sure and help you navigate this huge decision with some of the better decisions that we've made over the years. So that's today's episode. And I just wanted to say to all of our design prep professionals out there, you guys have to check out the trade. It's amazing. Suz, tell them about the trade program.

[Sue]

I've said it here before, I'll say it again, that if you are a designer, you're not hooked up with our trade program. You need to get there because we not only do exclusive product that you get like a front row seat to, that's the stuff that we're creating that you want original stuff in your projects. You're not going to be able to shop it. They won't be able to shop you because we're the only ones that sell it. So please, you get exclusive on that. Plus, plus, you have somebody, like, in your back corner at all Times, we have an amazing. We have amazing reps for the to the to the Trade program that will help you with your ordering, your sourcing, your tracking. Anyway, it's just like having a design assistant with you all the time, and you get access to all of our vendors. So it's very exciting. And you should. Absolutely. If I was on my own designing stuff, like, I'd be. You'd be stupid not to use our to the Trade program. So how you do it, though, is. Is you go to our website, you go to Design service tab, and then you just go down to the to the Trade application, sign up, and we'll get to you.

[Alice]

Awesome. Thanks so much, Sue.

[Jess]

So, like, Jess mentioned the summer. Summertime is the busiest time for kitchen redesigns and remodels. Like, why do you guys think that is? Is the season for.

[Alice]

Seems like a really nice time to just rip it out and, you know. Cause you're going to be without a kitchen, let's be honest. Yeah, right. Don't you think you might be painting? You might be airing out house? You might. It's just a lot of work going on. And let's be honest, in the summer, you can, like, eat out of a cooler or at the pool, or you're just more mobile and you have all the kids.

[Jess]

It could be outside more.

[Sue]

Holidays.

[Alice]

During the holidays, you have to have a kitchen.

[Jess]

So true.

[Alice]

Right? And you're entertaining more and that sort of thing. But I feel like summer is for being outside and playing and that sort of thing.

[Sue]

I don't know about you. Like, even just, like, when I'm cleaning my house, I'm way more likely to just be like, hey, we're just gonna dust and clean everything off because it's summer. I can like, anyway. You just get in a mood. I get in a mood.

[Alice]

Like, this time of year, summer projects the same. Growing up, I feel like we've been wired for summer projects.

[Sue]

So true. And, yeah, things are okay to be in disarray because, like, we're all outside anyway, so it's not a big deal.

[Alice]

Nobody's wearing pants. It's summer.

[Jess]

We're on vacation.

[Sue]

House of boys. Absolutely.

[Jess]

Okay, should we jump into, like, our first kitchen?

[Sue]

Yeah, let's do it.

[Jess]

Awesome. Okay, so this is House of Kennedy, one of my favorite projects Alid has ever done. Yeah.

[Sue]

Love this.

[Alice]

This is a remodel we did on a house built in 1990. Right. And we completed this remodel in 2019. And this was a really just young, hip gal that wanted to take this 90s house into the current century and just make it really, really chic. And she was all in for design. So we were really trying to maximize the footprint. It wasn't a huge home, but I think some of the design tricks here were first of all, an eight foot ceiling.

[Sue]

Yep.

[Alice]

Right. We didn't have enough storage. She wanted something that felt really, really original. But she had four kids and so it needed to be durable. She wanted to be able to have everybody come together for dinner. And so we came up with this really fun detail of on the opposite side of the island where you usually see bar stools. We did a built in banquet. We built it right on to the end of the island, pushed her dining table up and then surrounded that in chairs. So not only can she fit the four kids, mom and dad, but she can have the in laws over. You know, this could all be adults and you could put the kids at a kid table. So for a small space, this really packed a punch. We didn't use any cans in the ceiling. We did pendants dropping over the island and the dining table. And I think one of the biggest, I'd say keystones of this project when you think about House of Kennedy design, was that floor to ceiling storage solution that we came up with.

[Sue]

Yeah, the floor to ceiling storage is amazing, especially with the eight foot ceiling. We've done this in a couple. We did this again in our sugar house project, also a short historic ceiling. And what that does is whenever you can create a tower again, it's just like that high waisted long pair of pants that you just never see the end of and it just completely elongates and you like forget that it's even an eight foot ceiling because again, just that height is so crucial. Another cool thing, I think with that, all the cabinetry, for it to be durable. We actually did a metal cabinet with an automotive finish on it. So as far as durability was like so fantastic on this.

