Kitchens of the Year 2019: From the Heart

“Though she is little, she be mighty.” — judge Melisse Mossy

Homeowners Alison and Julio Sanchez enjoy the kitchen remodel Kitchy Crouse designed for them with an island that combines all the colors she put in the perimeter.

The ocean meant a lot to Alison Sanchez’s father. Every day when he came home from work, he sat out on the porch to gaze at the sea from the duplex that he and Alison’s mom had built on their Cardiff-by-the-Sea lot.

“My parents loved that place,” Alison says. “I lived in that home through high school. My dad died in ’95. In 2006, my mother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s and my husband Julio and I rented our house out and moved in here to take care of her until she died in 2016.”

The house could have been sold but after losing both parents, Alison didn’t want to also lose the wonderful memories of them that the house held. Instead, she and Julio decided to give the house the tender loving care it needed. They hired Kitchy Crouse of KC Interior Design to help with a remodel of which the kitchen was a big part. Alison explained to Kitchy that she wanted the makeover to honor her parents.

For an edge, Kitchy used black for the cabinetry, appliances and sink, which pair beautifully with the rose-gold faucet and pendant lights.

“The original kitchen was a tiny, square box with a door to get in and out,” Kitchy says. “The ocean was within view, but when you sat in the dark kitchen you were looking at walls. We basically tore one wall down, changed the locations of plumbing, appliances, countertops—everything—and now the space has an ocean view,” a panorama that Alison’s dad would have loved.

“My parents were very polished,” Alison says. “My dad was in the nightclub business in San Francisco and my mom loved nice, chic things. So I came up with the word ‘swanky’ and that’s what I told Kitchy I wanted this place to look like: swanky and New York sophisticated.”

Hence, the main spark for the kitchen became the black matte cabinetry fabricated by Kitchy’s husband Travis—who also made the waterfall-edge walnut island that Kitchy designed. She added interest to the island by overlapping it with a white countertop containing a black sink and a contemporary rose-gold faucet.

“I wanted something different than just brass or copper,” Kitchy says. “In sourcing, for new things, I found the light fixtures that came in a rose-gold finish. That was a step forward, a more classy look that wasn’t so yellow. And the faucet in that color looks so pretty against the black sink.”

The rose-gold faucet matches the pendant lights.

With an open concept to the living spaces and an added 900-square-foot deck, the new kitchen beckons you to sit back, relax and enjoy a glass of wine.

“I have a feeling of pride when I look around,” Alison says. “I think of my parents and how much they would love this place.”

Alison arranges flowers on the countertop’s durable Caesarstone slab.