See the Kitchen Entries in our 2017 Interior Design Awards contest
By Ilene Denton November 1, 2017
Winner: St. Armands Key Renovation. Angela Rodriguez, Angela Rodriguez Interiors
This St. Armands Key custom kitchen, designed by Angela Rodriguez of Angela Rodriguez Interiors for clients who are passionate home chefs, incorporates smart space planning and a light, natural palette in its quartz countertops and stained and painted maple custom cabinetry in two contrasting finishes. The energy-efficient LED lighting can be controlled via the owners’ iPhones. A winning design element is the white-oak-clad soffit that rises to the top of the 12-foot ceiling. “As a final personal touch,” Rodriguez says, “an extra-deep toekick overhang at the center island provides a perfect place to tuck in the food bowls of the owners’ two dogs.” Our judges said: “Soft,” “warm,” “comfortable,” “a great job of not being trendy.”
Photography by Courtesy Angela Rodriguez Interiors
Jill Geisdorf, Chic on the Cheap
Jill Geisdorf writes: “The homeowners inherited this house from the husband's parents. It had green carpet and lot of wallpaper that looked great back in the day, not this day. A full refresh of the house was in order and the clients wanted something coastal and bright. They have four grown children, so having a big gathering space was important. “Before the kitchen was cramped and dark. While it was partially open to the living room, the architectural configuration didn't do it justice. The vault from the living room was extended into the kitchen making the space vertically larger, which made everything feel more grand and expansive. White cabinets with a focal-point Brown Fantasy granite on the island make for a neutral but interesting space. The barstools have a fun pop of color on the base.”
Photography by Coastal Home Photography
Stephanie Nolan, Distinctive Interiors
Stephanie Nolan writes: “This is an extremely exceptional project, as we collaborated with celebrity designer Thom Filicia. The kitchen has white Shaker-style cabinetry, white quartz countertops, chevron patterned marble backsplash and a large ‘table-like’ kitchen island. Stainless steel appliances and stainless steel farmhouse sink add that touch of metal along with the modern-styled chandelier. Wood flooring and white tongue and groove ceiling above give the space its warm farmhouse feel.”
Photography by Jimmy White
Joe Clark, Chic on the Cheap
Joe Clark writes: “With tiny homes and minimalist living ever growing in popularity, the renovation to this project showcases how large a small home or condo can be designed to feel. The best way to describe this area in its previous iteration was DARK. Upper cabinets made the galley kitchen feel like a cave. The goal was to open up the kitchen, add natural light, and make it easier to use from a cooking standpoint. The kitchen was reconfigured into an L-shape and an island was added. The appliance locations were reworked into the space allowing for them to be full sized. This provided more room to add a cabinet pantry for extra storage. By keeping the pass-through opening to the dining area and replacing the existing bathroom doors with frosted glass, combined with the fact that there are no longer upper cabinets in your field of view, the natural light entering the space was tripled—and man, what a difference.”
Photography by Coastal Home Photography
David Asher, Eurotech Cabinetry
David Asher writes: “We love contemporary design and the clients trusted us to take architect Guy Peterson’s concept and engineer the cabinetry layout to work within the parameters he set. The lines are clean and uncluttered. The finishes are both cool and warm so the kitchen is not a stark, cold contemporary. All the appliances are integrated into and look like the cabinetry. The function of the kitchen is equally important to us, and this is a great working kitchen. All major appliances are in close proximity to each other as are cabinetry housing pots and storage as well as other cooking needs. There is excellent counter space to both sides of the sink and cooktop for prep and clean up. The sink is flanked on the left with a pullout trash/re-cycling center and the dishwasher on the right, which makes for easy cleanup. These clients will never want for storage space.”
Photography by Tom Harper Photography
Jessica Napoli, Chic on the Cheap
Jessica Napoli writes: “This Kanaya kitchen, in its former state, was a dark plum purple room with virtually no cabinets, no cooking space and not even enough space for guests to sit. The refrigerator took up an entire wall (which was angled for reasons no one will ever know), which made this room feel closed off and even smaller than it needed to be. The existing dark countertops, dark walls, dark cabinets and dark floors created a dungeon-like feel. The result, as you can see in the pictures, is the exact opposite! By implementing the concept of ‘light and bright,’ white cabinets and light multicolored countertops create a more open and welcoming feeling. Now it feels like multiple skylights were added into the room because it is so much brighter. By changing the room to a U-shaped configuration, relocating the refrigerator and removing the angled wall, the storage basically doubled.”
Photography by Luis Tamayo
Scores of design pros submitted their best recent projects—bold condo remodels, bright midcentury updates, grand mansions and more—for our inaugural Interior Design Awards competition. Today, we take a look at the winner in the kitchen category, and at the five other excellent kitchen entries.