Kitchen Design Tip 5: Think Outside the Island for Clever Storage

Photo by Janis Nicolay
This pretty pink space wasn’t the first project that Jamie Hamilton and Greer Nelson had worked on for this particular client, but it was perhaps the tallest order: “The idea was to create her dream kitchen,” Nelson says matter-of- factly. The two principals of Vancouver-based Oliver Simon Design were tasked with renovating a cold, boring room into a hyperfunctional workspace for a client who is both a baker and an artist. That meant challenging.conventional storage, letting nothing stand in the way—not even a door. The duo eliminated a swinging door in the corner of the kitchen and put in a baking pantry to pack with flour and sugar, creating more counter space in the process. Then, they chose a garage-lift shelf for the island: it perfectly fits the homeowner’s stand mixer, pops up to counter height when in use, and then tucks gracefully away. “It’s all easily accessible right when she needs it,” Hamilton notes. The setup could inspire jealousy in even amateur bakers. The marble backsplash with plenty of movement and that delicate pink paint appeal to the client’s creative side, too. “That made it more interesting, more dynamic and more reflective of her,” says Hamilton. The blushing hue (Sherwin-Williams’s Cabbage Rose) for the kitchen island was drawn from the veining in the Calacatta Vagli backsplash. And, being an artist, the homeowner wasn’t afraid to get colourful: “When you get a chance to use some colour—and you have a client that’s willing to do it—you go for it,” says Nelson.