Beautiful Kitchens by Paul: Makeover for Westfield family of seven
Monday, May 20, 2019 at 10:18AM The making of a dream kitchen
A Westfield couple’s dream home involved carving space from their backyard for a 310-square-foot kitchen. The addition would make room for lots of storage, two dishwashers and a 13-foot-long island with seating for seven.
“I felt it was important to give them an island that can seat every member of their family,” said Paul Barreto, owner of Beautiful Kitchens by Paul. He worked with the couple to plan the new kitchen, designed for the cooking, dining and entertaining needs of a seven-member family that includes five children.
The two-level island elevates casual dining with its higher, bar-style seating area. The opposite side of the island’s leather-finished granite top steps down to the same height as the kitchen counters, expanding food prep surfaces and making it possible for several family members to cook together comfortably.
Like the kitchen’s custom, American-made Wellborn cabinetry, the island is topped with dark titanium granite from Brazil. Paul designed the island with a two-level top.
Open floor plan: The family-friendly kitchen opens to the living room, and the spaces are united by oak flooring with an inlaid mahogany border. On the opposite end of the kitchen is the conjoined dining room with a table that’s also large enough to seat everyone at once.
Gorgeous granite: A closer look at the two-level island where the dark titanium granite features fluid grain patterns. On each side of the combined kitchen and dining room, double glass doors offer access to the backyard.
Display cabinets: Wellborn cabinetry includes tall pantry storage and a variety of display spaces with glass doors and glass shelves, all neatly wrapped around the double doors of the built-in stainless steel refrigerator.
Exacting detail: Wainscoting carved to match the cabinet doors surrounds the island, while decorative corbels help support its granite top. On the opposite side, there’s room in the island for a convection microwave, several drawers, a recycling center, and pull-out baskets.
Clean lines: Beautiful Kitchens by Paul often include a custom range-hood built to complement Wellborn cabinetry. Here, his work enhances a tiled backsplash mural above the kitchen’s 48-inch range.
Home office: In place of the original kitchen, an office has desks built from the same Wellborn cabinetry used in the kitchen. The two custom-built computer work stations, also designed and installed by Beautiful Kitchens by Paul, are made of maple cabinetry with Wellborn's Savannah-style doors and drawer fronts.
Niche display: At the end of one office desk and in the kitchen cabinetry, decorative rope trim accents under-counter storage.
The shelves house keepsakes and, in the kitchen, cookbooks and pull-out wicker baskets for produce.
In both kitchen and office, the cabinetry is painted in Wellborn’s Sandstone Slate, a glazed finish. The desks have the same granite tops as the kitchen but with a smooth, honed and polished surface that's better suited for writing.
Beautiful Kitchens by Paul, 357 Monroe Ave., Kenilworth (by appointment only). Call (908) 247-0988 for your free in-home consultation with 3-D sketch.