A remodeled modern kitchen feels like it belongs in a log and timber family home in Oakley
Photos by Scot Zimmerman
Modern in a Rustic Setting
A couple who both love to cook for themselves and to entertain friends, neighbors, and family members moved into a rustic log and timber home on a creek-crossed pastoral lot with views to the Uintahs in Oakley. The woody cabin interior felt like home and was perfect for their lifestyle, except for the kitchen. Why have a 40-year-old kitchen when you can have an efficient modern one with the conveniences and advances that they had enjoyed in their prior home? And how can they make the kitchen fit in with their rough-hewn home?
They called in Design Plus, with whom they had worked before. Interior designer Kaye Christiansen Englert, FASID, NCIDQ, SSCID, CAPS, listened as the couple explained their wishes for a compatible design and retaining the floor, wall, ceiling, window, beams, and columns.
Englert’s solution emphasizes all natural materials that blend and connect with the log home and retain the relationship to the natural beauty outdoors. The centerpiece and focal point of her design is blue-green stone on the wall, backsplash, countertops, and the waterfalled ends of the counter.
She selected quartzite, a natural stone, from Granite by Design in West Jordan in a pattern called “Maestro.” She finds the name appropriate because like a conductor, as the pattern sings, its power harmonizes with the other elements. Since blue-green are complementary colors to the wood, the color contrast of the stone brings drama into the room. The pattern’s movement is like water and the nearby stream.
To preserve the pattern and maintain the movement in the stone, Englert opted for using whole pieces of the stone (versus cutting and bookending or a similar method), and this required a fastidious process of fitting the stone together so that the diagonal pattern was continuous, starting in the lower corner and flowing up in a manner where no seams or joints are visible. She credits Granite by Design for their skill in the installation.
The custom walnut cabinetry by Premier Woodwork (Kaysville) takes a quiet backseat in the design. It is vertical, straight-grain walnut stained darker and slightly gray. The appliances (Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Cove) are panel-ready to match in the same finish. All the power outlets and lighting controls are hidden in the cabinet design to not mar or detract from the stone or finishes. The exhaust fan has arms that extend to provide for down lights that illuminate the work surfaces flanking the cooktop. You will note that the stool is backless. Kaye Christiansen Englert finds this useful for counter seating because the stools can be pushed in and out of the way when the island is used for setting a buffet.
The refrigerator is set flush and unframed against the stone. I had never seen this clean installation before, and Englert said she had not seen it either and innovated it.
This view from the adjacent dining area, an area not part of the remodel, demonstrates the seamlessness of the kitchen transition. The chandelier, however, was installed concurrent with the remodel. Englert selected Hammerton’s “Gem Oval Starburst.” I found it interesting that Hammerton, distributed globally, is based locally in Salt Lake City. The three pendants over the island, called “Uptown Mesh” are also by Hammerton and similarly feature zircon crystals.
The mudroom entrance from the garage was remodeled. To the left, the mudroom function was enhanced by cabinets, a coatrack, and a bench for seating and storage where the lids lift to stow boots and sports equipment. To the center are the swing doors to the food pantry. They glass doors bring in light from the window in the pantry and conveniently swing when arms are full of goods. To the right is a butler’s pantry and coffee station with a countertop and backsplash in the same Maestro quartzite. You will note how it mirrors the waterfall edge in the adjacent kitchen.
Here’s a detail of the butler’s pantry and the coffee station, oven, drinks cooler and work surface.
The clean edges of the remodel keep the space timelessly modern, and the natural stone and wood make the modern kitchen a comfortable companion to the rustic country home.
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