Room of the Week: Faith Sheridan, Faith Sheridan Interior Design

Category: Kitchen

Designers: Faith Sheridan, Faith Sheridan Interior Design

Location: Mercer Island, W.A.

Goal: Homeowners Jan and Richard are passionate about food and travel, and love recreating cuisine from their various trips. When the couple became empty nesters, a kitchen remodel became a priority. According to Seattle interior designer Faith Sheridan, her clients wanted to maintain the existing footprint of the kitchen, create a flow for cooking, and take advantage of the picturesque Lake Washington views.

Inspiration: During her first visit with Jan, Sheridan noticed a ship’s keel in a corner in the adjacent den. Jan’s father had made it while he was a student at MIT. “My imagination kicked in and at that exact moment I envisioned the space plan for the entire room,” she says. Using the keel as a jumping off point for the palette and materials, Sheridan set out to create a kitchen that was both functional and meaningful to her clients.

“On a sailboat the keel is the foundation and strength of the structure and it keeps the boat right side up,” she explains of the piece that ended up a feature of the island. “It seemed fitting to me to create an illusion that their keel supports the island end and to make it a focal point. The graceful curves contrast with all the rectangles in the rest of the home and the patina of the wood is warm and rich.”

Breakdown: After consulting with Prestige Residential Construction, the contractor on the project, to make sure the Wolf gas cooktop could be moved, Sheridan got to work. She removed a wall and designed a deep island with streamlined granite countertops that provided plenty of workspace for two. Collette Collins Design fabricated the cabinets using anigre on the upper cabinets and book-matched rosewood on the lower cabinets. There is also a hidden pantry and plentiful hidden storage so all of essentials are in reach, not in sight. The mix of wood creates a warm, contemporary space with an air of sophistication. “With a nod to outside inside, I designed a custom tile  mural from Susanne Kibak and Ann Sacks. Also in their home were custom furniture pieces from local craftsmen. I saw their appreciation of this art form and then designed custom kitchen and den cabinets. Jan and Richard view the kitchen as the ‘jewel’ in their home.”

Tips to Get the Look: “We’re our home and our home is us—it’s the basic element of who we are,” Sheridan says. “My advice to anyone trying to get the look of a designer home is to sit down and really think hard and discover what ‘home’ means to you. Once that’s understood, you can go out and design a home that gives you exactly that, and beautifully.”

Images Courtesy of Andrew Benton.