This Eat-In Kitchen Feels Like the Coziest Ever Living Room (With Snacks)
No kitchen is just for cooking. There’s no better place to vent, celebrate, or simply catch up about the events of the day than near snacks. “My grandmother had a dining table in the middle of her kitchen, and we sat there for hours and experienced life together,” recalls designer Stephanie Sabbe of Sabbe Interior Design in Nashville.
So instead of dropping an extra-large island in the middle of the kitchen in our 2021 Whole Home, Sabbe introduced a proper dining room table from Grothouse that could comfortably seat six. Then Sabbe decorated the kitchen like any other room in the house, adding a charming leaf-motif wallpaper, traditional wingback chairs (bought upholstered from an online consignor), and blue-green paint on the cabinetry and ceilings. A dark quartz countertop and backsplash keep the room feeling sophisticated.
Appliances: Signature Kitchen Suite. Fixtures: Elkay. Countertop and backsplash: Grothouse. Table and range hood: Grothouse. Paint: Farrow & Ball. Wallpaper: Morris & Co. Lighting: Circa Lighting. Rug: Turkish Carpets Inc. Door handle: Schlage.
Dirty Pantry
Situated behind the main kitchen so as to hide the cooking mess, this space also houses a second dishwasher, under-counter microwave, and wall oven. Countertop-to-ceiling custom shelving adds an elegance and warmth to this narrow room, and keeps snacks and dishware easily accessible. Wood countertop and shelves: Grothouse. Appliances: Signature Kitchen Suite. Fixtures: Elkay. Lighting: Circa Lighting. Paint: Farrow & Ball. Wallpaper: Stroheim. Floors: Acme Brick. Storage containers and tableware: Walmart.
Entrance
“I wanted to celebrate and display how two spaces adjacent to each other could take on a different flavor,” says Sabbe, who designed a glass transom wall to separate the living room and kitchen. “Every room should be its own experience, and boundaries help.” Fixtures: Elkay. Countertop: Caesarstone.
Hidden Features
A 48-inch range, equipped with gas, induction, and sous vide settings, sits proudly under a bespoke wood hood. Custom cabinetry panels disguise fridge and freezer columns. Countertop and backsplash: Caesarstone Appliances: Signature Kitchen Suite. Hood: Grothouse.
Recipe Desk
A quiet nook for early morning coffee and to-dos. Desk: Grothouse. Lighting: Circa Lighting. Paint: Farrow & Ball. Wallcovering: Stroheim. Vent cover: Architectural Grille. Chair: vintage.
Custom Metalwork
This doggie door—complete with bone-shaped cutouts—is one of several bespoke metal designs by Architectural Grille in the home.
Q&A
House Beautiful: Describe your vision for the space.
Stephanie Sabbe: When I envision the kitchen, I envision a space that you would come and sit and talk for hours. So I wanted comfortable seating. I wanted a different levels of lighting. I wanted a fun use of color. I wanted a rug that gave it a comfortable vibe and made the space feel even cozier. I envisioned getting rid of the island–I really wanted a space where people could sit and gather and be comfortable. I wanted a sink by the window, so you could look out at the backyard, over the pool. I wanted refrigerators that were not a big dominant feature, and I wanted a lot of counter space.
HB: Tell us about the palette.
SS: I wanted to juxtapose colors, just to make it different than what everyone else was doing. I kind of pulled the grandmother card. Grandmothers have wallpaper–it's not a new thing. Our grandmothers really did use wallpaper in the kitchen, and they were bold. They used colorful appliances and showed off their cooking ware and their dishware. And somewhere along the lines, we started putting everything behind white cabinets. So I just really wanted to dig into that.
HB: Is wallpaper really practical for a kitchen?
SS: We have stone backsplashes in the really high-use areas. I mean, if you're whipping around marinara, maybe go to the area that doesn't have wallpaper on the backsplash. I really don't think it's a problem. In reality, people are gutting their kitchens every five to 10 years, so why not have fun? Put some wallpaper in the kitchen. If it gets a little splatter on it, you can probably scrub it off with a magic eraser. But also, a little spot on the wall is not the end of the world. Imperfection is the beauty of interior design.
HB: Where did you get the accessories for the space?
SS: So I really wanted to save the styling for Fredericksburg, I wanted to go around town and find pieces that have been in this town for a long time and give my space that local flavor. So I found an old clock, I found pottery, I found art, everything that's decorative in this space was from Fredericksburg. I really try to bring in some sort of local flavor to all of my projects. Plus, I know it's new construction and I really want it to look like a kitchen that's been there forever.
HB: Why did you decide to skip the kitchen island in favor of a big table?
SS: I would like to call this chapter The Case for No Kitchen Island. Kitchen islands are very popular right now and they're very functional, just like the all-white kitchen. But my grandmother, who I actually reference quite often in my work, had a dining table in the middle of her kitchen. And we didn't just eat breakfast there, and we didn't just sit there for a few minutes. We sat there for hours and talked and caught up and experienced life together. We experienced life together, and that's the kind of kitchen and interiors that I want to design.
The other thing is that stools are just not that comfortable. They're really not. And my children have flipped over and almost broken their heads on bar stools 200 times. If I'm going to sit and enjoy my people—who are little, big, old, young—I want to do it at a chair. Put a couple of chairs at a regular table and we'll stay forever. You can put both feet on the ground. You're not perched up and leaning. Counter stools are for specific body types, chairs are for everybody. `
HB: How did you land on this wood tone for the space?
SS: I really wanted to use a warmer, richer oranger wood. Some may say orange woods are scary. I feel like everyone really loves walnut, everyone's really into bleached woods right now. I just feel like somewhere along the way, they just jumped it down. I don't know who declared orange was bad. I do not think orange is bad. I just love the richness of wood.
HB: Any memorable hiccups in the installation? Tell us how you overcame them.
SS: When I walked into the space, there were some things that were not how I designed them. One example was this sconce next to the windows. I envisioned someone standing there doing dishes with that sconce light washing their face to the outdoor company. But the sconces were installed for a 12-foot-tall person. I could have cried, or I could have bounced. So I literally bounced out the door to the local antique store and found the perfect silhouettes that I stacked underneath it, and really made it spacially look like it was supposed to be there.
Also, one thing we're all struggling with right now in our industry is lead times, they are awful. And similarly to how I could have cried or bounced with the lighting, I looked at furniture and decided there was no way I was going to put that stress on myself to order new. And so I found all the seating in the kitchen on Facebook Marketplace. I always tell my friends and sometimes clients, when you can't afford custom pieces or even sometimes trade goods, Facebook marketplace and Craigslist can be really awesome places to find those one-of-a-kind special moments.
HB: What was one of the biggest investments in this room?
SS: One place in the kitchen I tell people to splurge on is the range hood. I feel like that is the centerpiece, it is the shining star. Make it unique!
For more shopping info on pieces in this room and the rest of the 2021 Whole Home, click here.
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