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A Contemporary Kitchen Provides a Durable and Beautiful Retreat for This Family of Five
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 Like concrete, vinyl is another surface that one may not immediately equate with beauty, but the metallic material used on the banquette smashes preconceived notions about the fabric. The vinyl’s texture is meant to mimic ostrich skin, and it offers a sheen and texture that adds interest to the informal seating area. The metal used on the banquette is stainless steel, and a round of glass tops the table.
 The tabletop is not the only touch of glass to be found in the room. Opaque glass fronts several cabinets, offering another eye-catching surface while still hiding clutter when necessary. A graphite gray color was chosen for all the Viking appliances, and the cabinetry is a close match. Stainless steel appliances almost have become a cliché, which makes the graphite an exciting choice. Steel—showing up in the hardware, fixtures, and banquette table—becomes an eye-catching accent to the graphite gray.  
 As the roundness of the banquette softens the room’s lines, the shape of the secondary sink serves the same purpose. The free-flow form provides a handy spot for ice and drinks when the family entertains. Curves make an appearance multiple times in the room. “I used roundness to soften the features of the room,” Carroll says. “The sharp angles can be too much, too harsh.” The shape of the banquette and the curve of the chairs around it show a softness of shape. The cabinetry hardware is rounded, as is the curved wall at the far end of the kitchen.    
 Shine is another theme carried throughout the design. The stainless metal used as an accent, the glistening flecks found in the concrete countertop, the glistening surface of the granite, the facets of the light fixtures, and the sheen of the floor all add a sparkle that echoes the natural light that flows in through the room’s many windows.
“For me, it’s very important that I design what my clients want, not what I want,” says Carroll. She achieved her goal with this design. The family has found their desert oasis in this sturdy yet stunning kitchen.
Written by Ronda Swaney | Photography by William Lesch Photography
Refuge in the Desert
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APRIL | MAY 2010
The terrain of Tucson offers up rough edges and hardscrabble surfaces. It’s no wonder the family to whom this kitchen belongs wanted a chic oasis to contrast with the mountainous desert vista viewed outside the home’s windows.
 The architect for this home created a structure with crisp lines, hard edges, and cool surfaces. Lori Carroll of Lori Carroll & Associates was inspired by the architect’s use of materials, which became the jumping-off points for her design inspiration. The exposed beams, the sandy brick tones, and the use of natural light all played a part in her choices of texture, color, and materials.
 “This was the second home where I worked with these clients, so there was a great relationship between us,” Carroll says. “They trusted me, so they let me do my thing.”
 You can understand their trust, considering how the inspired choice of bright green contrasts so beautifully with the steely gray that dominates the room. “My addition of green tones to the room brought a ‘pow’ of color to the palette,” Carroll says. “We found a carpet for their office [in another part of the house] that had that color in it. That’s where we pulled the accent.”  The green shows up in the wall at the far end of the room and in the vibrant accessories on the display shelves. The lemons, limes, and daisies add a citrus pop to the palette.
 The kitchen’s surfaces are sleek, yet durable—essential for any family with teen and preteen children. “With three kids, the family wanted ease of maintenance, and that’s where the concrete floors came in,” says Carroll. The concrete can take a beating, but that doesn’t stop it from adding to the room’s beauty. The color of the concrete is a custom shade created by the manufacturer. The high sheen was achieved during the finishing process. The lines on the floor create movement that plays against the contemporary lines of the space. Concrete again makes an appearance in the countertop behind the banquette. Flecks of stainless metal were added to the mix to provide shimmer and shine.
Sandy Luedke Ideal Real Estate Group
Sandy Luedke Ideal Real Estate Group
214-476-1423
Sandy@IdealRealEstateGroup.com
IdealRealEstateGroup.com
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