Old Orchard Charm

Lauren Tolles AND Tori Olijar

Maison Birmingham with KSI Kitchen & Bath, Birmingham, MI

Designers didn’t need to look any further than the apple orchard and fields surrounding this old farmhouse to find inspiration for its kitchen renovation. As well, when the team, comprised of Tolles, Olijar and Tony Achatz, met with the homeowners, it didn’t take long to discover the husband loved to cook and the wife was enamored with the home’s stair rails and posts, millwork and hardwood floors, which she had been painstakingly restoring.

In fact, it was the rich hardwood that helped steer the direction toward the dark walnut Hearth-stained cabinet finish in the kitchen, which contrasts against the floor and lighter Frosty White painted cabinets for the perimeter, which are topped with Difiniti’s Piastra quartz. A decision to use inset cabinetry accented with Schaub & Co. Northport hardware, along with a Kohler Whitehaven apron front sink and unlacquered and antiqued brass and bronze fixtures, evokes an older, more traditional feel consistent with the rest of the home.

Since the previous kitchen had been very dark and seemed to suck up all the daylight, designers used Virginia Tile’s 2.5″x5″ Glossy White Fez subway tile around the walls and hood to bounce light and reflections and create a lighter, brighter feeling within the space.

Integrating a longer island creates more space for family and friends, entertaining and prepping, while physically drawing the kitchen closer to the glass sliding doors leading to the orchard. Elongating the kitchen also allows connection between the kitchen and breakfast nook, which are separated by a Cadet Grey etagere, a freestanding, armoire-like cabinet that provides a space for a coffee and breakfast prep area, as well as drawers for breakfast dishes and school supplies for the homeowners’ two boys.