Kitchen of the Week: Walnut, Navy Blue and an Eat-In Turret Too
A 1930s Kentucky home adds a kitchen filled with sumptuous wood, stone, glass and a circular chartreuse banquette
Builder and general contractor Stefan Rumancik and his wife, Heather, had long played with the idea of expanding and adding a turret to their 1934 house in Louisville, Kentucky. First of all, they wanted more living space, including a new kitchen and mudroom. Second, Stefan was drawn to the challenge of building something circular. And third, who can resist a turret’s fairy-tale-like allure? So when the pandemic hit, they took advantage of the lull in Stefan’s business and went for it, enlisting Bethany Adams to design the new interior spaces. Here’s how Adams made the kitchen feel at once updated and timeless, with the turret an integral part of its function and charm.
The kitchen floors are stained white oak, which were matched to the recently installed oak floors in the rest of the home.
The island and overlay Shaker-style cabinets were the last project of Stefan’s longtime cabinetmaker before retiring, Adams says. The homeowners chose the navy color for the cabinets, which Adams paired with walnut accents.
“Anytime I’m doing a two-tone situation — in this case, the blue and the walnut — I always try to pull it across the room so that it’s not just one element,” Adams says. “So here the wood is on the island, but it’s also on the hood in the upper cabinets. And then it’s not walnut in the windows, but it’s stained to match the wood. And so your eye sort of travels around back and forth.”
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The island and overlay Shaker-style cabinets were the last project of Stefan’s longtime cabinetmaker before retiring, Adams says. The homeowners chose the navy color for the cabinets, which Adams paired with walnut accents.
“Anytime I’m doing a two-tone situation — in this case, the blue and the walnut — I always try to pull it across the room so that it’s not just one element,” Adams says. “So here the wood is on the island, but it’s also on the hood in the upper cabinets. And then it’s not walnut in the windows, but it’s stained to match the wood. And so your eye sort of travels around back and forth.”
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Here, design assistant Liza Galler stands at the sink looking out at the backyard.
The countertop is Platinum quartzite peppered with a little bit of blue and a lot of gray. The material is natural as well as durable, and the waterfall design on the island protects the beautiful walnut cabinetry.
The black Verona range and the stainless steel refrigerator were reused from the existing kitchen.
Cabinet paint: Polo Blue, Benjamin Moore
The countertop is Platinum quartzite peppered with a little bit of blue and a lot of gray. The material is natural as well as durable, and the waterfall design on the island protects the beautiful walnut cabinetry.
The black Verona range and the stainless steel refrigerator were reused from the existing kitchen.
Cabinet paint: Polo Blue, Benjamin Moore
The sink color was a happy accident. “We ordered a white sink and then the black one showed up,” Adams says. “We hadn’t even known that was an option and we loved it.”
The faucet has a pull-down feature and a handle in knurled brass — an etched texture with a satisfying feel and sophisticated look. The same texture is on the burnished brushed-brass cabinet handles.
Faucet: Brizo; cabinet handles: Restoration Hardware
The faucet has a pull-down feature and a handle in knurled brass — an etched texture with a satisfying feel and sophisticated look. The same texture is on the burnished brushed-brass cabinet handles.
Faucet: Brizo; cabinet handles: Restoration Hardware
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The handmade backsplash tile has a ribbed texture and a lot of variation, which makes its single grayish color option, called Lotus, look like multiple colors.
The homeowners were adamant about not wanting open shelving, but too much dark color can be overwhelming. So Adams added lightness with inset steel-and-ribbed-glass upper cabinets.
Tile: Ribbed field tile in Lotus, Ann Sacks
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The homeowners were adamant about not wanting open shelving, but too much dark color can be overwhelming. So Adams added lightness with inset steel-and-ribbed-glass upper cabinets.
Tile: Ribbed field tile in Lotus, Ann Sacks
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Large windows let sunshine pour in, and there’s ample overhead lighting as well.
