A Traditional White Kitchen Serves As the Hub of This Home

This beautiful traditional white kitchen is truly the heart of this Peachtree Corners home. But don’t let its beauty fool you — there is a lot of smart hidden storage here. Innovative Design + Build took advantage of every inch with pull-outs, an appliance garage, utensil caddies and more. Come in and take a tour.

A Central Location

Our in-house designer Molly Trost worked with the homeowners on the design. While the kitchen is open and accessible to other spaces, elements like the peninsula and partial walls define it. On this end, counter stools just off the family room allow people to gather with ease. And it’s easy to set up for snacks and drinks during parties, big games or movie night. The peninsula is also convenient to the covered porch. Across the space the kitchen is open to the dining room, easily served by the island. And the location of the sink and dishwasher in the island makes it easy to clean up after dinner.

The Kitchen Before

The storage and layout of the existing kitchen were inefficient. It had a lot of busy and dated finishes that didn’t suit these sophisticated homeowners. There were countertops with too much movement, black appliances and fussy cabinet profiles.  In a nutshell, it was dated and screamed “1990s!”

Hidden Storage

Linen storage

Before you even enter the kitchen there’s hidden kitchen storage. We took advantage of this side of the peninsula. From the kitchen side this sneaky storage opportunity would have been a blind corner. This means you’d be kneeling on the floor stretching to dig around for items jumbled in the back. Instead, we opened up this side and added pull-out drawers for easy access. It’s the perfect spot for storing tablecloths, other linens and serveware.

Hidden Charging Stations

We also hid outlets with USB ports underneath the peninsula on this side. It’s a great spot to charge devices out of harm’s way (i.e. near the sink or range). The countertop conceals them from view.

The Work Triangle

Using a work triangle strategy means that the range, sink and fridge are all conveniently located in a way that forms a triangle. If you’re struggling to figure out the location of the refrigerator, don’t feel badly. The 42-inch panel-front SubZero fits in seamlessly with the beaded Shaker cabinetry. Still don’t see it? Pssst … it’s located on the back left corner. Not far down the counter is the 48-inch Wolf range. The apron-front farmhouse sink,  located in the island, completes the work triangle. The dishwasher is conveniently located next to it within the island as well.

Another thing to think about is what’s outside of or at the edges of the work triangle. For example, in here placing the fridge at the far end of the room makes it easy to grab a drink or snack while staying out of the cook’s way.

Food Storage

Island

The island is packed with storage. In addition to the sink and dishwasher, we fit five drawers and four cabinet doors in the island.

Pantry Wall

On the opposite side of the kitchen there’s more food storage. Two large pantry cabinets create a symmetrical view. A counter in the middle with a lovely waterjet-cut  marble mosaic backsplash adds elegance to the space. By the way, this is a great way to splurge on a beautiful, pricy tile. Use it in one spot where just a few square feet of it will make a big impact.

Again, this area is out of the heart of the work triangle so that no one’s bothering the cook while grabbing a snack.

The deep pantry cabinets are outfitted with bins and baskets that keep things well-organized. There is also a light inside to make it easy for the homeowners to find what they are looking for. The countertop is a good landing spot for groceries, a place to set out snacks or set up a bar.

Traditional White Kitchen Design Details

A white kitchen needs thoughtful details to keep from feeling blank or cold. This kitchen is anything but! The custom range, pot-filler and tumbled elongated subway tile make the range wall a stunner. The Macaubas quartzite countertops have elegant veining that adds color and movement. The custom corbels underneath the range tie the kitchen to the architecture of the home. So does the millwork, including the window trim and crown molding. And note the feet on the cabinets — these give them a more traditional furniture look that adds character.

This kitchen has mixed metal finishes, another traditional touch. The cabinet hardware is nickel, which works well with the stainless steel appliances. The light fixtures are brass. The brass adds some warmth up high.

Tip: Use casement windows over a countertop; it’s difficult to open sash windows while leaning over a counter. These casement windows by Jeld-Wen are easy to crank open.

Appliance Garage

Another smart cabinetry piece is this countertop appliance garage. If you hate small appliances cluttering up your countertops, you’re a great candidate for an appliance garage. Extending this cabinetry from the counter all the way up to the ceiling helped to define the boundary between the kitchen and family room.

Paint Colors

The paint on the cabinets, perimeter and island are Dover White and the trim around the windows and column are Sedate Gray, both by Sherwin-Williams.

Coffee Station

In the spirit of staying out of the cook’s way in that aforementioned work triangle, this family opted to use the appliance garage as a coffee station. Keep coffee cups, sweeteners and other coffee accoutrements close to the coffee machine to make things as easy as possible in the morning.

Peninsula and Corner

More pull-outs keep herbs, spices and oils within easy reach of the range. Deep drawers are more ergonomic for storing pots, pans and other cookware than cabinet doors are. We also placed a microwave drawer in the peninsula so that it would be easy to access, out of the cook’s way and hidden from view. The door and drawer on the right side of the peninsula are a false front concealing a trash and recycling pull-out.

Utensil Caddies

Also convenient to the range are handy utensil caddies. Note how this is disguised as two drawers with the cabinet front. Much like the trash pull-out cabinet front, this kept the cabinetry looking balanced and pleasing to the eye.

Family Room View

This photo shows how the kitchen relates to the family room. Working in the kitchen doesn’t mean watching a great game on TV with the rest of the fans. Another detail to note is how we integrated a structural post into the peninsula. We wrapped it to form a column and added corbels similar to those on the vent hood that suit the architecture.