And, once they began to envision a new kitchen for themselves, it became clear that the home’s adjacent spaces—family room, dining room, and laundry—could use a sprucing up, too. “It was either redo or move,” says Dana. “And, since we loved the house and the property so much, we decided to update.”
Eager to get the project rolling, Dana went straight to her friend, Hinsdale-based designer Katie Lopez. Katie, in turn, brought in Susan J. Klimala, co-owner of The Kitchen Studio of Glen Ellyn, Inc. “The challenge in remodeling versus new construction,” notes Susan, “is always making sure that what we want to do will work in the existing space and look appropriate. It’s easy to come up with all kinds of ideas, but they are not always the best ideas for the space you’re dealing with.” In order to meet the Carters’ request for a more functional kitchen, Susan pretty much gutted the space and started over. She created a bigger opening between the kitchen and the formal dining room, and borrowed some floor space from the family room to allow for greater seating in the kitchen, a tactic that also permitted easier access to the doorway that leads to the backyard pool. She ran cabinets to the ceiling, and to give the room a solid, composed look, arranged the drawers and cupboards in a symmetrical fashion. And, since Dana feels that too much stainless steel gives a kitchen a commercial look, Susan minimized the evidence of that material by cladding the Sub-Zero refrigerator and KitchenAid Dishwasher with panels that match the white cabinetry.
“Dana doesn’t like clutter,” shares Susan, “so I persuaded her to eliminate the tiny desk she had in the kitchen and relocate her workspace to a guest bedroom on the first floor that wasn’t used much.” Susan also upped the functionality of the laundry/mud room, replacing a large but underused closet with a set of lockers with space beneath for shoes and baskets above to hold hats and gloves.
As for changing the character of the home, Katie had her work cut out for her. “The house was stuck in the early ’90s,” she laughs,” with some pretty crazy contemporary pieces. I called it ‘Beauty and the Beast’ furniture because it looked like it would come alive at night.” Dana doesn’t disagree. “What I had before was more edgy—a lot of glass tables, sea foam green dining chairs. But Katie was able to take my style and warm it up, make it more user-friendly.”
Key to the design process were the trips the two made to tour the showrooms in High Point, North Carolina, an experience which helped them to meld Dana’s vision with Katie’s expert eye to achieve a decorative happy medium. Looking at product together generated a creative give-and-take which allowed Dana to satisfy her taste for the contemporary while embracing Katie’s strategies for conjuring a softer look.
“I had never really done a job so contemporary before,” admits Katie. “But I knew what we really needed to do was warm the home up, to steer away from the cold white and steel look it had previously. We did that with a palette of gray and browns, faux fur pillows, a play of textures. Not many people are asking for what Dana wanted. A lot of families want traditional, just cleaner and more edited. This project was a nice break for me. It was fun.”
In the high-traffic kitchen, Katie paired a high-end dining table from Spain with stainless steel chairs (covered in rough and ready Sunbrella fabric) and a new leather-covered banquette. And, with six barstools around the center island (outfitted with a steamer for healthful cooking), the room offers plenty of space when family and friends gather for a meal. One step down from the kitchen is the commodious family room, in which Katie installed a banquette that mirrors the one she created for the kitchen. “It was a part of the room that wasn’t used much, and the banquette seemed a great way to add usable seating.”
Although Dana wasn’t much for plastering her walls with artwork, Katie convinced her to hang a lovely family photograph in this corner of the room, framed by a pair of elegant handsomely shaded sconces.
Katie replaced the standard wall-to-wall carpeting with a rug that reads like a watercolor, its hues—from a dark taupe to a light blue—echoing the color scheme employed elsewhere in the revivified home. Throughout the house, Katie banished that “Beauty and the Beast” furniture, specifying, instead, such smart-looking pieces as a velvet-covered sectional with companion ottoman for the family room, and a walnut Ralph Lauren table and chairs for the formal dining room.
Assessing her “new” home, Dana exclaims, “Designers so often take what they like and push it on you. Katie’s art is that she sees what you like and makes it timeless. Everyone that comes here, even if their taste is traditional, loves what they see and feels comfortable.”
Words by Thomas Connors
SOURCEBOOK
KITCHEN & BATH DESIGN FIRM
Susan J. Klimala, CKD/ The Kitchen Studio of Glen Ellyn, Inc./ 522 Crescent Blvd./ Glen Ellyn/ 630-858-4848
INTERIOR DESIGN & CONSULTING
Katherine B. Lopez for Katherine Bowman Design
Katherinebowmandesign.com, 239-239-6355
KITCHEN
Dining Table: Hurtado Furniture, hurtadofurniture.com
Side Chairs: Hurtado Furniture, hurtadofurniture.com
Banquette: Custom
Light Fixture above Island:
Backsplash Tile: Direct Floors in Woodbridge, IL, 630-739-7000, directfloors.net
Counter Stools: Nautica/Starmount Home Furnishings, nauticahomefurniture.com
Cabinetry: Woodharbor Custom Cabinetry, woodharbor.com
Refrigerator: Sub-Zero Preservation, subzero-wolf.com
Double Oven and Warming Drawer: Sub-Zero & Wolf Appliances, subzero-wolf.com
5-Burner Cook Top: Viking Range Corporation, vikingrange.com
Dishwasher: Kitchen Aid, kitchenaid.com
Wine Storage: Sub-Zero Preservation, subzero-wolf.com
Microwave: Panasonic, Panasonic.com
Icemaker: Kitchen Aid, kitchenaid.com
DINING ROOM and FOYER
Dining Table: Ralph Lauren, ralphlauren.com
Side Chairs: Ralph Lauren, ralphlauren.com
Wall Covering: “Cosmic Taupe Abacadazzle “ by Maya Romanoff in Skokie, IL, 773-465-7089, mayaromanoff.com
Custom Staircase:
Light Fixture:
Fiddle Leaf Fig and Metallic Pot: Jayson Home & Garden in Chicago, IL, 773-248-8180, jaysonhome.com
Muskoka Engineered Maple Slate Flooring: Direct Floors in Woodbridge, IL, 630-739-7000, directfloors.net
Primary Wall Color: “AF-100 Pashmina” by Benjamin Moore, benjaminmoore.com
LIVING ROOM
Sectional Sofa: Bentley Churchill, bentleychurchill.com
Custom Pillows: Bentley Churchill, bentleychurchill.com
Area Rug: Oriental Weavers, orientalweavers.com
Two Arm Chairs: Pearson Furniture, pearsoncompany.com
Slipper Chair: Pearson Furniture, pearsoncompany.com
Panay Shell Vases: Interlude Home, interludehome.com
Art Work: By Anna Pales, annapales.com
Wall Sconces: Circa Lighting, circalighting.com
BATHROOM
Cabinetry: Woodharbor Custom Cabinetry, woodharbor.com
Tile: Direct Floors in Woodbridge, IL, 630-739-7000, directfloors.net
