Eight Kitchen Makeovers

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Experts transform outdated, dysfunctional kitchens into high-performance epicenters of the home, full of grace and style

Written by Sharon Jaffe Dan

A Clean, Modern Update

Renovation & Kitchen Design: Jonas Carnemark, CR, CKD, Carnemark systems+design inc,. Bethesda, Maryland. Photography: Maxwell MacKenzie, Washington, DC

Designer Jonas Carnemark had a clear mandate when he approached the remodel of his client’s Washington, DC, home: to create a modern makeover of its outdated 1980s interiors. In the kitchen, this meant scrapping the lackluster cabinetry, countertops and appliances and devising a more efficient floor plan that would be conducive to both cooking and entertaining.

“To allow good flow in and around the kitchen we opened the wall adjacent to the family room with a wide arch. A matching wide arch was created on the opposite side of the kitchen to create a breakfast area,” says Carnemark. He also replaced the walls between the family and living area with a large paneled aquarium divider.

A long island became the cooking center, where a five-burner cooktop and Miele hood are a vast improvement over the client’s original electric stove and inefficient downdraft venting. “By having large openings on both sides, the island could become larger and more efficient for storage and preparation,” says Carnemark.

SieMatic cabinetry in a matte Magnolia White finish, soft gray porcelain floor tiles and black slate countertops combine for a clean and simple material palette. “The warm gray large-format tiles tie in with the slate countertops and offer minimal cleaning and upkeep,” says Carnemark. “The tile was also installed on the sink wall for visual texture and ease of maintenance and cleaning.” Fold-up glass door cabinets offer easy-access storage and enhance the feeling of openness.

Arts & Craft Style

Interior Design: Melissa Broffman, Allied Member ASID, Melissa Broffman Interior Design, Arlington, Virginia
Cabinetry: Judy Bracht, Stuart Kitchens, McLean, Virginia
Construction: Merrill Contracting, Arlington, Virginia
Photography: Lydia Cutter, Arlington, Virginia

Dan Mesches had a kitchen that hardly reflected his profession as a restaurateur and the chief executive of Star Restaurant Group (Zola, Indigo Landing and formerly Red Sage). Its outdated cabinets, baseline appliances, Formica countertops and linoleum floors had to go. “It was a dark and unwelcoming space,” he recalls.

The Mesches family turned to interior designer Melissa Broffman to renovate the kitchen, breakfast and family rooms; add a mudroom and butler’s pantry; and relate these spaces to the dining room and living room. “The goals were to unify the space of the four main rooms both physically…and aesthetically, to more clearly articulate the Arts and Craft movement reflected in the

rest of the house,” says Mesches.Broffman set out to design a 21st-century kitchen steeped in period charm. She was able to gain space in the layout by combining the former kitchen and breakfast room, once divided by a long bar/countertop, into one large room. Contractors were able to remove a large ceiling soffit that also had divided the space. Broffman integrated a layered lighting plan that includes period pendants, recessed cans, task directionals, under-cabinet pucks and tabletop and floor lamps, all of which are on dimmers. “We do not like harsh, artificial light and the combination of xenon and dimmers allows us to mimic daylight while still providing important wattage for kitchen tasks that require it,” says Mesches.

Broffman emphasized the Arts and Craft aesthetic, utilizing fabric and wallcoverings in William Morris designs that she discovered at J. Lambeth in Washington, DC. Oil-rubbed bronze and nickel faucets, a hammered copper sink and a custom 3.5-inch-thick maple butcher block with a distressed finish by Brad Mizell complete the au naturel look. “There are layers of texture and detail,” says Broffman. “Plenty for the eye to see.”

