If you are considering remodeling your kitchen, or else you are constructing a brand new one, interior designer Ines Hanl of The Sky is the Limit Design has got an idea that will fit your requirements. In fact, as she explains here, she’s got dozens of suggestions. “I feel as if my designs are extremely intricate and thoughtful, however simple the final result seems,” she states. “And I have been told by some fellow designers and architects that they think I am very playful too.” Here, she shares a few secrets.
The Sky is the Limit Design
Play with proportion. Designed for a bachelor who lives in Victoria, British Columbia, this kitchen features textured Italian laminates at a faux-wood layout, counter with stainless steel beams. “The laminates are a fantastic contrast with the area’s ever-so-popular oak flooring,” Hanl states. “I performed with proportion by using a balance of vertical and horizontal directions in the wood grains and an accent cupboard in a mushroom lacquer.”
The curved tall unit on the left has stainless steel edging that enriches the contour’s dynamics. It arouses a structural post but also serves as a display unit and a place for keys.
“He asked for a sign of blue, which we introduced in with the quartz countertop in addition to from the tile backsplash at the sink,” Hanl elaborates. “The three dimensional wave-shaped glass mosaic, which covers the entire window wall, combines all of the colours I used from the kitchen.”
The Sky is the Limit Design
Show off your collections. This kitchen has lots of detailing at the door style and also the crown molding. “I honored that the homeowners adore decorating by supplying ample open and glass-door display cabinetry, beadboard detailing and off-white cabinetry using an amber glaze that’s accentuated by sky-blue backdrops to generate their china stand out,” Hanl states.
The Sky is the Limit Design
Throw in some angles. This house sits on the cliffs of Pender Island off the shore of Vancouver, British Columbia, and overlooks the ocean. “The swooping ceiling line made by Blue Sky Architecture, and the fir timber-frame construction, called for a suitable approach from the interior finishes and traces,” Hanl states. “We selected a 24-inch from 24-inch oyster slate to the floor, the lightest slate out there, and a rift-cut walnut to the cabinetry that was stained a sort of bark color. We played with the stains a lot during the procedure and really liked a trio of them. Inspired by one of the artworks from the operator’s collection — she is a painter — we decided to use them at a collagelike manner on the fronts of her pantry and linen cabinets.”
The layout of the kitchen is really a straightforward U shape, and Hanl focused on the horizontal lines for a modern look. “However,” she clarifies,”for architectural reasons we added a slightly angled peninsula towards the conclusion of one of those legs of the U. It’s supported using a raw steel post I had made with a local steel manufacturer and then artificially aged, or rusted, until it was waxed to look like a remnant coming from an old ship. The bar was made out of 6-inch-thick concrete cubes, and there’s a small accent cabinet facing the dining room that’s lacquered into a grayish green, to match the colours of the evergeens and arbutus trees outside.”
The three dimensional iridescent blue Oceanside glass tile at a wave shape on the backsplash is just another reference to the grandious picture.
The Sky is the Limit Design
Take an artistic approach. This kitchen also belongs to an artist, this time in the Netherlands. “It’s a really poetic approach to a modern kitchen and very much focused on the customer’s artistic sensibility,” Hanl states. “The mango-colored island using a water-driplike textured glass counter tops opens on a’sea’ of white pebble-in-resin tile. The flooring throughout is commercial-grade vinyl at a somewhat polished concretelike finish. It’s quite soft underfoot and simple to maintain.”
The Italian laminate cupboard fronts are somewhat textured and counter from the high-gloss island; the colours are combined through an iridescent glass-stick tile backsplash. There’s also a”really lovely zebrawood tabletop that enriches the bay window and provides a fantastic spot to eat breakfast,” she notes. “I also love the exceptional door I had made that leads to the kitchen. It has an overheight stainless steel framework using a magnolia-leaves-in-resin panel.”
The Sky is the Limit Design
Go to your daring . This is a Custom Made residence located in a small community on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. “The owners were looking for top style and wanted a look that has been urbane, tactile and organic with a little colour,” Hanl states. “I used what I call’undulations’ in organic and graphic forms. The organic aspect is reflected from the expanded pattern of the foundation cabinetry, whereas the shape of the stainless steel bar adds a graphic element.”
Italian high heeled laminates and back-painted glass were utilized on the cabinetry. Bold touches include a tortoiseshell iridescent glass mosaic on the window , a stainless steel mosaic backsplash behind the stove, a back-painted iridescent blue glass countertop on the bar and a Cambria quartz counter tops that has reflective blue flecks.
“Overall, the room features a masculine feel,” Hanl points out,”that’s softened by tall components fronted in off-white back-painted glass [not shown], in addition to the flair of colour on the visual anchor cupboard at the entry to the kitchen.”
The Sky is the Limit Design
Use a lot of color. Though they look very different, these cabinets were performed by Martin Zemp, the same cabinetmaker who worked on the Vancouver Island kitchen in the previous photo.
“That is a modernized Victorian-style room, as in Victoria, the city where I live,” Hanl states. “A lot of folks here love that British-influenced style. The kitchen was designed for a young family with two teenagers and a true zest for colour — I managed to utilize a total of 16 colours without making it look like a designer gone crazy. Due to privacy issues concerning the neighbors, we basically changed each of the windows along one side of the house and utilized two clerestory windows that are integrated to the British hob-style hood.”
A 9-foot-long denim-blue island using a 4-foot-long black-fronted extension overlooks the glistening off-white cabinetry along with an oversize custom-turned blood-red table . “I played with the door fashions to make things seem less formal,” Hanl clarifies,”a simpler style on the white cabinets and more ornate with raised-panel doors with an outdoor profile on the island. I kept the crown build fairly straightforward to make it a bit more contemporary, but the thing that makes this kitchen appear so young is your choice of colours. It’s possible to see the owners’ sense of joyous colour in the African artwork and the option of area rug.”
She adds that the glass-mosaic backsplash”is a custom mix that incorporates five of the colours we used from the area, which helps pull it all together. I also accentuated the backsplash with pewter and bronze tiles to integrate the stainless steel appliances and the bronze tap on the sink.”
The Sky is the Limit Design
Highlight your curves. For an oceanfront property surrounded by fir trees at the northern rainforest of Canada, Hanl chose natural and chocolate-colored bamboo”for its directly, different yet silent grain as a complement to the fir,” she states. “To balance all of this wood, I added chocolate-colored faux-leather paneling on the rear of the island. It’s made out of rubber, so it’s simple to maintain. The blue and blood-red lacquered cabinets were inspired by the owners’ favourite part of art.”
Although layout is a stunning architectural design, it introduced some spatial challenges. “The tiny prep island is a really sculptural piece,” Hanl states. “I place it between the single wall I had available to put a huge assortment of appliances and the long swooping curve of the genuine work island. The curves I brought into balance this lively and produce the space practical bridge and incorporate the architect’s angled theme. At the same period the island is a multipurpose unit. It’s includes a prep sink, appliance centre and bamboo butcher block segment that’s an easy-to-maintain dining area for the couple’s two small girls.”
Part of the kitchen also serves as an intricate, multifunctional room divider that incorporates all of the various finishes and colours. It”refers to the angled nature of the structure, this time in the shape of a fanned-out hand,” she states.
The Sky is the Limit Design
Send a subtle message. The pineapple, a symbol of welcoming and hospitality, was chosen by this kitchen owner for the custom-made articles on the 4-foot from 8-foot island. The island top is Uba Tuba granite, complemented with walnut counters finished only using a food-safe wax known as Great Stuff.
“The counter-sitting cupboard has a teakettle on a rollout and homes a selection of tea bags at the cubbies,” Hanl notes. “Screen was important, as you can see by the addition of 2 large glass-front cabinets towards the rear of the room.”
The Sky is the Limit Design
Marry Arts and Crafts with a Tuscan theme. “The rest of the house has huge arched windows facing the lake and is surrounded by arbutus and evergreens,” Hanl states. “I lasted that characteristic into the kitchen and improved the flow of the space by relocating the double doors leading from the deck. I also discovered a black Italian flooring tile that sported a standard Arts and Crafts rose theme .”
A simple slab door style was utilized”to stay true to the modern feeling of the layout outlines,” she clarifies. “However, to add a conventional feel we selected quarter-sawn man-made walnut and blended it with a charcoal man-made wood veneer. To match it to the wonderful Oceanside glass-metallic tile-blend backsplash, then I added an Italian laminate at a charcoal-steel complete for contrast with the matte finish. The equilibrium of finishes is also evident in the choice of countertops. A polished Cambrian black granite on the perimeter has been paired with a brushed Metallicus granite on the island and the java centre”
She adds that”the stainless steel pole was not a whim of mine. I could not bring electricity through the floor, so we had to come across the ceiling, and the pole is your conduit, which I integrated into a intentionally dimensioned multilevel island.”
The Sky is the Limit Design
Create different work zones. “The character of a kitchen can be dramatically impacted by using glazes, in addition to a careful selection of door styles and elements such as crown molding,” Hanl states. “I feel this room reveals my subtle but quite different center on proportion and rhythm in regards to those elements.”
Additionally, it reflects her approach to creating different work zones; notice the organization of these tall components at the end of the room and the start of the work counter on the right. “The island, which is joined to a raised informal eating counter, has a prep sink,” she points out. “The hutch on the left is slightly narrow to help give the island a decent depth.”
The Sky is the Limit Design
Play the exterior design . Ultramodern using a stunning architectural design, this kitchen leads to a customized home perched on the cliffs of Vancouver Island. “I used the same architectural language as the materials used on the actual structure of the house: reclaimed birch from the fantastic Lakes, concrete, copper and steel,” Hanl states.
That is evident throughout the space from the cabinetry, with particulars such as the frameless glass corners (see the kitchen window, even compared with all the glass chimney ), to the canopy shape of the custom hood, and the island. “I dubbed it’Infinity Island,’ since water in the form of a 11/2-inch textured-glass runs down the walls out of the hood, along the job counter and finishes at a marginally lower stainless steel prep-sink counter,” she states.
The Sky is the Limit Design
Combine modern and traditional. We’ve all heard of the situation: A husband needs a contemporary feel, while the wife is trying to find something traditional. In this kitchen,”the horizontal orientation of the banks of drawers speak a modernist language, whereas the simple, slightly enhanced Shaker-style door and the crown molding are a testament to conventional layout,” Hanl states.
“The almost-black blot combined with all the unglazed off-white cabinetry has quite a graphic connotation to it,” she continues. “And once we expanded the windows to the backyard, the widespread rock outcrops with lichen and moss growing on these became our inspiration for its dark olive-mushroom wall color. It made the view to the backyard actually pop!”