Angled kitchen remodel in Fairfax, VA: the angled oven wall out, a gray island with the cooktop

What did the homeowners want?

The homeowners found us through our website. They wanted new cabinets, countertops and lighting, and asked for our ideas on the design. Over the design meetings they asked for the cooktop in the island with a downdraft, a microwave in the island instead of on the wall, a TV built into the cabinets and roll-out trays in the pantry, and they loved the idea of black pulls on white cabinets.

Before

After

The old island had a cooktop set into an angled cherry base, with a raised granite ledge behind it that split the room in two. The new island is one level and one quartz top, with the cooktop in the middle and nothing to block the view to the sink wall.

How we designed it: a 3D kitchen first, then refined

Sena measured the kitchen at the first in-home visit and then sent a proposal with five 3D renderings. Her first design took out the wall by the double ovens, extended the cabinets there, moved the ovens beside the refrigerator and gave the room one large island with an overhang for seating. The homeowners liked the new orientation of the island at once, came to the showroom, and the contract followed.

The layout kept improving after that: two options, then a final layout, and then a small change that gave better access to the angled corner cabinets and made the TV cabinet and the drawer base under it a little larger.

3D design

Finished

The final design centered the sink on the window, with matching cabinets on both sides and angled corner cabinets where the wall bends at each end. The finished wall follows it, down to the TV cabinet and the tall pantry on the right.

The angled oven wall came out

Ovens beside the refrigerator, tall things together

Before

After

The double ovens used to sit in their own angled wall at the end of the counter. That wall came out in demolition, and the ovens moved into a tall white cabinet right next to the refrigerator, with storage above and below. With the tall units grouped on one wall, the counter now continues where the oven wall stood.

One more angle, found at the final measurement

Sena came back with our lead contractor for the final measurement, the visit where we check what is inside the walls before demolition. Behind the oven wall there was a second angle, mirroring the one on the other side of the sink.

“Turns out this wall was angled, mirroring this over here. So we had to at that point kind of stop and reevaluate.”

The answer: the walls still came out, and the new cabinet run turns at the same angle as the other side, so the room is symmetrical around the window. The homeowners went with it, and in the end, Sena says, the homeowner doesn't regret any of it.

White and gray Schrock shaker cabinets, cut to the angles

Angled corner cabinets, base and wall

Where the sink wall bends, standard corner cabinets would have left dead space or wide fillers. We went semi-custom: Schrock angled corner cabinets, base and wall, that follow the bend in the wall, so the whole corner is usable inside.

“We had to go semi-custom with the cabinets to really maximize the storage space inside there.”

A TV in a wall cabinet, a tall pantry beside it

The homeowners wanted a TV in the kitchen, and there is no standard TV cabinet. Sena used a 30-inch wall microwave cabinet instead, with power for the TV inside and a drawer base below. Beside it, a 30 by 96-inch pantry holds four roll-out trays behind its doors, with longer black pulls than the rest of the kitchen.

“What we did here was used a wall microwave cabinet, and instead of having the microwave there we just put the TV, and it looks pretty, pretty nice and clean.”

42-inch wall cabinets and a taller crown

The wall cabinets are 42 inches tall, the tallest standard size, painted white with crown at the top. To close the gap to the ceiling without stacking a second row of cabinets, Sena chose a taller crown, and the wall above it is painted close to the cabinet color, so the cabinets read as running all the way up.

“I suggested adding taller crown molding to the top so that we can bring it up a little bit more and there isn't as much of a space between the cabinets and the ceiling.”

One island, one level: the cooktop, seating and storage

Seating where the two-level bar was

Before

After

The raised granite bar and its half walls came out. The new island sits on the old hardwood floors, one quartz level all the way across, with an overhang for stools, outlets at the ends and the gas cooktop with its downdraft in the middle; the gas line and the downdraft duct were moved to the island. The cabinets are painted Cloud, a soft gray, against the white kitchen.

An open shelf for an everyday microwave

The microwave moved off the wall and into the island: an open shelf with a drawer below holds an ordinary countertop microwave, plugged in at the back.

“You don't have to have a dedicated line built in, and you're not married to your microwave…”

Narrow cabinets on the back of the island

The seating side of the island has 12-inch-deep cabinets of its own, enough for the small appliances that don't live on the counter.

“Even with these narrower 12-inch cabinets you can fit in a KitchenAid mixer, your blender, all that stuff that you don't use on the day-to-day necessarily.”

Quartz, marble herringbone and a touchless black faucet

The sink, centered on the window

The counters are MSI Cashmere Carrara quartz, white with soft gray veining, templated once the cabinets were in and then installed. The Ruvati stainless sink sits under the quartz, centered on the window, with an InSinkErator air switch for the disposal right beside the faucet.