Commonly, pendant lights are placed over a kitchen island. But here, because the island is already well-illuminated, the ceilings aren’t very tall and the range wall has “a lot going on,” Adams says, she opted to put the pendants in front of the windows instead, to draw the eye in that direction.
“It’s also really beautiful from the outside when those lights are on to see them — one, two, three — in the three little windows,” she says.
Chartreuse tweed upholstery on the West Elm counter stools adds three pops of complementary color.
Pendant lights: Crackle glass and brass, Hudson Valley Lighting
Commonly, pendant lights are placed over a kitchen island. But here, because the island is already well-illuminated, the ceilings aren’t very tall and the range wall has “a lot going on,” Adams says, she opted to put the pendants in front of the windows instead, to draw the eye in that direction.
“It’s also really beautiful from the outside when those lights are on to see them — one, two, three — in the three little windows,” she says.
Chartreuse tweed upholstery on the West Elm counter stools adds three pops of complementary color.
Pendant lights: Crackle glass and brass, Hudson Valley Lighting
Looking toward the other end of the room, past a glass door leading to the backyard, you can see the interior of the circular turret on the left. (Above the dining nook is a new circular shower in the primary suite.)
Though a common feature of Victorian homes, turrets or towers are not typical on Dutch Colonial Revival-style homes. But because this home has a barnlike silhouette, the turret recalls a silo and thus feels fitting, Adams says. Plus, it’s not visible from the street.
We’ll look at its function in the kitchen more closely in a moment, but first, note the set of cabinets on the right.
Though a common feature of Victorian homes, turrets or towers are not typical on Dutch Colonial Revival-style homes. But because this home has a barnlike silhouette, the turret recalls a silo and thus feels fitting, Adams says. Plus, it’s not visible from the street.
We’ll look at its function in the kitchen more closely in a moment, but first, note the set of cabinets on the right.
These cabinets form a dry bar tailored to the homeowners, who are bourbon aficionados, Adams says. At the top of the cabinets full of barware are brass grills hiding another surprise.
“[The homeowners] are very big into music and had these very specific speakers that they wanted to incorporate. I did not want to see the speakers,” Adams says with a laugh. The grills’ open mesh provided the solution.
“[The homeowners] are very big into music and had these very specific speakers that they wanted to incorporate. I did not want to see the speakers,” Adams says with a laugh. The grills’ open mesh provided the solution.
Back to the turret, which Stefan and Heather had earmarked for a dining nook right from the start. Adding a built-in circular banquette was Adams’ idea — a tricky one to implement but worth it.
“Stefan and his lead carpenter built it themselves,” Adams says. “Because the radius is so specific for the banquette, each one of those [upholstered] channels is a separate piece that could come out, and rather than separate window sills for each of the windows in the turret, they just made like one curved window sill. That was like a feat of measuring and engineering, but it turned out beautifully.”
Adams used the same bold chartreuse fabric she used on the island stools. She advises a neutral backdrop for big-investment spaces like kitchens, but she likes to make unexpected choices for accent pieces that are easy to redo.
“I want this kitchen to last stylistically 25 years at least,” she says. “And so the stools and the banquette, I feel like those are the places to bring in the fun.”
“Stefan and his lead carpenter built it themselves,” Adams says. “Because the radius is so specific for the banquette, each one of those [upholstered] channels is a separate piece that could come out, and rather than separate window sills for each of the windows in the turret, they just made like one curved window sill. That was like a feat of measuring and engineering, but it turned out beautifully.”
Adams used the same bold chartreuse fabric she used on the island stools. She advises a neutral backdrop for big-investment spaces like kitchens, but she likes to make unexpected choices for accent pieces that are easy to redo.
“I want this kitchen to last stylistically 25 years at least,” she says. “And so the stools and the banquette, I feel like those are the places to bring in the fun.”