[Alice]

And, and if you guys aren't watching this podcast, you want to watch it on Spotify or YouTube because we're going to show you visuals of the project. But if you can't watch it right now, picture it in your mind because it's breathtaking. Yeah, that floor to ceiling automotive finish surrounded. We did a detail, I think you're getting to that.

[Sue]

Just that gold pinstriping detail around each of the doors to again elongate that tall rectangle. And we didn't cap it with a crown. Like we kept that frame going all the way to the ceiling. Just again to just. If you kind of put belt at that very top portion, like again, it would like squat it down a little bit more. And that was like opposite of what we were going for. So if you can like really stretch it to the ceiling like that is what you want to do. We went tall in the hardware again, to just kind of draw your eye up. And the cool thing, I think a lot of us can relate to this because not everyone has a formal dining room. And so that space, the banquette and everything like that serves so many things. Most people would just do bar stools along the banquette, but we had the length to kind of pull into that next room to give her an actual. Yeah. Depth.

[Alice]

Excuse me?

[Sue]

Yeah, the depth to just really like get some type of dining space so they could have like a dinner together. But all. It could be casual, it could be formal. Anyway, I love, I love, love, love this kitchen.

[Jess]

Plus, it's rad to have a banquette in your home. I think that's super cool.

[Sue]

Remember when you're like laying it out, because like, we. We had the windows out the front of the house, but we needed. We didn't want to like reduce any of the light. And so floating the shelves, which we've done in a couple of K, I think is so fantastic because nobody wants to get rid of window or natural light. And so that's really key.

[Alice]

I want to just hang out here for one second. If you are renovating your kitchen, you don't ever want to get rid of windows. You never want to do that. You want all of that light coming in, bouncing around, making that space feel big, especially if you have a lower ceiling. But you can run floating shelves across the face of those windows and load those up with all of your beautiful white dinnerware or stacks of whatever it feels like A restaurant feels very culinary and a well stocked kitchen. So I love that trick. I did it in my own house. We did it here in house of Kennedy with the eight foot ceiling. And it feels so stretched, don't you think? I feel like we stretch the ceiling height. I feel like we stretch the width of this. And these are just a few design tricks that you can play. And the other thing that we stretched, we stretched the slab backsplash going all the way to the ceiling.

[Sue]

Yep. Take it to the ceiling.

[Alice]

If we would have stopped that, the ceilings would have felt like 8ft squatty.

[Sue]

Squatty, yeah.

[Alice]

So that's the trick with an eight foot the ceiling. If you guys are renovating any of your kitchens today, it's you're gonna pull everything all the way to the ceiling, and it's gonna look like you have money. 10ft ceilings.

[Sue]

Yeah. One other thing, Just real quick on finishes. We not only did the metal cabinet, we had a really amazing craftsman that did that, again, automotive finish. But even on the wood, we did, like, this kind of ebony ceruse so that you wouldn't like, I don't know, scratching and kids and all those things. I think anytime you're, like, picking out finishes and things, just make sure that it works with who you're serving. So forgiving.

[Alice]

Yeah.

[Sue]

Surrosing is very forgiving, so that's great. We have some process pictures just to kind of show you the kind of the making of House of Kennedy, which I think is really, really fun to just kind of reimagine space and the depth and what you can actually fit into an area to fulfill a lot of different functions, which I think this house did incredibly well.

[Alice]

I also want to point out one key feature of this automotive finish. It's high gloss, so it bounces light. And even though it's kind of a blue gray color, which is also fun, that we're a colored kitchen. I know, but that glossiness just kind of keeps things bouncing around. It gives it an elevated finish. It's really durable, but I just love that it bounces more light in, and I also feel like it expanded the. The feeling of the space.

[Sue]

Yep.

[Alice]

Yeah. So good.

[Sue]

As you're making finished decisions during your remodel or however you're refreshing, like, just be bold. I think it's fun. A lot of homes that we do have two kitchens, kind of a dirty kitchen and a show kitchen, but those are, like, larger homes. A lot of us don't live in a home where we have two kitchens. And so any of those, like, you have one kitchen, like, just pull out the stops, do a color, you know, do a wild countertop, do a crazy graphic floor, because, like, we can.

[Jess]

You only got one.

[Sue]

We only got one.

[Alice]

Well, I was just gonna say you're gonna do the tricks that you would do in a powder bath, which is all those things you just described. The wow factor. Don' Fun in the powder. Like, go for it in that kitchen.

[Sue]

Heroes on heroes. It's the best.

