Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2020 i House Beautiful

AN UNDERSTANDABLE ASSUMPTION is that any and every kitchen renovation requires multiple contractors and a sky-high budget. Meanwhile, there’s IKEA, whose kitchen cabinets are reliably affordable, sure, but also endlessly customizable—even by a layperson. If you’d still like a bit of professional assistance, take some hints from these designer spaces, which are guaranteed to help you think outside the (delivery) box. Little Lifesavers Designers share the IKEA kitchen items they pick up for clients again and again. Find them at ikea.com.…

HOMEOWNERS ARE REQUESTING more comforting kitchens, which often means that they would rather cook with what they know than test out the latest technology. That’s a mistake, says Philadelphia designer Matthew Ferrarini. “If you ask a client, ‘Would you like smart appliances?’ nine out of 10 will say no. But if you ask, ‘Would you like to save time cooking and preparing meals?’ everyone is going to say yes.” Convenience and lifestyle are the focus of these new models, as is longevity: Since appliances are often 10- or 20-year purchases, many of the latest will require only software updates down the road and won’t need to be replaced. Here are just a few that can dramatically change your way of life:…

TUDOR HOMES ARE AS FAMOUSLY DARK AND MOODY AS the late-medieval British epoch in which the architecture was born—but that’s just the way the owner of this Montclair, New Jersey, abode likes it. “He’s an old-school guy, so we came up with a men’s club aesthetic,” says his designer, Birgitte Pearce, who is originally from Denmark. “A timeless kitchen doesn’t have to be white!” The client has a basement workshop “that’s his palace,” Pearce says, and one goal was to bring back the basement stairs. The new stairwell’s line of walnut dowels with brass standoffs ended up as muse for the entire remodeling project. Now, the living metal supplies its burnished charms everywhere, from the drawer pulls to the range hood. Carrying these tones throughout the house allowed the designer…

NOT LONG AFTER MARY AND Scott Hager’s college-aged kids flew the coop, the Dallas couple did what so many empty nesters do: said goodbye to their longtime family home—a large, traditional house in the city’s leafy University Park neighborhood—and began building a smaller one nearby. “They were looking for something more modern and low-maintenance,” explains designer Jean Liu. Still, “they weren’t ready to give up all of their old things and only use neutrals.” It would be Liu’s job to find that perfect balance. The pair’s love for entertaining and the great outdoors served as her jumping-off points. “The patterns and the color schemes we chose really evoke an outdoorsy, rustic-but-tailored style,” the designer says. Working with the architecture firm Clinton + Company, Liu used warm, organic materials to soften…

With so many daily distractions, downshifting into sleep mode seems tougher than ever. If your bedroom isn’t set up to soothe, it’s hard to get the quality rest you crave. But, thanks to a few design-driven choices, you can get more shut-eye. “An ideal bedroom provides an environment for rest, positivity, and relaxation,” says interior designer Natalie Kraiem. From going all-in on a Stearns & Foster mattress to ditching the screens, here are four easy ways to make your space more serene. The Rest Is Easy Follow these simple principles to prep your room for maximum zzz’s. 1. Invest in a Quality Mattress When it comes to getting a good night’s sleep, “the mattress is the most important element,” says Kraiem. “My key recommendation is to source one from a…

TO BE FAIR, THE COBBLESTONE WALL WAS already there. “The homeowners wanted to basically renovate a newly constructed home,” says designer Nina Magon of the request she got from one Houston couple. They’d just purchased a six-bedroom, six-bathroom house, but despite the gorgeous kitchen focal wall, they’d found many of the builder-grade fixtures and furnishings a bit lacking. “We were hired to bring more of a glam touch, something exciting to look at.” To layer on the desired sophistication, Magon leaned into the French château vibe. “We wanted to make it a little more European,” the designer says. “So there’s a huge juxtaposition between this old-world stone against these very glamorous pieces.” Up went modern Gabriel Scott pendant lights and custom shelving, both of which are glass outlined in black…

NEW YORK CITY ISN’T EXACTLY known for its generous kitchen space, but a professional chef’s needs go beyond the gloomy galley setups many urbanites are accustomed to at home. When one such culinary master and his husband called up designer Mark Cunningham for help with their duplex home in the West Village, he dreamed up a spin on the open-concept kitchen and living room. You won’t find a sprawling white marble island or bare shelving here: With the space’s industrial bones, “the biggest thing was trying to bring warmth,” explains the designer, who worked with Michael Gilmore of Weddle Gilmore on the gut renovation. First, Cunningham swathed the room in oak paneling. “It adds a sense of continuity, and when you’re sitting in the living room, you’re not staring at…

