Putting Neutrals on Stage

Designer renounces color for contrast in Arden kitchen
Lots of light, lots of dark, a champagne glow and one great nook comprise this high-contrast kitchen in South Buncombe. 
Photo by David Dietrich

The average paint retailer boasts more than 3,500 shades, ranging from funky key-lime green to Chantilly-lace white. 

As owner of Exactly Right Color and Design, a virtual room-design and color-consulting firm, Stephanie Brubaker helps homeowners see through the visual noise and pick the perfect palette for their lifestyle. 

For some clients, that means painting an en suite Aleutian blue. For others, it means trimming a den in coral pink. “At work, I don’t shy away from color,” Brubaker says decidedly. 

However, when it comes to her own space, this designer thinks twice before committing to audacious hues. “Personally, I have a high color sensitivity and feel most comfortable amongst neutrals,” she admits. That much is evidenced by the warm whites and cool grays found inside her Arden kitchen. 

The focal piece of a new construction completed this summer by builder Jamie Greene of Sage Communities, Brubaker’s kitchen is a landscape of lights and darks. Imagine an Ansel Adams print, just with more spatulas. “I love high-contrast colors — paints with very low or very high light-reflective values — because it adds so much drama,” she says.

But before Brubaker and her husband, Tony, could enjoy the theatrics of their new kitchen, they had to navigate the drama of a cross-country move. 

A few months shy of two years ago, the couple was living in California and “craving a different experience” than their empty nest could provide. After visiting a friend in Asheville, moving to the mountains “just made sense,” says Brubaker. 

Nevertheless, finding a home — specifically one with a swoon-worthy kitchen — proved difficult at the height of the pandemic. But in December 2020, the couple came to town and promptly purchased the first parcel of land they saw: a heavily forested acre in the quiet Buncombe County community of Arabella Heights at Waightstill Mountain. 

Wanting to give credit where credit is due, Brubaker stresses that the subsequent design process was a concerted effort between herself, Greene, and Andrea Martin with Meliora House of Design in Hendersonville. However, according to Martin, the kitchen was strongly influenced by the homeowner’s vision. 

“I love clients like Stephanie because she brought me a picture and said, ‘Let’s do this,’” Martin remembers. “She knew what she wanted.”

And that was a contemporary yet cozy space — a Mountain Modern kitchen where hosts could at once make hors d’oeuvres and make conversation with guests.

Open shelving and high ceilings lighten up the meditative iron-hued cabinetry.
Photo by David Dietrich

The focal piece of this concept is an arched range alcove with a “Calacatta Valentin” quartz backsplash and niches for practicals — garlic bulbs, salt and pepper, avocado oil, and the like. “The range hood is a place where many clients fix themselves to a time and a style. But I wanted something with a lot of longevity,” says Brubaker. 

This color consultant also wanted a range that would bounce light, not absorb it. Fittingly, the cooking nook and surrounding walls are painted “Wind’s Breath,” a bone white by Benjamin Moore. 

“White is the most difficult color to get right,” Brubaker reveals. 

Luckily, this warm hue contrasts beautifully with the floor-to-ceiling Shaker cabinetry from Meliora House of Design. Finished with an ash stain and custom iron-colored paint, the maple cabinets infuse the space with a rich, almost meditative soulfulness. But, according to Martin, they were a risk. 

“I wouldn’t put these cabinets in most kitchens,” she says, noting that the deep gray could easily make a room feel claustrophobic. However, “the ceilings are high and there are lots of windows that offer indirect light,” she says. Simple gold pulls and a smattering of clear cabinet faces add visual contrast, too. 

There’s more Calacatta Valentin quartz on the countertops, and, for the island, the designers chose “Ludlow Tan” quartz with a matte finish and maple cabinets with an ash stain. 

“Since it’s the same color as the veins in the perimeter countertops, it pulls the entire kitchen together,” Martin says of the prep space. Other details like pendant fixtures, open shelving, and heritage-oak engineered hardwood also elevate the space. 

But for Brubaker, what truly makes the kitchen is the careful balance of extremes. 

“I don’t really like color on the walls,” says the homeowner. “Instead, it’s the drama of light and dark that I respond to.” 

Meliora House of Design, 427 North Church St., Hendersonville. For more information, call 828-393-0189 or visit melioracabinetry.com

Resources

Builder: Sage Communities, Jamie Greene, Asheville.

Kitchen Design Consultation and Cabinetry: Meliora House of Design, Andrea Martin, Hendersonville.  

Color Consultation: Exactly Right Color and Design, Stephanie Brubaker, Asheville.  

Countertops: MSI Charlotte and Daltile Stone & Slab Center, Charlotte. 

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