WINNER: STUDIO BARTOLOTTA
Here is a kitchen that fully accommodates seemingly disparate needs balancing rugged materials with tailored detailing. At this sportsman’s country retreat, the kitchen could easily function as a space to prepare game, as well as a destination for cocktails and conversation with friends after a day outdoors. Like many kitchens of our time, this one serves as both the social and functional heart of the home, but it assumes a wholly original look. Studio Bartolotta fashioned a spacious island clad in a rhythmic fluted white oak and topped it with a vigorously veined Italian marble known as Ceppo di Gré through La Pietra Marble. Stools are upholstered in a rugged cross-ribbon pattern. Elsewhere in the room is a monolithic wall of marble, interspersed with narrow shelving, a concealed wet bar, and an expanse of cabinetry in a ribbed, dark-stained oak. White oak ceiling beams foster a strong sense of architecture; a handsome blackened steel and brass Workstead pendant echoes the forms. This is a space designed for a modern-day outdoorsman who enjoys celebrating with friends and family.
FINALIST: BOLDT STUDIO ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN
Color was the main ingredient for the success of this kitchen— namely the use of a Benjamin Moore shade known as Black Knight. That dark, rich color, with its very subtle tones of green- blue, served to accomplish a design solution. The homeowners needed the designers at Boldt Studio to emphasize the kitchen as the ultimate destination in the home, while also connecting the room to the living room, from which it had been separated by a partition wall. Prior to the removal of that wall, it was a long and circuitous route through the house to the kitchen. Now, given its decidedly unconventional color and its direct link to the living room, the kitchen serves as the locus of life in this busy home. Another challenge was to double the storage and counter space without adding to the square footage of the room. The designers met the challenge with a single, generously scaled countertop area that includes a dish station, dining table and prep counter. Storage was increased with a variety of cabinets, shelves and compartments that work in concert to result in a truly elegant and useful kitchen.
FINALIST: ELIZABETH BOLOGNINO INTERIORS
How refreshing and comforting it is to be reminded that some of the most dramatic kitchen renovations don’t require significant architectural changes. Elizabeth Bolognino Interiors was able to wholly reinvent this kitchen that had existed unchanged for some 20 years. Without having to alter the layout or make any changes to the architectural elements, the designers transformed the room with updated door faces, hinges, statement appliances, beautiful stone surfaces and a sculptural metal hood from RBL Metals. Every appliance, paint color, piece of hardware, lighting fixture and material was carefully chosen for maximum effect. An Officine Gullo range stands out in the room, along with ABC Stone’s Calacatta Turquoise Antico for the island and counters. Farrow & Ball’s Skimming Stone and Benjamin Moore’s Grey Cashmere were used in abundance to create a warm and soothing mood. What was old is new and what was traditional and elegant remain so in a now timeless and tailored space.