Stefan made the table for Heather for Christmas using two extra pieces of the quartzite and a strip of walnut down the middle. Adams helped him source the gold powder-coated steel base on Etsy.
The West Elm chandelier is perforated brass, which complements the knurled brass of the kitchen hardware.
The West Elm chandelier is perforated brass, which complements the knurled brass of the kitchen hardware.
If you look back at the first photo, you’ll see an arched entrance to the kitchen from a small hallway or vestibule. This arched entry to the new mudroom is off the same hallway. The shape mimics two existing arches at the front of the house and another arch leading from the kitchen into the dining room. That repetition helps the new addition feel seamless with the original architecture.
The mudroom is where the old kitchen was, so the family used to enter straight into the kitchen from the home’s back entrance — not ideal when it came to keeping the mess from boots and backpacks at bay.
“Now they say the mudroom is their favorite room in the house for obvious reasons: He works in construction and, you know, [their daughter is] 11!” Adams says with a laugh.
The floor is durable, easy-to-clean tile that resembles brick. The cabinetry matches the kitchen’s but with leather-and-brass pulls. Adams installed open cubbies for day-to-day use and, next to them, a closet for storage of out-of-season coats.
“Now they say the mudroom is their favorite room in the house for obvious reasons: He works in construction and, you know, [their daughter is] 11!” Adams says with a laugh.
The floor is durable, easy-to-clean tile that resembles brick. The cabinetry matches the kitchen’s but with leather-and-brass pulls. Adams installed open cubbies for day-to-day use and, next to them, a closet for storage of out-of-season coats.
The tile continues into a small powder room that’s behind the door in the left foreground of the previous photo. It replaced a small bathroom that was roughly where the hallway is now.
Curved brushed brass cabinet pulls on the walnut vanity and a round leather-and-brass mirror echo the turret’s geometry.
Adams topped the vanity with strongly veined Fantasy Brown stone. “There’s a beauty to natural stone that can’t be replicated no matter how hard you try,” she says.
Wallpaper: Woods, Cole & Son; sconces, Hudson Valley Lighting
Curved brushed brass cabinet pulls on the walnut vanity and a round leather-and-brass mirror echo the turret’s geometry.
Adams topped the vanity with strongly veined Fantasy Brown stone. “There’s a beauty to natural stone that can’t be replicated no matter how hard you try,” she says.
Wallpaper: Woods, Cole & Son; sconces, Hudson Valley Lighting
The new floor plan with the kitchen and turret addition
Since the project wrapped up, Adams and Stefan have been working together “all the time,” Adams says. Asked if she’d do anything differently now, she pauses for a moment. “No, I don’t think so,” she says. “I think it turned out really, really well.”
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Since the project wrapped up, Adams and Stefan have been working together “all the time,” Adams says. Asked if she’d do anything differently now, she pauses for a moment. “No, I don’t think so,” she says. “I think it turned out really, really well.”
More on Houzz
Read more kitchen stories
Browse kitchen photos
Hire a kitchen remodeler
Shop for kitchen products
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: Stefan Rumancik of Designer Builders; his wife, Heather; and their daughter
Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Size: 323 square feet (30 square meters)
Designer: Bethany Adams of Bethany Adams Interiors
The house is in Audubon Park, a leafy city within Louisville. It’s known in part for its well-preserved early-20th-century architecture, including Craftsman and Dutch Colonial Revival homes like the Rumanciks’.
The couple wanted the addition to look seamless with their home’s original architecture, with updated finishes and fixtures that reflect the natural materials and hand-craftsmanship prevalent in the 1930s. Stefan’s frequent collaborator Mark Foxworth of Foxworth Architecture handled the exterior architectural design. Stefan had renovated Adams’ kitchen two years prior and was impressed by her work, so she was a clear choice for the interior design.
The kitchen, seen here from the perspective of a small hallway, is part of the new three-level addition at the rear of the house. Scroll to the bottom to see the new kitchen floor plan.
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