Remodeling on a budget is easier when you enlist a designer’s help, says Rick Cowan, CKD. “If you specify your budget up front, a designer can help you work within it,” he says.

Building a home from scratch is a massive undertaking. You need a great architect and a good designer—one who will also help with décor and finishes once the place is ready to be called home.    

When the proud owner of this kitchen began building his dream home, he knew he’d need extra design help on the kitchen and bathroom. “Although my architect did a great job on the bones [of the home], the kitchen and bath are so specialized that I wanted someone who knew what the latest trends were—and really knew how the kitchen and bath work,” he explains.

The homeowner spent a lot of time doing research before choosing a designer. He was drawn in to the Archipelago showroom after viewing photos of past projects, especially those that spoke to his own particular design aesthetic.

“He really wanted the contemporary, refined look,” says designer Rick Cowan, CKD, of Archipelago Hawaii, Refined Island Designs. But the homeowner also wanted a designer who would work well with him, incorporate his ideas and give careful attention to detail. The staff at Archipelago made a great first impression, so, soon after that initial visit, the homeowner scheduled his first appointment.

Once the partnership was fused, Cowan got right down to the business of design. First on the list? Tweaking the architect’s original floor plan to give the kitchen a more custom feel. “I did some slight modifications to what the architect had done,” says Cowan.

According to Cowan, the best way to bring your remodeling costs down is to examine your appliance, cabinetry or countertop package. “If you need to bring down your budget, a designer can choose a simpler door style,” he says. Or, if you want to keep that luxury, top-of-the-line granite but aren’t a gourmet cook, you might choose a more basic appliance package.

The modifications included changing the shape of the kitchen island. “It was just a very square-looking shape,” says Cowan. “So I ‘bowed’ it out a little to give it some dimension.”
Cowan also enlarged the plans for the original window area in order to showcase more of the green valley below. Then, to make up for the storage space lost in enlarging the window, he installed a built-in appliance garage.

The designer knew making room for certain appliances would require some creativity.
“Because this is a smaller kitchen, we used some unique storage ideas,” says Cowan. For instance, he built the microwave into the kitchen wall, creating a bump-out in the adjoining bathroom. “Because the [microwave] was cantilevered into the bathroom space, underneath the structure was dead space. So for the bathroom side, we added an additional cabinet below,” he says.

Because style was a primary concern, Cowan worked with the homeowner to choose the right fixtures and finishes for a modern, sophisticated look. For cabinetry, Cowan recommended glass door fronts with a painted back. “You get that gloss, but it’s very durable,” he explains.
He chose dark wood to frame the cabinetry, setting off the contrast between dark and light tones. Stainless-steel appliances and a granite countertop with a pale-green hue complete the thought. “I never expected to choose a countertop on the green side, because that wasn’t my first choice,” says the homeowner, who originally picked a black countertop. “But what we ended up with really made sense. There are a lot of trees and the valley is so green. So the kitchen is both contemporary and earthy.”

All-in-all, the homeowner is happy with his new kitchen—and the expert attention he received from the staff at Archipelago. “I just like the whole package because it’s very, very contemporary, which is what I wanted. It’s a perfect match.”