Made to Entertain

Renovation by Elite Remodeling, Frisco, (972) 334-9800, www.elitehomeremodeling.com

BEFORE

Homeowners Joan & Jim Toplicar of Plano had been considering an upgrade to their kitchen and nook for some time. Two main requirements surfaced during their early meetings with John Todd, owner of Elite Remodeling. First, they wanted to open up the kitchen, nook and family room into an entertainment area for family and friends. Second, they required a gas cooktop, as Wes is a self-taught chef. With these requirements understood, Elite Remodeling’s design team was able to reconstruct the cooking area by eliminating a walk-in pantry, closing off a doorway to the dining room and expanding the existing cooktop area to handle a commercial-grade gas cooktop insert. Since the home is a single story, it made the venting requirements very easy. For their remodeled kitchen, the homeowners chose a custom set of cabinets built from Rustic Alder and stained in an Aged Bronze Low Sheen color. A new custom, matching decorative hood and refrigerator cabinet were added as well. The design team used contrasting granite colors for the 3-centimeter, demi-bullnose edge countertops to create interest and attention. They installed Ivory Cream on the outside countertop areas and Black Pearl on the expanded island. For the backsplash, they used a combination of tiles, including Natural Stone Torreon in a 6-by-6 offset pattern with a row of Botanical Dracaina Ustelle 2-by-12 accent tile. And above the cooktop, Todd incorporated a matching liner bar to create interest without contrast. A Haystack grout color was used for all of the tilework. For the new fl ooring, the team recommended a large tile because of the sizeable, contiguous space of the kitchen and nook, which allowed the homeowners to select a 20-by-20 Canyon Sand in another offset pattern. The finishing touch for the updated kitchen was light texture application on the walls with new paint and glaze.