Coining the phrase “Cozy Contemporary” is our term for this kitchen designed and built by RemodelWest. Over the course of five years the team at RemodelWest has helped this European couple transfer a modest size Willow Glen home into a modern display of design solutions and materials. The latest undertaking involved taking a small closed in and dated kitchen towards a more desirable open plan kitchen with modern flair yet warm and comfortable to be in. This remodel project involved moving an interior partition wall, opening the narrow doorway to a wide open space adjoining the Dining Room, relocating windows and reconstructing the ceiling to achieve the structural retrofitting required for an open kitchen plan. The RemodelWest team dove into the project and here are the highlights. Combining two colors of a cutting edge engineered veneer material called Obeche by Cottonwood Cabinets laid the foundation of the project. Cottonwood has developed a proprietary process known as “Windswept”. This very unique method achieves a texture in the wood accomplishing a soft comfortable feel to the cabinetry.

Blending woods, colors and finishes is an art form in of itself and within this cozy kitchen lays a very interesting material blend. In addition to two color “windswept” wood cabinet finishes knows as “Java” and “Dune”, metal framed doors at the pantry wall combined with Lumicor Olive Mesh acrylic panels brings in an element rarely seen in kitchen design. Lumicor is a material sourced by our design team and fitted by our in house carpenters. Notice the backlighting that subtly accentuates the interiors of the cabinetry. Here you can see it in action and how it complements the surrounding materials.

Next up the main countertops feature Zodiaq Cream Botticino with 4” high backsplash, 2” mitered square edge detail and matching window sills. Anchoring the island, the Iron Ore by Costentino sets off the kitchen and harmonizes the cabinet finishes. Lastly the horizontal glass mosaic tile backsplash brings all the materials together.

As you can see here the original kitchen included a small adjacent laundry area. One of the most exciting parts of this project, we tackled this area by maintaining the laundry facilities and integrating them into the kitchen design. The space was very narrow and a major traffic area entering the kitchen from the outside. The challenge was to design a solution that allowed concealment of the washer and dryer units yet when in operation the units exposed but not impeding the traffic. In comes a special German hardware system known as “Co-plane”. This sophisticated sliding hardware door system allows the homeowner to slide the right door over the left door exposing the units but when closed planes out with the adjacent cabinet to the left. The left cabinet also includes the co-planing hardware which can be slid over to the right exposing a custom shoe cabinet near the exterior door.

Over the course of near 25 years of designing and building projects across Silicon Valley this project exemplifies the blending of modern design into a contemporary solution demanded by many within the valley.