Kitchens/Baths: By Eva Ditler
Got a New Attitude
Generous helpings of updated materials energize a worn-out kitchen...
WORKING BETWEEN OFFICES in San Diego and New York, busy dad and attorney Erwin Shustak does not have much time to play chef, but he does have to take time to play host at his La Jolla home. The main agenda for the redo of his kitchen, therefore, was not to turn it into a fabulous cook’s space. Rather, he wanted designer Cynthia Lambert-Langdon to rid the space of its old-fashioned, tired-out attitude.
“My client asked for a contemporary kitchen,” says Lambert-Langdon. “Also the residence is on Soledad Mountain, so he wanted to open up the kitchen to the dining room with its view of the coast. He also wanted to remove the wall to the adjacent family room so that he and his son could watch TV while sitting in the kitchen.”
Banishing walls automatically gave the kitchen breathing room, a view and brought the space into the present. Overhauling dull linoleum floors, laminate countertops and whitewashed cabinetry and pulls with updated materials provided the contemporary touches Shustak requested.
“I chose rich wenge wood counter-height cabinets to contrast with Chroma stone countertops,” says Lambert-Langdon. “I installed one bank of upper cabinets with stainless and glass fronts and all the deep, tall cabinets on the interior walls are in a light custom-colored lacquer. The pulls are Sugatsune stainless steel, which maintains the stainless steel of the Energy Star appliances. The flooring is bamboo.”
The show stealer is an entire wall of translucent recycled glass tiles, but highlights for Shustak might include the kitchen’s two microwaves — important for those son/dad reheats — and one and a half dishwashers. After all, to be the host with the most you’ve got to be able to handle cleanup.
Before Photo:
