An Unexpected Flood Renovation Leaves this Kitchen Functional and Stylish
The need for a kitchen renovation becomes an opportunity for an updated space.
When the owners of this Hawaii Kai condo received news over the holidays that their kitchen was flooded and in need of remediation, they were devastated. The aftermath of a water main break had left their kitchen almost completely gutted.
“They said, ‘you are going to have to move out in five days; find a place and think about your kitchen,’” one of the homeowners recalls upon hearing back from their insurance company. “It was a really sad Christmas … we didn’t have a tree or anything.”
Working on a tight schedule and pressed to make fast decisions, they reached out to April Acquavella, an independent kitchen and bath designer, to guide them through this first-time process.
Acquavella helped the homeowners turn this unexpected renovation into an opportunity to liven up their kitchen and make it a more functional, stylish space.
“The homeowners have a very modern aesthetic, so they wanted to brighten up the space,” Acquavella says.
They kept the original layout of the kitchen, but wanted to add clean, sleek cabinets that supported the modern look they wanted to achieve.
At the recommendation of Acquavella, the owners entrusted in Bekin Cabinets to create custom cabinetry fitted for their budget, space and timeline.
“That’s one of the reasons we went with Bekin,” the homeowner says, mentioning they were on time and ready to install the cabinets within six weeks.
The kitchen features white flat-panel custom cabinets with ample storage space, including soft-close pullout drawers on the bottom fabricated and installed by Bekin Cabinets, which also reinstalled the homeowners’ pre-existing appliances.
cabinets, utilizing this soft-close pullout drawer as a place for all their spices.
“When the company fabricates the cabinets and puts it in, then that’s when you get the whole package,” says Acquavella. “I think that makes a huge difference.”
“I just love having a place for everything,” the homeowner says. Among their favorite features of the new cabinets are the soft-close pullout drawers along the bottom, including a custom drawer below the oven that’s big enough to fit all of their baking pans.
“It’s the small details that you are able to get from custom cabinetry, to fit things in exactly the right space and customizing to specific sizes,” says Acquavella.
In addition to cabinets, the owners swapped out the Corian countertop — original to the 1994-built condo — for dark engineered quartz, as well as additional pieces to give the room definition and grace.
Where to get it:
- Appliances: GE microwave, oven and range hood; Bosch cooktop and dishwasher, from Servco Home & Appliance Distribution.
- Samsung refrigerator, from Sears.
- Delta trinsic pull-down kitchen faucet, Kraus Standart PRO 32-inch 16 gauge undermount single bowl stainless steel sink, CLAXY Industrial Edison mini clear glass pendants in oil-rubbed bronze, owner furnished.
- Backsplash: Hexagonal Marble Tile, from Lowe’s.
- Cabinets: Custom cabinetry, from Bekin Cabinets.
- Countertops: Engineered quartz, from Selective Stone.