[Alice]

It is the best. Okay, moving on. This is my kitchen. I put it in here because I knew the teaching points that I wanted to pay forward to you guys. So my house was not a remodel. This is a new build that we completed in 2015. So here, a couple of the Goals for me were I had a smaller footprint, but I do have tall ceilings. These are 10 foot ceilings. And one of the issues today is 10 foot ceilings is something that we do a lot on floor plans. Nine and ten foot ceilings. Well, kitchens. I'm even tall, I'm five foot eight. But I can really only reach the first shelf or the second. That third shelf is I'm on my tiptoes or I'm giving those glasses to my husband to put away from me or I'm getting on a step stool. So a lot of your storage is half your storage, I want to say if it's in an upper cabinet is out of reach. So there's really no point in going cabinetry all the way to your 10 foot ceiling. You can do it in a nine foot ceiling, you can do it in an eight foot ceiling. But what are we going to do if we have 10 foot ceilings? So this is the point I wanted to pay forward with you guys on this podcast today. I did a soffit on top of my cabinets. You're going to want to watch this part of the podcast if you can. You're going to see it just looks like a great big almost freeze before the crown molding. And there's a little panel applied molding panel that sits on top of that. I painted that white even though my kitchen cabinets are white oak. And it gives us sort of a finish work feeling up there. It keeps your eye moving all the way to the top. There's no dust shelf. And I feel like it looks like a really beautiful traditional finish in a transitional kitchen. I went with a white oak kitchen. So this is considered stain grade today. Back when we were designing houses, we were probably, you know, started in this house and 2012. I remember talking to different editors and folks and they said, what are you going to do? You can't do a white kitchen. Nobody will publish it. And I was like, whoa, just a minute, wait a minute. I gotta, I gotta reset my brain. I didn't know how to think about that. Everybody that we were working with at that time did white kitchens. And today I'll still say I even asked sue at the beginning of this podcast in the design center, what colors of kitchens are we doing right now? And really about 97% of the people still want a white kitchen. It's just classic. Everybody loves it. They know they're not going to get tired of it. Maybe they were raised with one, maybe they weren't. But for some reason it is the gold standard in the mind of the Women that we design for, they all love a white kitchen. So this felt kind of crazy to me, but I was up for it. I feel like it's my job to, to take these risks and to try something new. So I said, okay, I'm going to do a white kitchen, a white oak kitchen. And it's going to be stain grade. And so we use kind of a grayed out stain to get pull all the yellow out of the oak. Did my favorite door style here. But then putting that big white, white freeze or soffit on top of it, I think I just really love the pairing of those two finishes together. And I just thought I should pay that forward to you guys. If you do have a 10 foot ceiling, you're trying to figure out how to renovate, there's really no point in having that whole thing be a cabinet and go all the way up to 10ft. It's almost too much too. I think the proportions of this are very beautiful. Even though I made this decision well over a decade ago, I still love today. The other thing I did here that I wanted to teach you guys was my kitchen island. If you're watching, you can see where my cabinet island stops. And then I have brass legs that extend beyond that and give me more depth in the space. Much like the house of Kennedy that we were just talking about in the old days. They would just have a kitchen island, be that bank of cabinets. You'd have your, your countertop material do an overhang and then you'd have bar stools up to that. My kitchen would look so tiny if I did that. So pulling that countertop all the way out into the space to my refrigerator, if you're watching it almost made a perfect square. You can see beyond and through the legs, which is also a space expanding trick. Right? Transparency is. And then the bar stool is there at the end of the run. So that really pulled the space forward, made it feel larger. And then the other thing that really expanded the space was doing cabinetry doors on top of my fridge and having those be the same finish as my cabinets. I did do antique mirror on top of them. And then the fret work over top is the same cabinet cabinetry material. The mirror is another space expanding trick that's going to bounce light around. It's going to reflect your own kitchen back in itself and make it feel really big. And it's actually really nice when you're done eating to be able to make sure nothing's in your teeth. If you do get a knock at the door.

[Jess]

Bad tips. Suze, I heard you got Cozier's new luxury blanket and I want you to tell us about it.

[Sue]

I did. It's my very favorite new toy. It's the bubble cuddle blanket from Cozy Earth. And it's this faux fur that is the softest blanket I've ever experienced. All my family, we all go downstairs, we watch movies together almost every night in the summer and we all fight over our blanket. And I think I won. I have the bubble cuddle and it is so soft and furry and I just, I love it so much.

