Kitchen Archives - Kelley Astore Interiors

Design by Kelley Astore Interiors

At Kelley Astore Interiors, we provide a full range of renovation and design services to bring our clients’ designs to fruition, while overseeing and managing the entire remodeling and decorating process. We have ongoing relationships with a range of licensed contractors and skilled craftsmen who work under our supervision on all of our projects; they include cabinetmakers, tile setters, upholsterers, furniture makers, carpenters, electricians, and a drapery workroom. My team and I have been working in interior design and home remodels for over 25 years and our work has been featured on HGTV and in various home design publications; continue reading to find out how we can help you transform your living space into the home of your dreams!

Kitchen Design

Kitchen Design

Kitchens are one of my favorite spots in the house to renovate because they are the heart of a house. Pictured above is a kitchen renovation that I did in Great Falls, VA. Custom cabinetry is a key feature in maximizing the storage in a kitchen. They are customized to fit precisely in the room which doesn’t occur with standard cabinetry; plus, they last longer and retain their value. For this project, we chose a gorgeous marble to accent the custom kitchen island and a neutral color palette to complement it. The final touches included all new stainless steel kitchen appliances, hardware, and accent lighting.

Bathroom Renovation & Remodeling

Bathroom Renovation & Remodeling

I am excited to share this bathroom with you because it is the bathroom of MY dreams… welcome to my master bathroom. When designing my bathroom, I wanted to create a space that felt bright, open, and, most importantly, clean. Therefore, I decided to opt for a simplistic and neutral color scheme, which would also help me create a sense of luxury in my bathroom. To kickstart this color scheme and design, I opted for patterned marble flooring from Marble Systems. Here, the mix of grey and white is nicely complemented by a snow-white border and marble baseboard – giving the space a distinctive, luxury feel. Since I chose statement flooring, I went for simple walls. I designed my own custom vanity so that I could have the exact storage space that I needed and my shower giving it a rainfall showerhead, a main showerhead, and another handheld unit. The last must-have for me was a large tub… what’s the use in your dream bathroom without a large tub to relax and enjoy it in?!

Custom Furniture Reupholstery

Custom Furniture Reupholstery

We have our own upholsterers and they are the best upholstery makers in the DMV area. We have worked with them for many years and this long-standing relationship allows us to produce pieces with amazing quality while adhering to deadlines and budget requirements. That means assisting with sourcing distinctive materials, creating renditions of the final piece, and execution to turn your vision into a reality.

Custom Closets

Custom Closets

Having a beautifully designed and smartly organized closet is key to stress-free mornings. There is nothing worse than your closet being full of dirty and disorganized laundry when you need to get ready quickly or you have a busy day ahead. You should be able to walk into your closet and know exactly where everything is. That’s why customizing your closet to be organized in a way that makes sense for you is so important!

Built-in Bookcases

Built-in Bookcases

Unlike a regular bookcase that you might purchase from a furniture store and have moved into a room, built-in bookcases present a variety of creative opportunities and will pave the way for a more seamless design. They are the ultimate storage solution, turning storage into beautiful decor – the marriage between beauty and function. Whether you’re interested in a built-in bookcase with a hidden desk, or a case framing a window with a little place to sit, we’ve got you covered!

Window Treatments

Window Treatments

Make your house uniquely your own with custom-made draperies and shades made in our workroom. Choosing from a multitude of styles and fabrics, custom window treatments will add color, texture, and style to any room. From measuring the windows to designing the window treatments to the installation, we are truly a one-stop-shop. The trained artisans in our workroom convert each bolt of fabric into custom-made window treatments.

Custom Painting

Custom Painting

New paint has the power to self-express and energize moods. Applying fresh paint inside your home gives it a fresh look. We will talk with you to help you decide which paint color to choose by discovering the ambiance you want for each particular room in your home.

To learn more about our interior design process from start to finish, click here. We look forward to working with you and making your design dreams come to life!

Kitchen Cabinet Refinishing: Cherry Stain to Beautiful Gray

The kitchen was fairly up-to-date with new black granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. However, the cabinets needed an updated touch! They had a cherry stain that completely clashed with the rest of the kitchen so we decided to refinish them.

