Beach City Contemporary

Can a kitchen be an oasis of calm?

That was one of Courtney Zeithing’s goals, when she designed a new kitchen for a California client. “My goal was an ‘out of the box’ space that provides a calming environment in the hectic lives of this large family,” she says. Since the kitchen opens to the living room, family dining room, entry and wine bar, she wanted to integrate the architectural materials and details as they related to the rest of the home, including board-form concrete, mahogany wood and white marble.

Most of the appliances are hidden away in a decorative stained mahogany wood wall that not only ties in nicely with the wine bar, but also helps create that simple, calming environment that Courtney sought. This wall wraps into the family room, integrating and connecting spaces. The only visible appliance other than the Wolf dual fuel range is the Wolf convection steam oven, chosen for the healthier, heavy on the veggies cooking that the family likes to do.

The convenient placement of the appliances was also key, allowing easy access and entertaining in both the kitchen and the great room – again, another way to simplify family life.

Of course, the family also wanted a kitchen that was contemporary and architecturally unique. Courtney accomplished that in spades with what the Kitchen Design Contest judges cited as her “bold contrast of materials”: chic white lacquer cabinets, organic board-formed concrete, the stained mahogany wall and other elements make this kitchen a style stand-out without lessening its Zen-like aura in the least.