One of the worst thing about when people do an addition to their home, is that it often looks like an addition… There is no transition or flow between old and new. That was exactly the case with this house in Palm Springs. The previous owners had enclosed the garage to create a family room, but kept the opening where there was previously a kitchen window. They had added shelves within the opening to try and give it purpose, but it wasn’t working and the entire family room space felt extremely closed off from the rest of the home.
My solution was to open it up! We removed the wall around the window opening, and extended a quartz countertop around the perimeter to create counter seating. I found some modern barstools to extend around the quartz counter and this helped to create a connection between the spaces. We relocated three of the wood spindels from the opposite side of the room and added them for support and cosmetic balance. Now when you look at this kitchen, you can’t tell that there was ever an addition because the spaces have a smooth transition and it looks natural.
We painted the space bright white, added large baseboards, removed the carpet and did polished concrete floors. Within the kitchen, we kept the peach tile counters but painted the cabinets gray to create contrast. A large, modern ceiling light helped to brighten the space and create visual interest. When we removed the wall, we also removed the ceiling mounted cabinets above the cooktop, therefore we installed a modern ceiling mounted exhaust hood above it instead. However the best part about this transformation… Was sourcing the retro turquoise refrigerator! The double ovens and cook top were both original from the 1950’s and was what caught my eye originally when I was looking at real estate listings. Big Chill Appliances has a full line of modern – retro style appliances and shockingly… Their turquoise color matched the original appliances perfectly! It was meant to be!
To see all of the AFTER photos from this project and additional product sources, check out the Santa Cruz page!
FLIPPING DIARIES 