The faucet is a FLOW motion-activated pull-down in matte black. The homeowner had been hoping for black, and switched to it before the start.

“You can just wave your hand right over it, and then when you need it to turn off you just wave it back over.”

Quartz first, then marble herringbone

Quartz in

Quartz in

The backsplash is MSI Calacatta Cressa marble, honed, in herringbone with bright white grout and matte black Schluter edges. It runs up to the wall cabinets, all the way around the window and over the wet bar. It went up after the quartz.

Black pulls, by the homeowner's choice

Sena suggested black hardware early on to give the white kitchen some character, and the homeowner loved the idea. The pulls are Hardware Resources Sutton in matte black, with larger ones on the pantry. When the faucet came in black too, the kitchen's finishes all matched.

Light: lantern pendants and lights under the cabinets

Clear-glass lantern pendants over the island

Over the island hang clear-glass lantern pendants with black frames, chosen and supplied by the homeowners. Clear glass keeps the view open across the room.

Lights under the wall cabinets

Under the wall cabinets, LED lights on their own switch, with three light settings, wash the marble herringbone and the quartz all along the run, from the TV cabinet to the corner.

“Again it just reflects the shininess off the countertops, the backsplash looks brighter, and it just elevates the space.”

The wet bar: glass doors and lights

The little wet bar between the kitchen and the dining room kept its sink and got the same white cabinets: two 42-inch glass-door wall cabinets with matching interiors and LED lights, quartz, and the marble herringbone over the counter. The homeowners chose their own black bar faucet.

“One of my favorite parts of this kitchen is going to be the little wet bar over here.”

Fresh paint in the dining and living rooms

Along with the kitchen, the homeowners had us paint the dining and living rooms: walls, ceilings, doors and trim. The painting followed the kitchen.

Video tour of the Fairfax kitchen (10 min)

In this 10-minute video, our designer Sena walks through the finished kitchen in Fairfax: the cherry cabinets and two-level island it started with, the angled wall that held the double ovens, the angled corner cabinets, the TV built into a wall cabinet, the open microwave shelf and the storage in the island, the lantern pendants and under-cabinet lights, the gray island and black finishes, the touchless faucet, the spice pull-out, the wet bar, the 42-inch wall cabinets with taller crown, and the quartz and marble.

• 0:27Before: cherry cabinets, angles and a two-level island
• 1:40The angled wall, and the angled cabinets that solved it
• 3:15Microwave shelf, cooktop island and lighting
• 5:33Gray island, black finishes, touchless faucet and wet bar
• 8:15Double ovens beside the fridge
• 8:48Cabinets, crown, quartz and marble

Press the photo to play.

▶ 10:33

What happened in what order: the Fairfax kitchen, step by step

Every job sets its own schedule, and your contract gives you a written estimate for yours. How our process works →

1. Design: first in-home visit and measurements; a proposal with five 3D renderings; a showroom visit; the contract.
2. Refining: two layout options, then the final layout, then a small change for easier corner access and a larger TV cabinet.
3. Ordering: the tile and the sink first, then the final cabinet order, then the hardware before the start.
4. Demolition: the angled oven wall and the island's half walls come out.
5. Cabinets: Schrock cabinets delivered and installed; counters templated, with the island overhang set.
6. Stone and tile: quartz installed; marble herringbone set and grouted; sink and dishwasher reconnected; the larger pantry pulls fitted.
7. Paint: colors chosen for the kitchen, dining and living rooms; then painting.
8. Last: our photographer shot the finished kitchen and the video tour.

Budget: about $50K–$60K for the kitchen; appliances bought separately by the homeowners.

Who built it: Sena, our designer, ran the job, with Sam and Hamit on orders and deliveries, and crew lead Daniel's team built it; only the quartz was made by our countertop partner, under our supervision.

What came up during the build, and how we solved it

• A second angle behind the oven wall. Found at the final measurement, before demolition. The walls still came out, and the new run turns at the same angle as the other side of the sink, with angled corner cabinets so no corner space is lost.
• A TV with no TV cabinet. A 30-inch wall microwave cabinet, with power inside, became the TV cabinet, and the layout change during design made it and the drawer base under it a little larger.
• The gap above the wall cabinets. Instead of stacked cabinets, a taller crown and the wall above painted to match the cabinets.
• Appliances bought by the homeowners. The homeowners bought their KitchenAid oven, cooktop and dishwasher during design; Sena checked the specifications so the cabinets and the island were drawn to fit them.

Later, the homeowners referred a friend in Fairfax to Sena for a kitchen of their own.

Fairfax kitchen materials: white and gray shaker, quartz and marble

The exact products in this kitchen, from our order records. "Homeowner's choice" marks what the homeowners chose and bought themselves.

More photos: Fairfax angled kitchen

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