When Pennebaker Homes sent this client my way, she already had a folder of inspiration photos and a clear sense of the home she was building on her heavily wooded lot. My job was to take that vision and translate it into cabinetry that would feel just as warm and rooted as the setting around it. This is exactly the kind of collaboration I love: a builder trusts me to guide their client through cabinetry and design decisions across the whole home, and together we get to build something that feels entirely her own.
From our very first conversation, she was clear that the range area needed to be the heart of the kitchen. We pulled the rangetop out slightly from the surrounding cabinetry so it would read as its own statement, then topped it with a beautiful hood finished in a rich accent color that draws your eye the moment you walk in. Flanking the range, we added glass-front upper cabinets on each side, giving her a place to display her favorite pieces while keeping the whole wall feeling open and layered rather than heavy.
She also wanted her wine refrigerator and refrigerator drawers to disappear into the design rather than stand out as appliances. We used custom panels that match her cabinetry to face them, so instead of feeling like a utility wall, that whole run reads as one cohesive, beautiful piece of furniture.
Kitchen and bath trends have leaned heavily toward white and gray for years, but this client wanted something different: a warmer, richer tone with more personality. Our standard paint offerings were close, but not quite right, so we turned to the Masterpiece color match program, which let us achieve a fully custom color without the cost of upgrading to a different cabinet line altogether. She landed on Sherwin Williams SW9602 Studio Beige, and to balance it, we brought in maple with a warm stain on the island, the hood, and the floating shelves in her coffee nook.
Before committing the whole kitchen to the new color, we ordered a sample door in her chosen finish for her approval. Seeing it in person, in the exact door style she'd selected, gave her the confidence to move forward, and the finished kitchen proved it was worth the extra step. It's a great example of how a little more process up front can lead to a much more personal result.
One of the client's must-haves was a dedicated coffee bar, but the floor plan simply didn't have room for it. Rather than tell her it wasn't possible, we looked at how the family actually planned to live in the home. Since they'd be using the mudroom far more than the front closet which shared a wall with the kitchen, we made the closet smaller and reclaimed that footprint for a coffee station instead. A base cabinet, a short wall cabinet, and floating shelves finished in our maple accent turned an overlooked corner into one of the most personal spots in the whole kitchen.
In the hallway and master bathrooms, my client gravitated toward soft alder stains. Paired with a rustic wood character, the vanities feel like a natural extension of the wooded property just outside her windows, carrying that same warmth from the kitchen into the more private spaces of the home.
If you're building or remodeling and want cabinetry that feels as personal as this client's forever home, we'd love to help. Schedule your free design consultation and let's start designing a space that's entirely yours.