Rustic and Refined

         Laura Applegate spent months upon months mastering the mix that beautifully adorns the kitchen in the Los Angeles home she shares with husband Greg and two teenage sons. She traveled from cabinetmaker to stone quarry to glass store to tile studio and back again, selecting Spanish-influenced fittings and finishes that harmonized with her distinctive design vision and suited the Santa Barbara character of her under- construction home.

          During her journey, she worked with architect Scott Joyce and cabinetmaker Eric Fitucci to devise backdrops and a floor plan that accommodated her aesthetic preferences and her busy family's needs. Joyce had designed the residence for the property's previous owners, who sold the building site (complete with foundation) to the Applegates.

          “We fell in love with the ridge-top lot and Scott's plan for what was to be built," Laura says. "We did ask Scott to enlarge the opening between the kitchen and breakfast room and add doors from the breakfast room to the loggia. it was important to see through to the family room and to see or get outdoors from each area." Joyce‘s design incorporated clean-lined French doors, eyebrow windows, and arched doorways that direct the eye-and traffic-down hallways and between indoors and out. With the bones in place, Laura and Fitucci infused the kitchen with age-old forms and hardworking function.

       

          "I love Spanish style," Laura says. "I wanted the kitchen to be warm and rich, a little ornate, and with some color and lots of details. I love to cook and have people over, so Eric helped me devise a user-friendly layout and design cabinets with an old-world feel.

          " Fitucci designed cabinets with fine-furniture profiles that are arranged to optimize every inch  

of space. “We wanted the cabinets to be ornate without being over the top,” Fitucci says. "We used decorative moldings, seeded-glass panels, and beefy legs at the farmhouse sink and island to create the furniture look."

       The alder cabinet's intricate carvings and multitone finishes evoke high-end hacienda character, complemented by rustic tumbled-travertine floors and antique-white finishes that repeat on the paneled refrigerators and the island. Pretty and purposeful, the island is integral to how the kitchen looks and works. It supplies seating, houses a second sink and dishwasher, and provides a sweeping surface that connects the primary work spaces.
        "The big island gives me plenty of space for preparing and presenting food," Laura says. “Since we spend 95 percent of our time here, we needed somewhere at the island for all of us to perch. Having extended counters on two sides accommodates four stools, which we use a lot." Friends join the family at the island or sit nearby at the breakfast room banquette.
         The convivial kitchen and adjoining spaces combine for a wide- open great-room that offers a warm reception-a welcome that reflects Laura's personal aesthetic and hospitable personality. "Everyone loves the kitchen because it makes you want to come in and hang out," Laura says with a smile. "It‘s colorful, happy, and bright without being IDG much. It's a nice big kitchen with a strong visual connection to the outdoors. Every time I walk into the kitchen, I smile."  

Oil-rubbed·bronze faucets and hardware complement the cabinet's Mission-brown and antique- white finishes and enhance the room's old-world character. The home's front entryway leads guests to the kitchen and previews its Spanish influences. Moorish-style amber pendants, wrought-iron door hardware, and Barcelona-inspired red-clay floors reference Santa Barbara style











Woven stools trimmed in leather add texture to the kitchen's work space. Separating breakfast and family rooms, paneled columns frame arches that rise above half-walls housing storage.