[Jess]

Cozy Earth also has amazing bamboo sheets that come with a 100 night sleep trial. So try them out. If you don't love them, return them hassle free. There's also a 10 year warranty because once you feel this level of comfort, you'll want it to last a decade. So head to cozyearth.com and use our code, Dear Alice for up to 40% off. That's cozyearth.com code Dear Alice. And if you get a post purchase survey, make sure to let them know you heard about Cozy Earth right here. Because your bed should be more than a place to sleep. It should be your happy place. Cozy Earth makes that possible.

[Sue]

Okay, so this is our Lovers Lane project in Dallas, Texas. It was a remodel and it was completed in 2023. When we got the plans for this house, they had it kind of segmented in lots of different rooms. Like, there was a formal dining room that wasn't very big. They had a kitchen that was very, very small. But like, it was a, it was a nice grand house. But none of the spaces felt. And so the biggest thing for this very young family with five children, young kids was just like, we all want to like be each other, see, see each other. And we entertain a lot and they're really fun. So we've just started playing Tetris on the floor plan and we're just like, well, no one's using the formal dining. Like, we'd rather have that space. And so in this, like little space you can go down, there's like a sketch. Like that whole area was a tiny kitchen, a pantry, a formal dining, all those things. And we just kind of blew the walls out and just did a stretch sl of a thing to kind of get the kitchen that we wanted. We did a pantry behind actually, because there's windows in the pantry. So you can kind of see that door on the left in the sketch. Sorry, sorry. There's a door on the left in the sketch. And that Goes back behind the pantry that just follows, shares the wall with the range. And then where the dining room was, we created a keeping room, which we'll put some pictures on of that space in a second, but turned out so, so amazing. And so that is my first tip. I think as you're looking at remodeling a kitchen and just these important spaces, rooms are adjacent that you could, like, take over that aren't being used or being used as efficiently as it could be in a space that you really love, like a kitchen. So I think that that was like, the biggest win and before and after of this space is being able to, like, I don't know, take space, unused space, and use it. So who doesn't want a keeping room?

[Alice]

I was just gonna say fashionable speaking. A keeping room is like a really small family room. And there's always a lot of gathering with kitchen time. So having an area that's just soft furnishings just to the right of the kitchen where the family could gather, they could play, they could hang out, they could. I don't know, it just.

[Sue]

Guests could come over. I'm like, that's where my sister and my mom would be while I'm cooking or things like that. While the kids are by the team.

[Alice]

Nursing a baby or whatever. It's like, they don't have to try and perch on a bar stool. They can be part of the conversation. And we've all been in all of our homes during Thanksgiving or. Or any holiday or any family gathering. And all of the women, at least all the women, if not everybody, is always in the kitchen.

[Sue]

Yeah, there's.

[Alice]

There's always.

[Sue]

We know what we're doing.

[Alice]

There's always a room downstairs where everybody could sit and watch TV or watch a movie, but everybody's always in the kitchen.

[Sue]

Totally.

[Alice]

So this is awesome, because you put a little petite family room just to. Adjacent to the kitchen, which means some people can be sitting, some can be standing, some can be eating, some can be doing dishes. And it's. You've got the ultimate gathering spot, which is exactly what the client wanted.

[Sue]

Yeah. And they're not formal. Formal people either. I think a formal person might want to get that formal dining or, like, created a formal living. But, like, they're very all inclusive. They're big entertainers, and they just want to be together. So that's when, like, this interesting open floor plan makes a lot of sense is in this situation.

[Alice]

So maybe rethink your space. If you. If you're redoing your kitchen, you can look at that Data dining room, if you have one that you never use. Let's get back that. Let's get back that square footage and do something that you will use. Make it a hard working area. So kind of take image inventory of the way that you're living in your home today, because you've lived there long enough that now you want to redo that kitchen. And let's. Let's take back those spaces and create something that will just absolutely be a game changer for you.

[Sue]

This one. We also did a color just because they're a fun family. And I love that we. And you kind of saw this in Jess's kitchen. And most of the kitchens that we design, we do the panel front fridge. And then we're usually adjacent other towers of function. Right. So that you're either like using it as like secondary pantry that's inside the house, or you're just, you know, just all the things that we need to store. Just like create a wall of it and just like maximize the storage. When you do have that tall storage already happening for the fridge and freezer. So that's what's happening with that tall bank just over to the left of the range. And again, we just have, like this really lovely island. We did do the floating shelves on each side of the range as well. Again, just because it's practical. She has young kids and so just to play and just have everything so close in proximity when you're working in that triangle, like, is ideal. Ideal, ideal. So. And they also need. They needed the pantry, they needed the kitchen. We got a keeping room. And they also wanted a soda bar. So that's really, really fun. So again, another thing to think of is, like, what are the spaces that you'd want? Like, we had this, like, little soda bar and it had a window. And we created a service window, like near the pool. So now kids can come up and get ice cream sodas through a service window. And so anyway, I'm like. It's just like the ultimate party trick.