Steps to Refinishing Kitchen Cabinets

The first step in revamping these cabinets was to remove the doors and drawers. They were sent to my carpenter’s shop to be sanded and primed. Then, they received two coats of finished lacquer. The chosen paint color was Ben Moore AC-34, also known as Cape Hatteras Sand. It is part of an interesting collection, America’s Colors, of soft neutrals that “snapshot America’s most popular, well-traveled regions” making it a very welcoming choice.

While the doors and drawers were in the shop, my guys began with taping off the inside frame of the cabinets so that no paint would get in. Additionally, they taped around the appliances to make sure they were protected. My team sprayed the first coat of primer before spraying two coats of finished lacquer. Lacquer paint has a strong odor so we ventilated the area with a fan and a long tube that exhausted the fumes outside of the house. Once completely dry, the paper and tape were removed and the doors and drawers were reinstalled.

Kitchen Cabinet Refinishing

The Finishing Touch

It was a surprising reveal, amazing how much different a space can look when the correct colors are present! The gray cabinets with stainless finishes blended seamlessly with the black granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, white backsplash, and light-colored floors. Something as modest as refinishing the kitchen cabinets gave the entire kitchen a brand new look without having to completely renovate the entire room.

Kitchen Cabinet Refinishing

Bespoke Kitchen Before and After

Kitchens are one of my favorite spots in the house to renovate. I always see the kitchen like the heart of a house – a place where the family gathers – a neutral ground. Having a beautiful large space to prepare and enjoy food supports a healthy relationship between cooking and eating. So I’m happy to bring you through the before and after renovation of a kitchen in Great Falls, Virginia

Getting Started

If you’ve been following our blogs for a while, you’ll know that our favorite way to go about renovations is starting completely fresh. So we gutted the entire existing kitchen, which means that everything in this renovation is completely bespoke and custom made. Looking at the raw space, you can see that it’s a fairly large space – nothing too extravagant, but also not too small by any means. The space has large windows that let in beautiful natural daylight, and I knew that I wanted this design to accentuate that. Having a completely gutted room is like having a blank canvas. The possibilities are endless and your imagination is free to run wild. Which is what we did.

Planning The Design

The first step in any design process will be planning. We knew that we wanted the kitchen to follow a neutral color palette, and we also wanted it to feature marble. Thankfully we found two different types of marble. The first one was very veiny marble that features a lot of sandy, gray, and white tones. This marble would eventually become the kitchen island. As for the rest of the countertops, we went with a more subdued marble that was less veiny. It was perfect for what we had in mind. After we chose which marble to use, we could plan the rest of the design around that.

Custom Cabinets

The first thing we tackled were the custom cabinets. We started by installing the hanging cabinets along the walls first. Afterwards we installed the lower cabinets, the kitchen island, and the pantry. All of the cabinetry had to be installed around where the kitchen appliances would eventually go. The island was built in different segments before being topped with marble. When designing the island, we made sure to build in shelves, drawers, and cupboard space for extra storage. It is so extremely important that a kitchen is designed to be practical and functional because everyone in the family spends so much time in the kitchen.

To provide contrast, we went with two different colors of paint/stain for all the custom cabinetry. For all of the cabinetry along the walls, we opted for a pale gray stain color. As previously stated, we wanted to accentuate the natural light from the window, so featuring plenty of this light color would really help brighten the room up. We decided to introduce contrast in order to balance the design. We did this by choosing a darker gray/green stain for the island. I love the way it turned out.

Lighting & Appliances

Next on our list were all the kitchen appliances. We installed the sinks, stove, oven, and other appliances. The vent-a-hood above the stove is a stainless custom design. We installed the marble backsplash and the custom-designed marble piece above the stove to offer some texture for the eye to land on. Finally, we installed beautifully polished nickel lanterns hanging over the island from Vaughan Designs. We attached polished nickel hardware to all the cabinetry, then put the bespoke custom-made barstools around the island and the design was nearly complete! All that was left to do was decorate the countertop with beautiful vintage English Ironstone pieces.

More where this came from…

I absolutely love how this design turned out and my client loved it just as much. It feels modern, clean, chic, and welcoming! If you are debating whether or not to renovate, check out our article on the perks of a kitchen renovation to help you decide!