Light-filled Craftsman Redo

For a dark kitchen in a 1914 Illinois house, the trick was anchoring white expanses with woodsy warmth.

- Patricia Poore

"My clients were really struggling to figure out how to marry their desire for a brighter kitchen with Craftsman style," says Oak Park designer Jill Warren.

"The room felt dark and closed-up." To visually open the space, the designers reworked the floor plan. One long wall, centered on a custom copper hood over the range, is open and airy with windows and plain shelves. On another wall with white cabinets, "we packed in a lot of dedicated storage," Warren says. The bright white is anchored by lower cabinets painted a deep green. Shelves and the island's countertop are of dark, reclaimed walnut. The floor, too, is warm in oak. The whole room takes inspiration from the colors and materials of nature.

Warren offers a pro tip: "To offset the cost of custom cabinets, I often specify historically correct (but more expensive) inset cabinets with exposed hinges for the uppers, but budget-conscious overlay doors for base cabinets."