[Alice]

It really is.

[Sue]

And they picked Lend me, Lend me some sugar. Come on. For their neon.

[Alice]

Love it.

[Sue]

They're the most fun. Okay. Yeah, yeah, that's right. They met at an Ellie concert. Or that was their first date. So that's rad. Yeah. Cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jess]

Okay. The next kitchen is the Manchester house.

[Alice]

Yes. This is a new build. This just got completed last year.

[Sue]

23. We photographed it early. 2024.

[Alice]

Yeah.

[Sue]

Yep.

[Alice]

Yeah. Let's tell them what the goals were here and how we accomplished them.

[Sue]

Okay. So this was it was a new build. So the architect drew this home very, very large. It was a lot of space. But the homeowner, she loves a cozy space. She loves charm. She grew up a lot of her childhood in England. Her parents are both from the uk and so it's just like, how can we make this more charming, you know, while still having like a big grand capacity of space. And so I really love this. I love the fact that if you're looking on the screen, you can kind of see for the hood. We actually enclosed that whole space with marble. Like we framed it all out just to kind of make you feel cozy, like you're being hugged by the marble. Where if you didn't have that, it could kind of just like go infinitely feel exposed to the very, very tall ceilings.

[Alice]

I kind of want to get in a fight with, with architects because oh gosh, who, who on earth is drawing these main spaces like this? Kitchens. There's no need for a 14 foot kitchen or a 12 foot kitchen. You're already having do tricks to fur those cabinetry down. So if you are in the middle of working on a new set of plans, I would really question those heights over the top of your kitchen. Also, while we're at it, off topic, your showers, there's no need for a really high ceiling in a shower. Freezing heat rises and you're just going to be naked and afraid in stone cold room. It's too much. So I feel that way about kitchens and bathrooms. Okay, let's move on. Sorry.

[Sue]

Okay. I absolutely agree to give a word.

[Alice]

To the people out there.

[Sue]

No, we employ the soffit mike more than needed just because the ceilings are so.

[Alice]

So architects have not gotten the memo on this. They think more is more. And you know what? We're paying for cubic feet here. We're paying for this square footage that then the designer is having to come down and make this house feel cozy like she wants. And for some reason they just didn't get the memo on what makes a house feel cozy. And ceiling height is the opposite of that. I know we love a high ceiling, but in, in a kitchen we just.

[Sue]

We had to do a lot of tricks on this. Like on again, on the left and right of the range, you can see there are a couple steps that go. There's a space behind the kitchen range wall and that's like their little playroom homework room for their kids, which is darling, but again, yeah, I actually love that detail. But we did the transom, so bringing in like colored glass, just something interesting architecturally. To make it feel cozy to again kind of utilize that height because again otherwise it's just like more white walls. Wall, you know, I don't know if people would have liked that to just add that transom.

[Alice]

It's so clever. Isn't that cute? I love that so much. And it really does. I mean while it feels grand and restaurant esque, it really is so, so gorgeous.

[Sue]

Sterling.

[Alice]

Yeah. When you, when you talked about cozy though. Sorry. It got. Got my. I got my. No, my trigger.

[Sue]

But it's true. I will say like these huge kitchens. Like that island I want to say is like a 12 foot island. Like it's huge. Like you cannot. Yeah, it's the most labs and the lighting, you don't think about these things when you're looking at just a plan of how that scales. Like to put two. Those lights. I want to say each of them are like 34 inches wide.

[Alice]

They're chandeliers anymore you have to use chandeliers.

[Sue]

Those are two chandeliers. And like we had to keep stretching and it's hard to like even the client when we're presenting, she's just like, why are they so expensive? I'm like, it's because it's a full fledged chandeliers over your island. Like that's just what it has to be in.

[Jess]

Like you probably need more like extension chain or something like that too to bring it down from the.

[Sue]

Yeah, just you have to like really pay attention to your skin when you're in that development stage because it gets. Yeah. You'll feel some vacancies if you don't get the details.

[Alice]

It feels normal in this image because the scale is right.

[Sue]

Yeah.