HE WAS EIGHT YEARS OLD. IT WAS THE FIRST TIME LEE STANTON’S MOTHER took him antiquing. “I was the only child at home at the time, so in order to maintain my interest while we were shopping, she got me started on collecting too,” he recalls. He began with vintage toys, then tramp art. “As my taste would mature, she would quickly shift my attention to another collection,” Stanton adds. When his mother was busy, he’d spend time with his grandfather, a woodworker who restored old furniture. Later, he started joining his older sister, an interior designer, on her regular buying trips to Europe. It seems almost inevitable, then, that Stanton would end up an antiques dealer himself—albeit as a second act, after a successful career in publishing. “It was kind…

Cool Climate Keep humidity levels around 60 percent (dry enough to prevent mold but moist enough to keep corks from drying out) and the temperature at 55 degrees Fahrenheit or so, says Romanek. Install a compressor refrigeration system for a full room or go for an integrated wine cooler in a kitchen island. Proper Positioning Storing bottles horizontally keeps oxygen from slipping in through the cork. For those seeking form and function, think about a wall-spanning wood rack made from walnut, cherry, or mahogany—all of which can withstand higher humidity levels and keep mold at bay. Low Light Too much direct sun accelerates aging, so “be conscious of your exposures,” says designer Michelle Morgan Harrison. If you want to keep your collection on display, choose a UV-filtering glass enclosure and…

1. Creature Comforts Her scheme: a completely tricked-out kitchen under a pergola-esque structure (ideal for providing shade on those sun-drenched days) with plenty of hangout spots, including a built-in circular sofa with a firepit for cooler evenings and a bocce court. The only thing we’d add? A big screen for Netflix nights. 2. Self-Service A “help yourself” zone houses a U-Line Kegerator (craft beer, please!), and ice maker. A beverage-and-wine fridge, along with an additional fridge/freezer drawer combo (for ice cream!), from Perlick keeps kids and parents happy. 3. Cook’s Zone Chef-worthy appliances make this the spot for family cookouts. A Prestige Pro grill by Napoleon anchors the wall, next to warming drawers and a DCS Series 9 Power Burner that goes from a big pot simmer at 1,300 BTUs…

TWILIGHT NAVY, INKY onyx, stormy gray—not quite the palette you’d expect to see in a sun-drenched house on the coast. But when Jacksonville-based designer Kelly Cook took on the remodel of a 1930s oceanfront Shingle Style home in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, expectations were thrown out to sea. “The owner wasn’t looking for a typical ‘beach’ look—he wanted his house to be different from everything else in the area,” says Cook, owner of Orangerie Home. “We had the luxury of thinking outside the box, which makes it so much more fun and exciting for us as designers.” In the kitchen—a late addition to the renovation list—avoiding obvious coastal references didn’t mean ignoring the house’s prime location, though. After learning that Farrow & Ball’s Down Pipe, a deep gray-blue, was her…

WHEN, AFTER NEARLY a decade of slowly renovating the rest of their home, a Pacific Palisades, California, family of seven finally faced their kitchen, they turned to their go-to designer, Caren Rideau, founder of the Kitchen Design Group, with a request to rework it into a multifunctional room. Well, they had a few more specific requests too. “They wanted a place for coffee, an area for wine. A walk-in pantry. A drop-off zone for the kids. And most important, direct access to the backyard,” says Rideau. “We weren’t adding square footage, so we needed to get a lot into this space.” Since the family eats and cooks together nearly every night, and mom in particular is an avid pasta maker, Rideau chose a 60-inch BlueStar range “that can handle commercial-size…

IMAGINE AN IDEAL SONOMA HILLSIDE DOTTED WITH STATELY OAK, MANZAnita, and madrone trees. Now picture it sliced in half horizontally like a baguette, and tucked within the seam, a modernist wood-and-glass ranch home—specifically, one built by Bay Area architects Bevan & Associates for a pair of well-traveled, art-savvy empty nesters. “The idea was to have the house scoop up the view from everywhere, so we settled on a linear configuration with landscaped roofs that allow the hillside to be a blanket,” says the firm’s principal, George Bevan, who worked with landscape architect Mike Lucas of Lucas & Lucas. Inside, design mastermind Ken Fulk dreamed up a series of equally inspiring vistas. “It’s a new structure, but we wanted the surfaces to feel soulful, like a human had touched them,” says…