A NEW Beginning

Architecture & Kitchen Design:Thomas French, David Hargrove, Cyndy Alsaif, Thomas French Architect, P.C., McLean, Virginia
Renovation Construction: Finn Construction, Inc.
Photography: Lydia Cutter, Arlington, Virginia

Expecting their first child, homeowners Alex and Caulley Derringer desperately needed a larger kitchen, but their small Chevy Chase lot had strict setback lines that precluded a large-scale addition. Architect Thomas French and his design team figured out a way to carve out more space by extending the kitchen along an exterior wall of the house, angling the end of the addition to gain a few extra feet of cabinet space. An angled peninsula and beverage center in the area that housed the former kitchen provides an area for entertaining around the honed-granite bar while the new kitchen space stretches galley-style, along the side of the house.

French accommodated his clients’ wish list of amenities and appliances, from a 36-inch Sub-Zero refrigerator to a beverage center. “You’ve got a lot of function packed into a small space,” he says. “This project brought them a new lease on life to stay in the house for several more years.”

Old World, European Style

Kitchen Design: Lois Kennedy, CKD, Portfolio Kitchens, Vienna, Virginia
Interior Design: Linda Steimke, Steimke & Associates, North Potomac, Maryland
Photography: Lydia Cutter, Arlington, Virginia

When the time came to update their

28-year-old kitchen, Potomac residents Kelly and Steve Schorer turned to interior designer Linda Steimke and kitchen designer Lois Kennedy to design a highly functional space using the latest appliances and technology. Yet the look they envisioned was Old World, rustic and homey.
The designers gutted the original kitchen and devised a new floor plan that would include plenty of cabinet and counter space, a large center island, a breakfast bar and a separate desk area for Kelly Schorer.

The island is equipped with two refrigerated drawers and two dishwasher drawers on either side of the prep sink. Kelly has found this is the ideal set-up for making lunches for her two teenagers, while the adjacent round table with stools is the perfect spot for a quick breakfast before school.

Kennedy was instrumental in detailed cabinet design throughout the kitchen. She carved out a dedicated space for small appliances on the main countertop and concealed pull-out spice racks in the columns that flank either side of the range. The carved hood incorporating griffins and other mythical creatures is a replica of a similar one Kennedy designed for an NSO show house; the Schorers saw photos of it and requested one of their own.

Kennedy and Steimke worked together to select finishes and colors in the kitchen. “It’s Old World elegance with ease,” says Steimke. “It’s not stuffy or formal.”
They honed in on rustic materials that would suggest this kitchen had withstood the test of time, such as the wide-plank, hand-scraped floors and the custom copper farmhouse sink that will develop a rich patina over the years. The designers varied the cabinet colors to avoid monotony. “I enjoy working with different colors,” says Kennedy. “It’s a way to create rhythm and movement and keep it from being too boring.”

A Fresh New Look

Interior Design: Walter Gagliano, ASID, G&G, Inc., Washington, DC
Kitchen Design: Karen Hourigan, CKD, Kitchen & Bath Studios, Inc., Chevy Chase, Maryland
Photography: Bob Narod, Sterling, Virginia

Designers Walter Gagliano and Karen Hourigan set out to create a fresh, updated look in their Potomac, Maryland, clients’ 20-year-old kitchen. They enlarged a small existing window above the sink, extending it to the ceiling to lend the room a greater sense of openness and height. They also removed an artificial header separating the kitchen from the adjacent breakfast area and managed to fit in an island complete with prep sink and a seating

area for added functionality. The designers also moved the door to the dining room to the right, establishing a focal point—and extra workspace—around the new cooktop.

Gagliano created a blend of textures and colors in the new kitchen, combining iridescent glass tiles, two shades of granite and cabinetry in ivory and walnut for a warm and sophisticated new look.

Custom Considerations

Kitchen Design: Rebeka Gurfinchel and Marie Schwartz, Studio One, Baltimore, Maryland
Photography: Anne Gummerson, Baltimore, Maryland

A true kosher kitchen, with separate areas for milk, meat and “pareve” food preparation, demands a generous amount of space. The Wolasky family, whose Baltimore kitchen was too small to accommodate these three separate zones, approached the designers at Baltimore’s Studio One to update their home and create a complete kosher kitchen.