[Alice]

And like even though it's a 14 foot island and there's chandeliers over the island, everything is in scale and everything feels really good. So you got that really, really right. The materials are gorgeous. Yeah. Stunning.

[Sue]

I want to say when we were talking about like if you have a first kitchen, a second kitchen or a really like functional pantry, again all these like, like we have all the perimeter cabinetry is white. Just like a really warm white. We brought in the wood tone on that island. Again just to like add warmth so it wouldn't feel sterile. But again, just like how classic is the white kitchen in some combination with a natural wood.

[Alice]

Tell them what kind of wood you use for those listening.

[Sue]

Oh, walnut. Yeah, yeah, it's a walnut.

[Jess]

It's rad.

[Sue]

It's really pretty. We actually had like walnut with the burl. We did some value engineering. I think it Turned out amazing. And we did these like little metal leg accents just again to add the decoration. But I love it. We go into the next couple sides. It's so pretty. Don't forget the cafe curtains, ladies. You gotta have the cafe curtains.

[Jess]

So I also like the band. So on the left side of the range, there's like almost floor to ceiling cabinets. But like that little band, is that some of that Calcutta viola?

[Alice]

Yeah.

[Sue]

And that actually those open up and you know how like we all have some type of catch all space or you know, that has like a computer and things. Anyway, this kind of became a little bit of a catch all station. But we wanted to enclose it.

[Jess]

That's rad.

[Sue]

So but you can see even with like all those breaks, that is us utilizing the height and then there's a large freeze that comes down to make it. I mean it's still. You're gonna have to get on a step stool to get to that top cabinet. Just because we are so tall in this space. But you just have to get really interesting with your finish work to make it look like it makes sense. So.

[Alice]

And it does.

[Sue]

Yeah, it's beautiful. It's so, so pretty. And again that they have like a little tea station area over by that cafe curtain window. It's so beautiful as you do. So special as you do. And you have the Calcutta viola. So again, I. I'm gonna mention that too. When you're picking out your slabs again, it's like going to an art gallery and it's the most fun. So some people will be more quiet, some people will be more loud. But I will say the last couple where the client has said, I wanna be a little bit more calm. Calm. We've done calm. And they've come back at the end and said, I wish I did the viola. I wish I did the. You know.

[Jess]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sue]

Something more audacious and wild.

[Jess]

I mean, especially where your cabinetry I think is going to be white. It's like you did with the walnut and the marble. Obviously, like that's where you're creating interest. And yeah, I think that's. That's, that's rad.

[Sue]

And you're. And it's so large too. Like if it didn't have like a more complex veining, like it would just be like okay way. It's just more white space.

[Alice]

Yeah. So I guess that's another tip to you that are working on your kitchen plans for this summer or for next year or whatever is that you really want to challenge yourself on the slab. That you use. You can phone it in with those neutrals, but the payoff isn't going to be the same. Even if you have an eight foot ceiling that you're working with, you're going to get way more payoff with using these, these more obscure slabs, these more opinionated slabs. It's going to feel more designer, it's going to feel more European and it's not going to feel typical. So go for it there. And you can use really classic finishes, like a combination of white and walnut. But get that designer payoff with the slab.

[Sue]

I was going to say too, with the crazy slabs. Right. We have full height behind the range wall. Again, we're casing that whole thing in, but that doesn't mean that you have to go full height everywhere. You can see on this like little T station that would have gotten even more expensive. So we did make it. Most people draw in like a 4 inch backsplash. Don't ever do do that. You're going to want to like, at least go. Just go to the windowsill. To the windowsill. If you have like upper cabinets, I usually they start 18 inches above the countertop. At least take it to there, you know, sort of like give you yourself like a more, let's say a funky dimension or whatever. Just don't do four. Always go up. If I'm in a bathroom, I'm never going to do a four. I'm always going to take it to six or eight, you know, just to like make it more interesting. So anyway, is that, is that a.

[Jess]

Double bull nose too on the, the countertop detail?

[Sue]

So glad you noticed that. Yeah, it is.

[Jess]

That is really cool.

[Alice]

Also do a great edge profile, please.

[Sue]

They have to do it anyway. They're going to ask you what's your edge? And if you don't say anything, they will just do an eased edge, which is just like, just a straight 90 degree with like a tiny, tiny little radius.

