Modern Elegance Kitchen Design

 
In my not so humble opinion, (This is 'The House Judge' blog after all) countertops can make or break a kitchen design. They are the workhorse of the kitchen, being used and abused daily but have to look good at the same time. One of the most, if not THE MOST versatile countertop materials is quartz. I’m excited that I’ve been able to develop a longtime partnership with my favorite quartz countertop manufacturer HanStone, and thrilled to reveal to you today the high-rise kitchen design in which I used HanStone throughout. I'm going to just touch a little on what quartz is and how quartz countertops are made, and then take you through the kitchen design. 

First off, what is quartz and how do you make quartz countertops? In short, quartz is a natural occurring mineral. When you mine quartz, crush it, and combine it with resin you can form quartz countertops. It is one of the hardest surfaces you can find for countertops, even harder than granite. Out of a scale of 1-10 on Mohs Hardness Scale (used to identify hardness of minerals) quartz comes in at a 7, and granite 6. Marble is way down at between 3-5. So yeah quartz is a pretty darn tough countertop material.

For the high-rise condo my over all design goal was modern elegance. In the kitchen I opened up things as much as possible to maximize views and create as much counter space as possible. I used continuous lines to elongate and elevate the space to make it feel more luxurious. The star of the show in this space is really the Montauk quartz countertops from HanStone, which I sourced via ESI. The color is ever so slightly warm with a soft marbling pattern. Have you ever hugged countertops because they were so beautiful? I haven’t either ;).

​Did I mention how versatile quartz is? Why stop at using it for countertops when you can also use it as a backsplash and exhaust hood. How good does that quartz wrapped hood look over that Viking induction range? 

With a lot of gray from the floors, and white in the quartz and painted ceiling, I wanted to bring in some warmth to the kitchen via the cabinets. I selected two cabinet finishes from Better Homes. For the perimeter cabinets I chose this gray/taupe finish that has a subtle textured pattern on it. For the island cabinets I choose walnut as a way to pay homage to the mid century vibe the entire building has. I've always loved incorporating two cabinet colors or finishes into my projects. 

Another cool element I brought into the kitchen is a limestone wash backsplash from Limestrong, which is actually a continuation from the fireplace on the other side. Stay tuned for the living room reveal! 

Every kitchen needs a sink (obviously) but I couldn’t move the location of the sink for this project. Instead I utilized a generously sized white under mount sink from Kraus, which blends pretty seamlessly with the countertops. The sink before was a stainless steel farmhouse sink that stood out like a sore thumb. The crowning jewel of this whole sink area is the Kraus faucet. Chefs kiss, don’t you agree?

Finishing kitchen touches include an amazing chandelier from CB2, table from IKEA, custom art from Juniper Print Shop, cabinet hardware from Amazon and barstools from Living Spaces. What is your favorite part of this kitchen?