“The original kitchen was very small and difficult to maneuver as a kosher kitchen. There was not enough space for each task,” says Marie Schwartz, who proposed a plan with colleague Rebeka Gurfinchel that would add more space to the kitchen in the front of the house. This addition would be balanced by a new loggia on the opposite side of the property.

The new front space became a large, light-filled dining area, where decorative painting on the walls reinforces a garden feel.

A breakfast bar connects this area to the main kitchen space, where there are three separate sinks and dishwashers. “The breakfast bar is for ease of dining without having to travel to the main body of the kitchen, as it is now very long,” says Schwartz. “We are partial to breakfast bars of varying sorts—we love the ‘bed and breakfast’ feel.”

Hearth-style cabinetry surrounds the main cooktop, with pull-out spice storage keeping essentials close at hand. A hand-painted tile backsplash creates an Old World look—as do the porcelain floor tiles from Italy.

The kitchen not only meets the family’s dietary requirements, but it’s also an elegant new spot for entertaining.

A Sense Of Serenity

Architecture: Maria Casarella, AIA, Cunningham + Quill Architects, Washington, DC
Interior Design: Marc Janecki, Marc Janecki Design, Palm Beach, Florida
Kitchen Design: Jennifer Gilmer, CKD, Jennifer Gilmer Kitchen and Bath, Bethesda, Maryland
Photography: Bob Narod, Sterling, Virginia

Space was at a premium in the planning of this kitchen-family room addition where the homeowners had requested an island, a pantry, two sinks, a three-foot range, two ovens and space for a table and a seating area with a fireplace. “Since they were restricted by their

lot space, they couldn’t make the new addition as large as they wanted to, so smart space planning became very important,” says kitchen designer Jennifer Gilmer, who collaborated on the project with architect Maria Casarella and interior designer Marc Janecki.

As the floor plan evolved, the design team made the decision to place the refrigerator, the second oven, the ice maker and pantry in an area leading from the foyer into the kitchen, which afforded them more space for countertops and cabinetry in the kitchen itself. The designers established plenty of efficient workspace in the kitchen, with the range on one wall facing a large island with a prep sink. The sitting area fit in well on the opposite of the island—but no space was left for a dining table. “We needed to figure out a way to create seating for four,” says Gilmer, “and we decided to make the island the table.” By extending the concrete slab that tops the island, allowing for stools and some extra legroom, they integrated a comfortable dining area into the 400-square-foot space.

Janecki’s goal was to create a modern look with “a touch of age, not making it too slick.” An ebonized oak plank floor, open wooden shelving and a stone backsplash create subtle interest, while stainless-steel accent tiles “add a bit of drama,” he says. The result is a kitchen that is not only quiet and serene but also highly functional and organized.

Sleek Italian Style

Cabinet & Appliance Design: Robert Templon, Allied Member, ASID, Studio Snaidero DC, Washington, DC
Photography: John W. Smith, McLean, Virginia


The fact that the rest of Cita and Irwin Stelzer’s Kalorama home is very traditional did not stop the couple from seeking a highly modern kitchen renovation. Fans of Italian design, they turned to Studio Snaidero DC’s Robert Templon to overhaul their outdated, inefficient kitchen into one that was clean-lined and functional. “They appreciate the beauty and craftsmanship of true Italian design,” says Templon. They honed in on a classic black-and-white color scheme with high glossy surfaces that make a bold statement. The style is similar to that of the Stelzers’ kitchen in their home in Aspen.

Templon suggested Snaidero’s IDEA cabinetry, designed by Ferrari stylist Pininfarina, “because of its flat door and channel handle that provide a transitional yet elegant look,” he says. The kitchen cabinetry is Ice White. “White never goes out of style and always looks fresh

and new.” The polished black granite floors, countertops and backsplash provide the perfect counterpoint to the lacquered cabinetry.

Limited to the size of the existing kitchen, the plan carved out enough space for a table for two. Chromed-based chairs by Zoeftig, which the Stelzers discovered at a design show in London, and the Lucite dining table seem to float in this crisp new kitchen that’s polished in more ways than one.

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