[Jess]

But they're already mitering and cutting that you might as well, I mean, will be awesome. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[Sue]

Yeah. I just added this in because again, she was neutral in her like main space. Interesting. But if you have a secondary pantry or second kitchen, you can kind of have the best of both worlds. You can have the color, you can have the wood, you can have the white, you can have all the things. If you have this many kitchens, if you're like Ashley Kennedy and you just have the one great kitchen, that's when you're going to go like to the nines on all things in that One kitchen, and it works, and it's really fun. So there's room. There's room for good design in any application of that.

[Alice]

So those of you listening, what we're talking about right now is we're showing you the pantry today. To this. To this last kitchen we were just talking about. The pantry is something that she treated like a powder bath. And she went all in. I mean, the. The kitchen extra is extraordinary and all in. But here she went colorful. And her pantry, which is a great tip for you at home. Use a color. Use wallpaper. Go for it on the tile. She even has a really darling skirted.

[Sue]

Like a little skirt curtain.

[Alice]

Yeah, skirt curtain over. Instead of doing a bottom cabinet, she did a little skirted curtain. Like her English origin.

[Sue]

Yes.

[Alice]

And even so, great.

[Sue]

If you have, like, those big, like, storage gallons where you keep, like, your flour, your rice and stuff that you don't want to have to, like, lift it up onto a lip, put that there, throw a skirt on it. Like, it's the best tip. Cute.

[Alice]

So cute. So this. Even the wallpaper on the ceiling is William Morris. William Morris. More historical print. That sort of. It. It speaks back to her roots. So anyway, this is just. It was such a great pantry. Now we're talking about kitchens, but, you know, you have to address your pantry in this remodel. So really go for it. It'll be fun when the door and get that sort of pocket square moment to the kitchen outfit and actually do.

[Sue]

A glass door or something on your pantry so that you can always see into it. I think that that's, like, the happiest trick, and it shares light. If that's a window on that wall to a hallway or something, always share the light. Do glass doors more. At least a half glass or a full glass.

[Alice]

Love that. Our final space. Oh, this is a remodel that we completed in 2017 and may have been early.

[Sue]

I couldn't remember when we.

[Alice]

I was gonna say 2019. So.

[Sue]

Okay.

[Alice]

Anyway, in the late 2020 tens.

[Sue]

Yeah.

[Alice]

This home had some cabinetry that we actually repurposed. We put this in there for you because you might have parts of your kitchen that you want to stick with, because as we all know, cabinetry is a big line item. As you are looking at the costs of a new kitchen, appliances and cabinetry are going to be your big, big numbers. So here we were actually studying the door styles, and we thought, I think we could rescue them these. And if we just omitted the hood and a few of these other things, I think we could Keep a port a like, 50% of this kitchen. So we're going to show you the before.

[Sue]

Get ready to have your minds balloon.

[Alice]

Yes.

[Sue]

Okay.

[Jess]

Jeez.

[Sue]

Crazy dark sadness.

[Jess]

Is that older or that's what it probably looks like.

[Sue]

I will say, in this entire remodel, there was just, like, so many surface changes and so many color. Like, even on the floor, it was like the yellow brick road. And so you started from one tile to another to all in, like, one open space. Space made absolutely no sense when we got to the kitchen. And again, like, the. The hood was too small, I think, for the span. We ended up taking out the hood, and we took out adjacent. Okay.

[Alice]

Those of you watching on the screen right now, I want to give you a. So the hood situation here. So we're those of you that can't see. We've got a black island. We've got granite countertops that are two levels. A tall level, bi level. They're actually using bar stools. Not counter stools.

[Sue]

Sure.

[Alice]

Which is like wearing high heels. It's very scary.

[Sue]

Yeah.

[Alice]

Nobody' doing the bar.

[Sue]

Especially with kids. They're just teetering.

[Alice]

Yes. I need to tell you this because you're about to do a new kitchen. You might not know that. That you don't want to do the bar stool. You want to do the counter stool. So this has that really high, high bar stool with high backs, and it's just kind of doing its own thing.

[Sue]

You're not doing bi level either. You don't have bar height that then goes down. No one's doing that anymore.

[Alice]

Yeah. That's good. I'm glad we threw that in there. And then we've got naughty alder. I think we've got some oak.

[Sue]

And we have black, too. There's lots of black.

[Alice]

Yeah. So we've got a lot of me.

[Jess]

They really went for it on that cabinetry originally.

[Alice]

Just quitting around here. They were all in.

[Sue]

They're like, we can't decide. Let's do all. Put them all in.

[Alice]

That's one way that everybody wins.

[Jess]

Yeah.

[Alice]

There you go.

[Sue]

They're finish.

