Our clients added a spacious new extension across the whole of the back of this Victorian semi detached house for their new family kitchen, dining, living room. Keeping the space open between the original house and the new extension on one side kept the existing snug filled with light and gave them a sheltered internal courtyard garden with glazed doors on three sides. Widening the old hall through into the new extension still allowed enough space for a utility room and feature, walk in pantry but also gave a real sense of drama when entering the new space. Moving the kitchen into the heart of the new family room meant the family can all be together when cooking, eating and relaxing. Adding in a feature window to the side of the house increased the light in the kitchen but extending the depth of the worktop in front meant a vented induction hob could be fitted with the glazed window acting as a splashback, whilst still giving views over the side garden filled with potted olive trees. Shaker style doors with a cock bead detail and a Belfast sink added a more traditional feel to the furniture whilst the black Quooker hot tap and metal glazed doors to both the walk-in oak pantry and utility room next door bring a more contemporary industrial edge to the scheme. The pantry features lots of open shelving for maximum food and crockery storage and an oak countertop gives space for small electrical appliances, serving as a mini kitchen when preparing toast and snacks. Side by side matching integrated fridge freezers (one hiding a supporting pier) gives huge fresh and frozen food storage whilst a single tall storage unit alongside the oven housing is the perfect place for day to day dishes and glasses. Three sets of pan drawers with solid oak dovetailed drawers beneath the hob run give plenty of space for pots, pans and baking dishes whilst the island is a designated wet area with dishwasher, undermount sink and integrated bins and further storage.

Located in the heart of NW Portland, this townhouse is situated on a tree-lined street, surrounded by other beautiful brownstone buildings. The renovation has preserved the building's classic architectural features, while also adding a modern touch. The main level features a spacious, open floor plan, with high ceilings and large windows that allow plenty of natural light to flood the space. The living room is the perfect place to relax and unwind, with a cozy fireplace and comfortable seating, and the kitchen is a chef's dream, with top-of-the-line appliances, custom cabinetry, and a large peninsula.

This beautiful North Vancouver home belongs to a nature-loving and health-conscious couple, Emma and Vince (names changed), their two young children, and their dog, Jasper. When they contacted us about renovating and furnishing their kitchen and family room, we walked in and saw a world of potential waiting to be uncovered. Before: Larkhall Crescent Home: Like many original North Vancouver homes, the interior was definitely dated. We encountered late ‘80s finishes in powder pink and teal green, old carpet, and a kitchen that wasn’t maximized to suit this family’s modern-day lifestyle. However, the size of the rooms offered us a ton of space with which to get creative. Knowing our clients’ love of cooking, need for work spaces (Emma and Vince both work remotely), and growing family, we developed a design concept that would increase usable space, optimize storage, and create intimacy in this large area. As for the style, we were inspired by their European roots, inventing a new and modern take on “Belgian Farmhouse” style. Now, the home is truly one-of-a-kind. After: Warm & Cozy Family Room: Fresh, bright, and comfortable, this living area has been transformed! We started with the fireplace as a focal point, selecting aged brick tiles for added texture and a crisp wood mantle. The taupe-coloured sectional infuses the room with visual warmth and serves the added purpose of separating the family room from the kitchen. Emma and Vince were also keen on using non-toxic materials in their home, and we were happy to oblige. To meet their needs, we sourced natural wood elements and sought out Canadian-made products - that adhere to high health standards - whenever possible. Look closer at the elements of this space, and you will find this stunning, honeycomb-patterned rug in earthy gold, beige, and charcoal tones. It’s plush to the touch and full of visual texture that brings this room’s colour palette together. We sourced these two-tone chairs with caning, petrified wood side table, black sconces, and botanical prints in greyscale from local artist, Heather Johnston. We topped off the space with this dark wood and rattan console that offers storage facing the kitchen and presents an opportunity to display cherished items. The result is a cozy lounging space brimming with comfort and functionality. It’s perfect for enjoying quality family time, or Emma can simply slide the coffee table away to make room for her morning yoga practice. Now, let’s turn around and give some attention to the kitchen. Do you remember what the original kitchen looked like? If not, scroll back up, because the transformation is shocking… Moody & Welcoming Kitchen for Healthy Living: This kitchen looks very different from how it started, right? Though we didn’t touch any walls, the kitchen has almost doubled in usable space! We created a long, extended island with storage, an outlet for small appliances, and seating for comfortable prep, after-school snacking, or mingling among friends. On the other side of the island, the family has even more storage and an integrated dishwasher within easy reach of the sink, perfect for quick clean-up. From this angle, you can also see the expansive custom Shaker cabinetry in white and the integrated double ovens. These facilitate their cooking experience and gave us the opportunity to add an additional surprise… A coffee garage station and more hidden storage! Keeping these items located along the perimeter allows them to be accessed by the family or their guests without someone getting under the cook’s feet. These are the little details that make everyday life easier and more enjoyable. Moving deeper into the kitchen, the seamless induction cooktop topped with a freestanding concealed hood fan commands attention in a soft yet prominent way. The natural wood accent mirrors the fireplace mantle, and the choice of off-black wood-grain cabinets not only continues our black-and-white colour palette but adds a sense of depth and contrast. The corner sink is located to the right and perfectly positioned with a view of their thriving backyard. To invite more of this family’s character into the space, we mixed metals for interest — matte black, dark pewter, and warm brass — and created open shelves in white oak for their plants and decor. You can also glimpse the tumbled edge of the backsplash tile, which echoes the rustic brick of the fireplace. It adds that farmhouse charm while still feeling timeless and sophisticated. Last but not least, we designed this dining banquette in the bay window (with integrated bench storage, of course), where the family can share a meal together, the kids can do homework, or Emma and Vince can work and enjoy a change of scenery from their offices. Like the other spaces in the home, it was designed to be beautiful, multi-functional, and long-lasting. Praise from Our Clients: It is clear that we love this home, but what did our clients have to say? “Lori is a visionary and masters execution to the finest detail all at the same time. When she first met us to know more about who we are and how we live, she could right away envision how we could use the space in our kitchen and living room…The results exceeded our expectations. Lori and her team were also a delight to work with — coordination with all the trades, fast problem-solving, regular updates, professional and friendly attitude of her entire team — made it the dream team. Thank you SHD for making our space so beautiful!” In turn, we are so grateful for this family’s trust, their open communication, and for being wonderful people with whom to work. (So, thank you!)

