RODRIGUEZ RESIDENCE

San Carlos, California

2014

Project scope: Kitchen and bathroom remodel
Construction completed:‍ ‍Autumn 2014
General Contractor: Cacci Construction

There is a place in the wonderful world of home design for layouts, colors, materials that call attention to themselves, that make a Statement, that keep you noticing where you are. There's value in that. However, such design can, after a while, begin to distract rather than beguile, may begin to have an edge that pokes the mind a little too often, especially when that space is the home you live in. Understated design, in contrast, while requiring just as much, if not more, attention to detail, has as its focus blending, integration, subtlety of reference. In a home, where one spends one's time in all varieties of mental states and activities, sometimes a design that holds itself as a backdrop to one's life, rather than as an active, noisy member in one's life, is the soothing balm we need.. at the end of a long work day, or when we first open our eyes each morning.

This home's design is the latter. The homeowner wanted a home of easy transitions, a peaceful palette of whites and grays. Within that general feel we had two contending styles to balance: One, a Pacific Rim allusion in materials and textures, reflecting the homeowner's heritage, and two, the existing quasi-'traditional' style of the 1940s home. Balancing the subdued general character with these two styles created an interesting blending that helped to justify the inclusion of some material and/or color accents that both anchored key spaces and provided counterweight to the prevailing simplicity of palette.

Living Room and Dining Area

01
Wall separating living room from the kitchen was removed. Kitchen and dining room now fully open to living room, but with spaces and function defined by ceiling beams, post, and raised counter. Live edge walnut slab at raised counter provides textural and color accent. Mother of pearl mosaic tile now clads the fireplace surround, with the original wood mantle preserved.
Dining Room and Kitchen

02
View of new kitchen and dining area from living room. Living room wall was removed, allowing natural light from remodeled kitchen into living room. Indian silk wraps the pendant lights, providing a subtle texture that compliments the undulations of the live edge walnut slab counter below.
Kitchen

03
Frosted glass subway tiles at backsplash add to airy, open feel. Shaker style cabinets echo traditional styling of original home. In foreground, round walnut slab with finished edge defines a open desk/ homework area at the sunniest (Southeast-facing) corner of the kitchen. New windows on adjacent walls, snug to corner, bring in natural light and views. To provide a counterbalance with the traditional-styled cabinetry, we wanted a clean, modern feel to the walnut slab cantilever, so went with a bracket-free, 'floating' design.
Kitchen

04
Alignments (sight lines) are essential for a sense of flow, ease, and peaceful balance in a space. Sight lines are especially important in interior remodels, where we have only the existing space to work with: where creating the impression of spaciousness within a defined square footage is the goal. Here the dining room and kitchen are brought into alignment: Kitchen aisle, dining chandelier, table, and window beyond.
Existing walls are removed, but a sense of definition between spaces remains, avoiding the undefined, cavernous 'great room' effect. Kitchen, dining, and living room all contiguous and open to each other, but clear in their function. Spatial definition within open areas both increases the sense of space and facilitates the comfort of limits.
Master Bathroom

05
There was to be no added area to this small master bathroom, so our ‘trick’ here was to shift the entry to this room to a central location, then draw the eye to either corner (diagonal alignments always emphasizing the longest dimension in a square or rectangular space such as this). On the left we added corner windows with freestanding tub below. Vanities, mirror, tile backsplash, and ‘floating’ walnut shelves mirror each other on this diagonal alignment.
Master Bathroom

06
As mentioned in the previous image, diagonal alignments (with emphasis on drawing the eye to corners) are essential in creating a greater sense of space in a smallish room. Here, the eye is drawn to high corner windows, echoing the corner windows on the adjacent corner, with pebble-backed niches, also snug to the corner, mimicking the windows’ configuration below. Centrally-located tatami mat-styled porcelain tile continues into the shower area, providing a sense of seamless transition into the curbless shower, with texturally-rich pebble flooring beyond.
Contemporary minimalism in richly dark walnut, meant to evoke the sense of tropical hardwoods, provides a distinct accent in this white and neutral-hued space. A curved edge tile backsplash adds a playful dynamic, with pebble flooring contributing to the ‘tropical spa’ allusions.
Hall Bathroom

07
A full wall backsplash of 'tatami mat' porcelain tile and wood grain tile floor provide a texturally rich but subdued backdrop to the light/dark accenting of white countertop and stained walnut vanity.
Curved elements, such as this bench seat (with walnut-lined towel niche below) add both function and a sense of flow in this remodeled space. Horizontal courses of slightly differentiated hues of stone tile at the back wall help visually widen and balance the room's proportions.
Dining Room

08
Dining room widened and opened to adjacent spaces, centered on original patio French doors. A Hubbardton Forge chandelier anchors the space.