The quickest way to destroy a nice home is to let loose a pack of small kids and puppies. The owners of this San Diego home knew that well, so when they bought their home eight years ago, they held off on renovating the kitchen and living room until their pack had, as it were, matured a bit.
Kitchen and Living Room at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple; their two kids, ages 8 and 10; and their two dogs
Location: Point Loma area of San Diego
Size: The combined kitchen-living room is 616 square feet (57 square meters); 28 by 22 feet
Designer: Hope Pinc
With the kids and dogs grown, and their money saved up, the couple were finally able to open up and update their 1970s-era kitchen and living room. Now it’s better suited for entertaining family and friends, and has the kinds of uplifting furnishings and accessories they had resisted getting all those years ago.
The couple found designer Hope Pinc by searching the Houzz pro directory for a designer in their area. She was able to envision a more open floor plan and tease out the homeowners’ style.
Looking through inspiration photos that the homeowners had collected, Pinc noticed details that constituted, in her mind, a modern farmhouse style. “I saw farmhouse sinks, white Shaker cabinets with black contrasting handles, wooden floating shelves, a palette of navy blue and paneling on the hood,” she says.
“Removing the wall and pushing the kitchen back towards the hallway was our main objective to open up the kitchen to the living room to create the feeling of one large living space,” she says.
She originally wanted to take down the header, but for structural reasons it had to stay. Instead, she boxed it in with wood to match the color of the floors.
The door to the right of the island leads to a large walk-in pantry that contains a washer and dryer, floor-to-ceiling shelves and a cabinet with a countertop.
Paint: Sea Serpent (island), Extra White (cabinets) and Repose Gray (walls), all by Sherwin-Williams
She removed the previous flooring, large square tiles, and matched in new hardwood. She bleached the new and old wood to give it a lighter, more modern look.
With the navy island, Pinc used matte black hardware to tie in with the faucet and pot filler. “I liked the idea of mixing all different types of metal,” she says.
The shelves front a backsplash of elongated hex tiles. Behind the stove is marble tile in a fish-scale pattern. “Just beautiful,” Pinc says. “It really tied in the coolness of the white cabinets and the warm accents throughout.”
She worked with basically the same palette as in the kitchen to create cohesiveness. Since there are still dogs and kids around, she brought in durable fabrics and darker colors. The dark gray sofa was the jumping-off point, and the upholstered ottoman and rug followed from there. The TV is on a swing arm so it can be viewed from the kitchen. A bench behind the sofa can be pulled around for more seating.
The built-in along the TV wall helps store toys, games, remotes and more. “We pulled in the same overall look as the adjacent kitchen cabinets with a simple Shaker door,” Pinc says. “We loved the idea of adding additional lighting with the sconces and tying in the brass components again with the hardware. We used the same wood paneling on the back portion we used at the hood in the kitchen to tie both spaces together.”
Parker, Mitchell. “A Family Holds Out for a Modern Farmhouse Look That Will Last” Houzz.com, November 10, 2018. https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/115757362?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u9410&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery8&newsletterId=9410