Matte black DOCA kitchen cabinets with black Dekton counters and backsplash.

My kitchen needs help! I don't have any counter space. A complaint I hear often. In this case the client is a cookie baker extraordinaire and she really needed it. The 10 ft by 5 ft island gives her the space she craved. The addition of the double ovens and all her baking supplies neatly tucked away and organized behind her finally gave her the space she dreamed of for baking.

Luxuriously dark cabinetry, light worktops and walls with a spacious feel - this is a cool take on a classical kitchen design. Custom made for a couple with a keen eye for design, who work hard, know how to relax and absolutely adore their pups. Their kitchen renovation was part of a whole house restoration. With busy careers and two pups the brief highlighted two main aims. Firstly, to create space to enjoy the kitchen, for cooking and relaxing. Secondly, to provide customised storage so that everything has a place to help keep the space tidy. The main kitchen area is where the culinary magic happens with space to unwind. The home bar for gin and wine lovers, includes wine racks, antique mirror, glazed shelves for the gin collection and two fridge drawers for wine and mixers. Designed with pocket doors it can be left open to admire the beautiful bottles, or closed – maybe for Dry January?! It’s positioned cleverly next to their outdoor ‘lounge’ area complete with comfortable chairs and an outside rug. The larder cupboard has spice / oil racks, baskets and boxes at the bottom for treats. There are electrical points inside so the coffee machine is plugged in here and ready to serve that morning espresso. Being able to keep the kitchen tidy was important so we created a ‘home for everything’ using drawers within drawers, an Oak baking tray divider, pan drawers with lid holders and integrated chopping board and tray spaces. The ovens, warming drawer, induction hob and downdraft extractor are positioned together with the plenty of prep worktop space. The cooking section is aligned with the washing area including Fisher and Paykel dishwasher drawers, beautifully glossy white ceramic sink and boiling water tap. With a slim Oak shelf above for displaying favourite things. The Island serves as a breakfast bar as well as a sweet spot for a casual supper. There is a Zebrano wood knife block inset into the Island worktop so that their Global knife collection is on hand for food prep by the hob and oven. The table and chairs are painted in the same colour as the cabinets and upholstered in black and white, with bench seating by the window including drawers for dog toys conveniently by the doors to the garden. The second part of the design is the walk-in butler’s style pantry. This area was designed to keep the kitchen ‘clutter’ out of the main area. And it is a brilliant area to stack all the dirty dishes when entertaining as it’s completely out of sight. The cabinetry is an a classic ‘u’ shape and houses the fridge, freezer, cupboards for large appliances, oversized dishes and one for the mop and bucket. The tall cupboards with bi-fold doors are for food storage, and you can see from the photos that everything is beautifully kept – rice, pasta, popcorn, quinoa all in lovely named jars. It’s an organisers dream come true. There is also a sink for washing vegetables and oodles of prep surface. Colour pallet The cabinetry is hand painted in Farrow and Ball ‘Off-Black’. Dark and inky, it just lures you right in, timeless and deeply refined. With the cabinetry being grand in proportion too, with detailed cornicing it creates a really bold statement in this space. It can be daunting to go for a dark shade of black, blue or green, but you can see the drama of the cabinets is perfectly matched with plenty of natural light, the white walls and warm Oak floor tiles. The white patterned Domus ‘Biscuit’ tiles bring texture and playfulness. The worktop, Caesarstone Ocean Foam, is a white quartz with speckles of grey crystals. In a classic polished finish it lets the rest of the room do the ‘singing’ while providing a clean light reflecting practical surface for preparing and enjoying food and drinks. The floor tiles bring the warmth. No two tiles have the same pattern so they really do look like wood, but are better suited to the pups as they don’t scratch and are non-slip. Lighting Design The slim black framed windows with doors onto the garden flood the kitchen with natural light and warmth during the day. But atmospheric lighting into the evening was important too, so we incorporated custom lighting in the glass cabinet, gin cabinet and pantry. “It is so well integrated and was a really important thing for me, along with all the smart lighting in the room, and Mike did a great job with it all.” It was such a pleasure to make this kitchen. They wanted to work with a local company and we feel so lucky they picked us.

