Residential

The Canyon Project

San Francisco Bay Area, California

Full kitchen and bathroom remodel, landscape design

The Canyon Project involved a full remodel of the kitchen and bathroom, including removal of walls and relocating plumbing fixtures.

The brief was to open up and modernize the space, while maintaining a feeling of serenity, ease and warmth. A blend of mid-century modern and contemporary furnishings provide the finishing touch to an uplifting space.

We completely redesigned the front yard and back yard, creating a zen garden in front, with Japanese maple trees, wisteria and cherry blossoms, Mexican river rocks and California gold gravel. The back yard features an artificial lawn in a curvilinear design, providing plenty of open space for the clients' French Bulldog and young children to run around and play.

Key materials include porcelain tile from Italy, walnut kitchen cabinets (locally crafted in San Francisco) and brass hardware.

Open-plan kitchen with a walnut island and brass pendants — Taking out the walls put the kitchen, dining and living areas on one sightline, with a walnut island, brass pendants and a pale stone top anchoring the middle of the plan. The floor switches from tile in the kitchen to timber in the living area, which marks the two zones without putting anything back in the way of the view.

Walnut kitchen cabinets with a stainless range and stone countertops — Walnut base cabinets, crafted locally in San Francisco, carry the warmth while white uppers keep the corner run from closing in. The Italian porcelain climbs full height behind the range instead of stopping in a band under the cabinets, which lifts the eye and gives the hood something to sit against.

Kitchen island with brass globe pendants and walnut cabinets — A single linear pendant of brass and glass globes runs the length of the island, and the microwave is built into the island base below the walnut drawers and their brass pulls. Dropping the microwave into the island keeps the working wall clear for tile and the hood, which is what lets the run stay quiet rather than crowded with appliances.

Bathroom with a walk-in glass shower and a walnut vanity — Large-format porcelain runs floor to ceiling behind a walnut vanity, with matte black fixtures and a frameless glass shower over a small mosaic floor. Running the same tile up the walls and into the shower, and changing only the shower floor to a mosaic, lets a narrow bathroom read as one volume while the smaller tile still gives grip and a fall to the drain.

Child's bedroom with a bed beneath corner windows — The bed sits under a pair of windows that meet at the corner, with the color carried entirely by a mustard throw, a round blush rug and a jute pouf against white walls and pale timber floors. Letting textiles do all the color work in a child's room means the scheme can grow up with the child without repainting or replacing a single piece of furniture.

Primary bedroom with a low bed and mid-century furnishings — Everything sits low here, from the upholstered platform bed on tapered legs to the timber nightstands and the mid-century lounge chair under the window. Keeping the furniture low and open-legged lets the light from windows on two walls carry across the floor, so the room reads open instead of furnished to its edges.

Zen garden with raked gravel, river rocks and a stone path — A raked field of California gold gravel does the work a lawn would, with Mexican river rocks edging a path of large stone steppers. The low slatted fence and standing boulders hold the edges and give the composition weight, so a waterless front garden still reads as designed rather than empty.

Back yard with a curved artificial lawn, patio and fire bowl — The paver patio and the artificial lawn meet along one sweeping curve, with four folding chairs ringing a lit fire bowl and vertical timber boards closing the yard in. Drawing that boundary as an arc rather than a straight line leaves the lawn a clear open middle for the children and the French Bulldog to run in, and keeps a rectangular lot from reading as a box.

All work Next: The Rosewood Project