Photography by Richard Leo Johnson. Used with permission from Beautiful Kitchens and Baths. ©2012 Meredith Corporation www.bhg.com

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Photography by Richard Leo Johnson. Used with permission from Beautiful Kitchens and Baths. ©2012 Meredith Corporation www.bhg.com

This photo: Built to look as if it inhabits original carriage house space, this South Carolina kitchen embodies 1700s Low Country style. Windows with old-style iron latches complement the brick walls and two-tone cabinetry and bring natural light to the work areas. Opposite: The tile backsplash adds a subtle layer of texture (and colors that complement the cabinets and brick walls) to the cooking area.

42 beautiful kitchens & baths | summer 2012 bhg.com/kitchenbath

by chris hayhurst | photos richard leo johnson field editor sandra l. mohlmann

The look of a 1700s carriage house was the driving force behind this South Carolina kitchen addition.

HistoryChanneled

Photography by Richard Leo Johnson. Used with permission from Beautiful Kitchens and Baths. ©2012 Meredith Corporation www.bhg.com

The kitchen occupies one end of the large room. Architectural features such as arched windows and hand-built trusses give the space a historical feel.

beautiful kitchens & baths | summer 2012 45

IIt’s an airy space, this room, with its tall brick walls and antique heart pine floors and exposed-truss ceiling. It feels comfortable, as if this is the way it has always been. Were there kids in here, they’d be tossing paper airplanes from the kitchen on one end to the living area on the other, or playing a game of checkers as they snuggle up to the fireplace.

“It has such a wonderful feel,” says interior designer Pamela Plowden, who created the space with architects Becky Fenno and Laura Altman of design-build firm Meadors, Inc., of Charleston, South Carolina. The room is an addition to a house on South Carolina’s James Island that was built in the 1930s to look like a plantation home from the late 1700s. The aging house is a “funky, clunky” place, Plowden says, and its original kitchen—well, it needed help. “It didn’t really work,” she says.

After consulting with the Meadors team, experts in historical renovations, the homeowners decided on an addition. “It would look like an original carriage house,” Altman says, “but it would work with the existing house—the views and the flow and everything else.” To give the structure an air of authenticity, they’d use materials (including brick and wood) and construction techniques (such as wooden pegs to hold the trusses together) the way craftspeople would have 200 years earlier. And when the shell of the room was finished, they’d make the kitchen—and the adjoining living space—“feel old and look lived in,” Plowden says, but also provide modern amenities, with lots of storage, easy-to-clean surfaces, and high-end appliances. It would be great for a family, she says, but such a space would also be perfect for entertaining.

Photography by Richard Leo Johnson. Used with permission from Beautiful Kitchens and Baths. ©2012 Meredith Corporation www.bhg.com

“There’s enough space for everybody to do their thing and not be on top of each other, but they’re not disconnected either.”

Pamela Plowdeninterior designer

Above right: The range niche includes a tiled backsplash with a pot filler faucet. Above: The kitchen’s perimeter farm-style sink was chosen for its clean architectural lines and the way its color complements the mortar in the walls. The dark granite countertops are speckled in brown, green, and gold. Right: The kitchen cabinets were laid out in sections. Here, the beverage station includes plenty of storage and countertop space adjacent to the refrigerator. Opposite: The island features a simple prep sink and granite top that matches the perimeter counters. For task lighting, three iron pendants peek through the pot rack. Two sets of carriage house-style doors grace the side of the kitchen with a river view.

The kitchen is big and open and subtly colorful, with sage green and putty cabinets that seem natural companions to the red brick walls. The island, too, is in sage, and it sits centered on the range beneath a rectangular cast-iron pot rack that connects the space to the ceiling high above. The kitchen unfolds in sections, from the recessed cooking niche and its tile backsplash to the farmhouse sink beneath antique pendants; from the hutchlike china cabinet beside the sink to the furniture-style pantry across from it; and then reaches out to the rest of the room—and anyone who might be in it.

The space is designed to feel connected, Plowden says. That’s what brings down its scale and allows its grand, historical bones to seem right at home in our modern world. “It’s big,” she says, “but it’s comfortable.”ReSouRCeS Begin on Page 118

beautiful kitchens & baths | summer 2012bhg.com/kitchenbath 47

Photography by Richard Leo Johnson. Used with permission from Beautiful Kitchens and Baths. ©2012 Meredith Corporation www.bhg.com

48 beautiful kitchens & baths | summer 2012 beautiful kitchens & baths | summer 2012bhg.com/kitchenbath 49

designer insights

Mix it upin a kitchen of this size, says interior designer Pamela Plowden, one could easily end up with a “monolithic, humongous wall of cabinets.” to avoid that fate in this south Carolina home, she and architect Laura Altman used a few tricks to add interest to the cabinetry.

• Two different colors were used (sage green and a puttylike taupe).• Cabinetry wood was glazed for an aged look and easy maintenance.• Height and depth of cabinets were varied, depending on location and function.• Glass doors were added to a few upper cabinets.• One wall was devoted to big, furniture-style storage units that house the refrigerator and pantry.

When it comes to choosing colors for cabinetry, Plowden recommends thinking it through. Small kitchens usually look best in just one color, she says. Slightly bigger spaces can handle an accent color—say, on the island. In this case, Plowden wanted a subtle difference between the two colors for the cabinets and soft hues that would complement the brick.

Above: The cabinetry continues out of the kitchen proper to connect the space with the casual dining area. An upper shelf on the sage-color pantry unit is an ideal spot for displaying collectibles. Left: The living area opposite the kitchen features the same multitone Carolina brick and a classic Rumford fireplace with an antique wood mantel. Interior designer Pamela Plowden describes the furniture as “old plantation style”—lived-in and comfortable. The room’s six copper lanterns are “historic-looking and bare-bones—not overpowering and not too decorative.” The ceiling boards are antique heart pine.