Amazing Glamours Kitcen

Elegant and minimalist kitchen in classic marble and soft dark tones. The Balmoral House is located within the lower north-shore suburb of Balmoral. The site presents many difficulties being wedged shaped, on the low side of the street, hemmed in by two substantial existing houses and with just half the land area of its neighbours. Where previously the site would have enjoyed the benefits of a sunny rear yard beyond the rear building alignment, this is no longer the case with the yard having been sold-off to the neighbours. Our design process has been about finding amenity where on first appearance there appears to be little. The design stems from the first key observation, that the view to Middle Harbour is better from the lower ground level due to the height of the canopy of a nearby angophora that impedes views from the first floor level. Placing the living areas on the lower ground level allowed us to exploit setback controls to build closer to the rear boundary where oblique views to the key local features of Balmoral Beach and Rocky Point Island are best. This strategy also provided the opportunity to extend these spaces into gardens and terraces to the limits of the site, maximising the sense of space of the 'living domain'. Every part of the site is utilised to create an array of connected interior and exterior spaces The planning then became about ordering these living volumes and garden spaces to maximise access to view and sunlight and to structure these to accommodate an array of social situations for our Client’s young family. At first floor level, the garage and bedrooms are composed in a linear block perpendicular to the street along the south-western to enable glimpses of district views from the street as a gesture to the public realm. Critical to the success of the house is the journey from the street down to the living areas and vice versa. A series of stairways break up the journey while the main glazed central stair is the centrepiece to the house as a light-filled piece of sculpture that hangs above a reflecting pond with pool beyond. The architecture works as a series of stacked interconnected volumes that carefully manoeuvre down the site, wrapping around to establish a secluded light-filled courtyard and terrace area on the north-eastern side. The expression is 'minimalist modern' to avoid visually complicating an already dense set of circumstances. Warm natural materials including off-form concrete, neutral bricks and blackbutt timber imbue the house with a calm quality whilst floor to ceiling glazing and large pivot and stacking doors create light-filled interiors, bringing the garden inside. In the end the design reverses the obvious strategy of an elevated living space with balcony facing the view. Rather, the outcome is a grounded compact family home sculpted around daylight, views to Balmoral and intertwined living and garden spaces that satisfy the social needs of a growing young family. Photo Credit: Katherine Lu

Warren Reed Photography

Darren Sinnett

Black and White painted cabinetry paired with White Quartz and gold accents. A Black Stainless Steel appliance package completes the look in this remodeled Coal Valley, IL kitchen.