Kitchen Redesign Blends Style & Function
When interior designer Aubrey Hlavaty was tasked with redesigning a 1990s kitchen and adjacent powder room for a family in Grand Island, New York, she wanted to enhance the flow, update the aesthetics, and provide better functionality.
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The result is a stunning, light-filled kitchen replete with wooden cabinets in a warm taupe, black granite countertops, brushed brass hardware, and white oak hardwood floors with a rich brown stain.
“The homeowner knew she didn’t want all white but wanted the kitchen to feel brighter,” said Hlavaty, president and lead designer of Copper & Cotton Home Design and Supply, a full-service interior design studio based in Buffalo. She previously worked with the homeowner to renovate the primary and guest bathrooms and understood her style and vision.
They kept some original features such as an oakstained window, while adding others, including ceiling beams in a honey oak finish and a statement glass cabinet with a painted black door and tile backsplash.
“The space has a nice balance of natural light with a sink window, four tall windows in the dining space, and a large glass sliding door leading to the backyard,” Hlavaty said.
Hlavaty opted to remove the kitchen’s original peninsula to accommodate a larger island with seating. For the redesign, she chose a creamy quartzite for the countertop with delicate gray veining and added cabinetry in quarter-sawn white oak in a cocoa stain with fluted detailing on the drawer fronts. They replaced the flush mount ceiling lighting with large-scale pendants over the island and a variety of sconces throughout with a patina brass finish.
To give the kitchen a cohesive feel, they paneled the appliances to match the cabinets and built double pantry doors that also appear like cabinetry, Hlavaty explained. They reconfigured the walk-in pantry with floor-to-ceiling wooden shelves painted a deep burgundy and added a mini-fridge for additional storage.
All the cabinets were provided by Conewango Custom Cabinets.
“Copper & Cotton always takes a layered lighting approach when designing a lighting plan for kitchens,” Hlavaty said. “We added a beautiful chandelier over the dining area and flush mount ceiling lights in the dining room’s barrel doorway as well as in the pantry.“
In the powder room, they added a new vanity in white oak with a quartzite top with hardware and lighting in a brushed brass finish. They installed custom wainscoting and millwork on the lower half of all the walls, painted in Benjamin Moore Finnie Gray, and papered the upper half with a Copper & Cotton custom designed wallpaper in a foliage print that Hlavaty said is inspired by the many tree-lined streets in the city of Buffalo.
Together, the finishes, colors, and reconfigurations give the kitchen and powder room a refreshed appearance that connects with the rest of the home.
“This is how we always tackle a project — we want its look and feel to fit the architecture of the home,” Hlavaty said. “I’m proud of the way we were able to balance the aesthetics and functions. It blends together beautifully as a cohesive space.”