A Tewksbury Manor Home Kitchen Shines with Rustic Elegance

Who:  Robb and Karen, busy professionals who were ready to move closer to their jobs. During their home search they fell in love with a stately home and its majestic views of Somerset and Hunterdon Counties.

Where:  Tewksbury Township, NJ

The Challenge:  Although the rest of the house required little, if any, redecoration, the kitchen cried out for some attention.  Appointed with high end features, it was also highly personalized and overwhelmed with color. 

Robb and Karen liked many of the individual elements of the room, but, as a whole, the kitchen didn’t appeal to them.  Karen wanted to lighten the space a bit and envisioned white cabinetry, glazed and distressed.  Robb gravitated towards the rustic appeal of reclaimed barn wood and brick.  They were, however, in agreement on the extent to which they wanted to remodel.

The Solution: Robb and Karen looked at the design and quality of components of the space and concluded that, by making some select changes instead of just ripping everything out, the kitchen could shine.  Not only would that approach be more considerate of resources, it would also be less disruptive to their lifestyle.  To help them achieve that goal they called Art and Artisan Interiors, who renovated areas of their previous home. Working together, a plan took shape.

• Although Robb and Karen didn’t love the floor, they chose to keep it, knowing that it would take on a different look if the other elements in the room changed.
• They liked the marble and soapstone countertops and saw no reason to replace them.
• The appliances, which included the Viking range and Sub-Zero refrigerator drawers, would also stay.
• Art decided on a strategy of a partial renovation, combining new cabinetry, custom refacing, and custom finishing.
• The existing upper cabinets were replaced, all of the lower cabinets were refaced.
• The new cabinets were a glazed and distressed white.
• The new doors for the refaced cabinets were oak and custom made to replicate aged barnwood slats arranged in a chevron pattern.
• The island was refinished in a custom color, similar to Benjamin Moore’s 1580, Intrigue.
• The back side was refaced to match the distressed, oak cabinetry.
• A brick backsplash was installed and the wall color was changed.
• The yellow walls were repainted a greenish-taupe color.

The end result was a kitchen with fresh style, that still maintained the character of the home and the tastes of its new owners.

Click on any image below to enlarge.