It is open to a large breakfast area, and leading into sunken family room. On the other side has a door leading into a formal dinning room; it was quite a challenge. We were working with existing furniture, all wood, mostly contemporary styles with different stain colors. This was the "family part" of our project, then we had to deal with a stately, very sophisticated and very large dinning table.kitchen example

The challenge was to "marry" it all together without introducing too many wood colors (remember, the furniture were made from different species, adding to the kaleidoscope of color).

This kitchen was much larger then average, with stain color of existing cabinetry; it became a substantial visual element, that could not be changed, so we had to work with it. Kitchen cabinets were oak, stained dark brown with warm, almost read undertones. The breakfast table was made of maple, stained warm dark brown with natural table top. The armoire and the side board in the family room was maple that was stained dark, warm green and had oak accents, stained in warm honey brown. The coffee table was a combination of several types of wood veneer, including oak and cherry and was stained warm, medium brown with golden hues of honey. Then, there was a large, sophisticated dinning table framed by 8 wood chairs with cream damask upholstery. kitchen example

The last piece was so much different from the rest of the furniture, that the challenge to work it all into the decorating scheme was tremendous. What we finally decided to do was to use unfinished 3 1/4" ash strip installed on a diagonal, throughout the entire main floor. We distinguished the dinning room by introducing a wide border around the entire area. kitchen example

Since wood floor was installed in the entire home, we had to consider not only the furniture on the main floor, but also those upstairs. We were very careful about choosing the right floor stain. Since the biggest element of color, that existed in the house already (the kitchen cabinets) was quite dark, matching that color exactly would be a big mistake. kitchen example

Dark stain would overwhelmed the entire decorating scheme and that was not what we were looking for. It took us several weeks to decide on the final color. In fact, the stain that I had in mind for that space was not available on the market. We decided to custom mix the stain. After many tries and even more sample boards, we finally arrived at the color that not only worked with client's interior, but also made them feel like this was finally their home and not just a house in which they lived. It is a beautiful color, with warm, red undertones, toned down with hints of golden brown. Greatest feature of the wood that we chose (ash) is an incredible grain. It made the floor alive with character, and at the same time it makes it a perfect backdrop for all the existing furniture.kitchen example

After the decision was made on the wood floor, time came to pick the tiles for the kitchen. Because cabinets were quite dark, we decided to showcase them by using a lighter colored tile, installed straight to avoid an addition of more visual angles, which would made the kitchen and breakfast area look much more busy.kitchen example

Overall effect of this decorating project was an increadible look that was pulled together, sophisticated and just perfect for that particular space.

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