Transitional Elegance

It was an exciting prospect for designer Peter Salerno. Seventeen years after creating a traditional style kitchen for a New Jersey client, he was asked back to transform it into a clean, sophisticated transitional kitchen. He succeeded beyond the client’s wildest dreams.

The client had a few specific requests: keep the classic arches, add a second island, make the range wall a focal point – it’s the first wall you see upon entering the kitchen.

Peter’s first goal was to create drama with the view coming into the kitchen. The 60” Wolf dual fuel range with a brushed and polished exhaust hood on a waterjet marble backsplash would get anyone’s attention. Especially with the amazing ceiling detail Peter created, with two transitional chandeliers selected by the client and cove lighting to illuminate a bright, silver recessed tin ceiling.

Next, he tied the kitchen into the adjoining butler’s pantry by using the same booked-match walnut for the pantry cabinets that he used for the two kitchen islands. The view through the arches of the pantry into the kitchen is spectacular, highlighted by another striking transitional lighting fixture.

All the finishes and details are perfectly selected to enhance the grandeur of the new space, from the dark woodgrain tile floors to the walnut islands, to the clean white cabinetry and 2½” thick Danby marble countertops.

Since both clients are passionate cooks, the kitchen needed to have the best cooking and refrigeration products. The use of Sub-Zero and Wolf products – 60” range, convection steam oven and warming drawer, integrated refrigerator and freezer - allowed the designer to have both form and high-quality function.

It is rare to see a kitchen that is “designed with five walls” – four walls and a ceiling. But the way Peter has done that in this New Jersey home is nothing short of breathtaking.