[Alice]

Yeah. Okay. So the one thing I wanted to pay forward, though, is, do you see this old hood? People did this a lot in the 2010s. And I've heard women that have had this kitchen, and they've said it's the loneliest place in the whole world because acoustically, it knocks out the sound.

[Jess]

Oh, yeah.

[Alice]

And so they're sitting there cooking, and they can't hear their family behind them, and they can't hear what's going on. And they have to come over and tap on mom or talk to her really close in this little acoustical noise canceling case.

[Jess]

Yes, exactly.

[Alice]

She has no counseling headphones on while she's cooking. And you're. You're never lonelier, even though your whole family is in the room with you. Or maybe you want the silence. So maybe you do want to do this thing. But I've just heard that from other people. Anyway, this also is like sort of a dated thing. It cuts up the kitchen. It's bringing the tower all the way down to the countertop.

[Sue]

And functionally, like, you need that space on each side of the range.

[Alice]

Yeah.

[Sue]

For like your prep and everything.

[Alice]

Well, I would dare to argue that the previous owner. I'll bet you you could pull those things out and there's spices in them.

[Sue]

Oh, yeah. Yeah, buddy.

[Alice]

Yeah.

[Sue]

They got. They're just like towers for efficiency.

[Alice]

So we obliterated that, but we kept the rest of the wall of cabinetry. We got rid of the entire island, all the floors, everything happening on the ceiling. And now the after. Let's show them that again. So pretty wild that you could reuse cabinetry here. So we painted it. It was a stain grade. We painted this with a colored lacquer, a tinted lacquer so it'll be really hard wearing. And we went with kind of an organic soft sort of bath, watery white color.

[Sue]

Everything was so hot in that previous thing. So it was just like extraction of all the yellow. She just wanted to clean it up. And she's a very clean engineering mind. So.

[Alice]

Yeah. And then she is dressy. And so we did. We did indeed gold pinstriping on. On the cabinetry. We had a plaster worker that. That can do gold pinstriping, which made us think, let's go ahead and utilize him for all of his greatest abilities. So you can see that we've got a plastered ceiling which also helped cool down the space, Got rid of all those can lights. And yeah, the cabinetry looks fantastic. We used a white macaubas slab, which is quartzite and it is the entire island. So you're not looking at a broken up island between cabinetry finishes as well as the top. The whole thing is a monolith of stone.

[Sue]

I'm really proud of this island because there's actually two islands. And then the next picture will show you that. That first kind of prep island. Yeah, you have like you had had. The space was just really weird. And so we were able to break it up into two full islands. In that kitchen. And I think both of them, I think are so much better than they were before. Again, that first island, we didn't grow. We added or like, we didn't like take it down. We read it, we kept it, we re painted it, changed it, and then we added the butcher block. She like loves nothing more than like a French kitchen. And so we like actually created a full butcher block at the end the of there, you know, so. And like with a cute little stool for your girls to sit up.

[Alice]

Stool and, and peel.

[Sue]

Yep.

[Alice]

Peel carrots and chop onions or charcuterie.

[Sue]

Or just have that like laying there. It feels very culinary.

[Alice]

So fun. And the legs, I remember you sketching these legs.

[Sue]

We sketched them and then we actually like just played with metal pieces and like told them on site how to weld them, which was really, really fun. And then we had our artist do the gold leafing. But. And I'm proud of that. But I'm really proud of just like, like that second island. It's so simple, but just like the, the thickness and for that like gold toe kick, how it wraps those two sides. I'm just. And I love that like we waterfalled one end and then we kept the other end open. I just think it turned out really, really cool.

[Alice]

I do too. I love that kitchen.

[Sue]

I love that. So anyway, so that those are a few of our favorite kitchens that we've done and some of the hot tips that we want to share with you today.

[Alice]

Yes. Yeah. I hope this helps. As you're planning your kitchens and sort of rethinking things. We just wanted to pay forward our very best adv. At least our five, five or six kitchens. That really had a lot of tricks, whether it be remodel, keeping half the kitchen, getting rid of the whole kitchen, floor to ceiling, stretching, all sorts of tricks in in there. I hope that's helpful. Thank you so much for watching today. And remember, you need to check out our trade program. You're going to get the exclusive discounts, the expert help and access to our hundreds of vendors. You guys can apply [e-mail] Big thanks for listening. We're so grateful for you. If you don't mind, rate and review us. That helps other people find the show.

[Sue]

Show.

[Alice]

We'll catch you next time. Hey, thanks for listening. If you like our show, please leave a five star rating.