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Kitchen Style
Randy and Debby Fox's home, 39720 Deerfoot Ave. Tip: Look for ways to "disguise" your appliances. Debby Fox chose a large refrigerator for the home and the kitchen designer placed it where it was close to the great room. Custom cabinet faces in knotty alder transform its appearance from "appliance" to "furniture."
Melinda Miller of Embellishments in Steamboat Springs custom built the faux copper range hood. She applied many layers of tint to arrive at the final metallic look.
Decorative tiles add a focal point to the kitchen backsplash.
The Fox home features a small wine center and bar crafted out of historic maple wood.
The wine rack, fashioned from welded horseshoes, adds a Western touch.
Rob and Alison Reagin's home, 208 James St.
Rob and Alison Reagin's home, 208 James St.
"I wanted something that pleased me visually," Rob Reagin said of the gleaming range in his kitchen. "To me, this is it. I like the dial on the front. It looks like a serious piece of equipment."
In keeping with the Reagins' minimalist approach to design, the couple passed on the opportunity to add storage in their kitchen with overhead cabinets. The gleaming kitchen counters are typically empty of small appliances toasters, blenders and utensil holders.
Paul and Mitzi Franklin's home, 2890 Buck Path
Mitzi Franklin remains a fan of the Viking range she enjoyed in her Chicago home.
When Mitzi Franklin set out to choose materials for her home in Steamboat, she selected the exotic black coffee color of Wenge wood from West Africa for the kitchen cabinets. She knew she wanted granite rather than marble countertops for the durability of the stone and found what she wanted in a color called "maroon Bahia."
Phyl Sharp's home, 3225 Aspenwood Drive. The most dramatic feature of the Sharp kitchen is the granite countertops and matching backsplashes that are fully 20 inches high. The granite pattern evokes mountain ranges, and in early September, the bracken fern outside the kitchen window picks up the rusty tint in the stone.
Phyl trusted her instincts and, despite the urging of her kitchen designer, chose a large distressed wooden countertop for the jumbo cooking island. Every new scratch and ding merely adds character.
Across the kitchen, Sharp can step around the corner wall that hides the refrigerator and into a reading sanctuary with two leather chairs bracketing a beautiful stone fireplace.
Phyl Sharp is a fine artist, and a technophile as well. Accordingly, the butler's pantry in her kitchen - on a forested lot in The Sanctuary - is stacked with a fax machine, printer and other computer equipment. The system is wired through an interior wall to a comfortable desk just five steps from the kitchen.
