Kitchen remodel in Fairfax, VA: white maple cabinets to the ceiling, a two-tone island with seating and open shelves at the window

What did the homeowners want?

The old kitchen worked, but it was plain and did not feel like the rest of the house. The homeowners came to our showroom with a clear list: bigger pantries, an island with seating at a table end, an oven built in under the cooktop instead of a double oven, a microwave inside the island, filtered water at the sink and black appliances. They wanted simple, squared countertop edges and tile running all the way down to the counter.

How we designed it: white, warm wood and black

Sena drew the kitchen in 3D and reworked it with the homeowners until it fit how they cook: the island resized, its seating end planned around legs instead of a separate table, the open shelves placed, and the island marked out in the room itself before anything was ordered. The look mixes white cabinets with warm wood and black: dark wood shelves, a darker island, black hardware, a black sink and faucets and black stainless appliances.

3D design

Finished

The work triangle runs from the sink, now centered under the window, to the cooktop on the next wall and the refrigerator across the room. To get there, we moved the sink, the dishwasher, the gas line for the cooktop and the refrigerator's water line, and ran the new hood duct outside.

A two-tone island with seats at a table end

3D design

Finished

The island is maple in a darker Thatch stain against the white perimeter, with a white quartz top that runs past the cabinets to two square legs. Those legs mark the seating end, so the island works as prep counter, storage and breakfast table in one piece. Inside are deep drawers and, in its side, a built-in microwave drawer.

The quartz on the island is one seamless slab, white with soft gray veining, so there is no seam across the place where the family sits. Our fabrication partners templated and installed the countertops, under our supervision.

“This is actually one entire slab.”

“These legs really help define the seating area…”

Three glass pendants the homeowners chose hang over the island, so the light falls on the counter without blocking the view across the room. Recessed lights cover the rest of the kitchen, and every outlet and switch is new, with light switches in more than one place.

The cooktop wall: a gas cooktop with the oven below

The homeowners did not want a double oven, and they wanted something sleeker than a freestanding range. So the gas cooktop sits in the counter with a built-in wall oven right below it: it reads as a range, with countertop on both sides.

Above it, a chimney hood is vented outside, and the white subway tile runs behind it to the ceiling, between stacked wall cabinets finished with crown moulding.

Open shelves, cut to turn the corner

Open shelving was a long conversation: how many shelves, what shape, and where the storage would go instead. Sena put wood floating shelves on both sides of the window and, in the corner where the cabinets end, made L-shaped shelves from two shelves cut to fit together.

The backsplash is Armonie Picadilly Bianco, a glossy white 4 by 12-inch subway tile laid in a half offset with dark grout. It runs all the way down to the counter, with no 4-inch stone splash, and up to the ceiling behind the shelves and the hood. Schluter Jolly metal trim finishes its edges.

Storage: tall pantries, drawers and a pull-out corner

3D design

Finished

The old pantry's wall came down, and we built a new side wall so the tall cabinets and the refrigerator could stand together on one wall. Behind the pantry doors are roll-out trays. The cabinets are Schrock maple with Kennedy square doors and slab drawer fronts, all soft-close, with matte-black Hardware Resources Sullivan pulls and knobs. A pull-out in the corner replaces a lazy Susan, there is a slot for trays and cutting boards, and a double trash pull-out.

At the sink, a black Mr. Direct granite composite sink sits under the quartz with a matte-black Moen Align faucet and a second faucet for filtered water. Near the family room, a coffee bar has open shelves for glassware and a built-in beverage cooler on its own circuit. We kept the home's hardwood floor and patched it with new white oak where the old cabinets and a railing had been.

Video: our designer's tour of this kitchen

Sena, our designer, walks through the finished kitchen: the work triangle and the island, the open and L-shaped shelves, the glossy subway tile, the cooktop with the oven below, the drawers and pull-outs, the island's single quartz slab and microwave drawer, the pendants, the two-tone cabinets and the coffee bar. The first part of the video is the primary bath we remodeled for the same homeowners.

Press the photo to play; it starts at the kitchen.

▶ 24:18

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: the homeowners' visit to our showroom with Sena; the kitchen in 3D, reworked with them; the island resized and marked out in the room; the final measurement; the contract; the cabinets ordered; the countertop, tile, sink, faucet and hardware chosen with Sena; the homeowners' appliance sizes worked into the plan.
2. Demolition: the old kitchen taken out behind a dust wall, along with the old pantry wall.
3. Rough-in: the sink moved to the center of the window; the dishwasher, the refrigerator's water line and the cooktop's gas line moved; the hood duct run outside; new outlets, switches and recessed lights, three pendant boxes over the island and a circuit for the beverage cooler.
4. Walls: the new side wall for the pantry cabinets built and the drywall patched.
5. Cabinets: the white maple cabinets, the stacked wall cabinets with crown, the tall pantries and the island with its legs installed.
6. Countertops: the quartz templated and installed, the island in one slab, with the undermount sink.
7. Floor: the existing hardwood patched with new white oak.
8. Backsplash: the subway tile in a half offset, to the ceiling at the shelves and the hood, with metal edge trim.
9. Finish: the floating shelves, hardware, pendants, faucets, paint and the homeowners' appliances.

Who built it: designer Sena planned the kitchen with the homeowners, and our crew built it. Only the countertops came from our fabrication partners, under our supervision.

Budget: about $60K–$70K for the kitchen; the appliances were bought separately by the homeowners.

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

• An island that is also the table. Instead of a small island and a separate table, the island top runs on to two legs, and the seating end works as a breakfast table.
• No double oven, no bulky range. A gas cooktop with a wall oven right below it gives the look of a range with counter on both sides.
• A microwave off the counter. A built-in microwave drawer in the island keeps it out of sight and easy to reach.
• Shelves where the cabinets end. In the corner, two floating shelves were cut to meet in an L, so the cabinets flow into the open shelving.
• One slab, no seam. The island's quartz top is a single slab, so the seating end has no seam.
• Keeping the floor. The home's hardwood stayed, patched with new white oak where the old cabinets had been.

Fairfax kitchen materials: white maple, quartz and subway tile

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

More photos: the Fairfax kitchen

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