A full gut in Encinitas, taken back to studs and rebuilt without moving the plan. The existing layout worked, so the work went into cabinetry, surfaces and light rather than into relocating services.
Dual-tone cabinetry
The island is stained; the perimeter runs are painted white. Pairing a stained island against painted cabinetry is a different effect from two painted colours — the grain stays visible on the island, so it reads as a piece of furniture in timber rather than another run of joinery in a second shade.
It also ages differently, and better. Painted cabinetry shows wear at the points hands land, and can be touched up. A stained island wears in rather than out, which suits the piece that takes the most daily contact.
The hood
Custom, built for this room. A hood is the one element in most kitchens with nothing above or beside it to hide behind, which is why an off-the-shelf unit so often looks like it was chosen rather than designed. Building it to the room lets it sit in proportion with the cabinetry either side and carry the eye upward.
New sliding doors
Replacing the sliders changed the room as much as anything inside it. New units bring in more daylight, seal considerably better than what they replaced, and connect the kitchen to the outside — which in Encinitas is a space you use most of the year.
Door replacement is also structural detailing: the opening has to be flashed and sealed properly, or you have traded a draught for a leak.
Counters and flooring
Quartz throughout, chosen for a household that wanted a surface needing no sealing and no thought.
The floor is luxury vinyl plank, laid across 1,100 square feet. LVP is fully waterproof, which is the argument for it in a kitchen — a dishwasher leak or a dropped pan of water is a mopping job rather than a repair. It also sits warmer and quieter underfoot than tile, and over a concrete slab it is more forgiving than timber.
Running it continuously across the whole area means the kitchen reads as part of the rooms around it rather than stopping at a threshold.
The result
The same footprint, rebuilt completely. More daylight through new sliders, a stained island anchoring a room of white cabinetry, and a hood made for the space. Six weeks from demolition to final walkthrough.
