No walls were demolished, no cranes were hauled in. When Carol T. Basile of Forest Millwork & Cabinet Design Studio designed the kitchen of a 1920s-era home in Biltmore Forest, she selected all materials, fixtures, and finishes. She also notes that plumbing and electrical were relocated and brought up to code. However, structurally, “the space is the same,” she says.
The room’s dramatic transformation, then, proves the power of gorgeous cabinets and just-right color section, not to mention modern lighting (the room had not been updated since the ’60s). Basile planned and engineered the installation of the expansive cabinetry, Beaded Inset Cherry from Showplace Wood Products.
She lists the cabinets’ storage areas for knives, cutlery, and trash storage; deep drawers; a hidden microwave in the pantry; refrigerator panels; and an area in the back that she blocked off to create a walk-in pantry. The sumptuous spread, with stacked crown molding, reaches the 9-foot ceiling, and the prep sink/bar area features mullion glass doors.
Basile enthuses about the “Midnight Blue” ILVE range (with added brass accents) from Italy, purchased through Forest Millwork. “This is a great machine,” she says.
The man of the house quite agreed. “Every time we visited Carol, my husband couldn’t take his eyes off the blue ILVE they had on display,” his wife says with humor. The rich color is seconded in the kitchen’s softer blues, including the Caesarstone island top in “Ocean Blue” and perimeter tops in HanStone Caribbean Blue Quartz. Both tops, notes Basile, are fabricated with an ogee edge detail.
But the couple’s authentic Dutch Delft tile, purchased two decades ago, was the kitchen’s touchstone. Scored at an auction in boxes marked “Utrecht, Holland,” the tile moved around with them, but proved too grand to install in a previous, smaller kitchen.
Around the time they purchased the Biltmore Forest home, the couple visited Holland and became more convinced than ever to use their Delft tile. “The variety and quantity was perfect,” says the owner.
In other areas, “Forest Millwork had so many choices for styles and colors for the cabinets that it was fun to pick from the array,” she adds. “We couldn’t be more pleased with the results, and the workmanship and dedication of all those involved. We are thrilled to have a totally new home in an old shell.”
RESOURCES
Consulting Architect: Robert S. Griffin, Griffin Architects, P.A.
Kitchen Design and Cabinetry: Forest Millwork & Cabinet Design Studio, Carol T. Basile, CKD (Certified Kitchen Designer through National Kitchen & Bath Association) *
Builder: J.P. McClure
Countertops: Mountain Marble *