Welcome to my brother’s new River House modern kitchen reveal. She is open, minimal, textural, and hyper-functional for their family of four. We LOVE how it turned out, and when you walk through the house, it flows so well with the design as a whole. The colors, textures, and minimalism keep everything calm while the styling and furniture pop. Let’s give you a tour (and see the family in action).

Now this kitchen was a design collaboration (like the rest of the house) between myself (I’m the sister), Max Humphrey (local designer), and Anne Usher (architect). My job was to be involved where there were partners – the tile, plumbing, and lighting, which meant that I was pretty hands-off with appliances and cabinetry. But this was a clunky way to do it because everything affects everything, design-wise, and you can’t have different chefs making different entrees for the same meal. That’s all to say that Max and Anne deserve a lot of credit for the layout, overall flow (Annie killed it), and some of the hard finishes. I took over with some of the other elements (and all the styling, stone, hardware, and lighting). Heck, maybe this collaboration worked because it turned out pretty darn great. At a certain point, I became so emotionally invested that, despite not being a “hired designer,” I wanted to see every room through to the end since it was such a huge part of my life for so many years.

Bar Stools | Stacked Bowls | Vase (unavailable) | Cake Stand | Cutting Board

The kitchen lives in the middle of the first floor, open to the living/family room, dining room, and game room. So choosing the hard finishes required us to see the design as a whole to make sure that we weren’t designing a fun house.

On Choosing Tile…

Runner | Drawer Pulls | Cabinet Latch | Tile | Range

We chose this super beautiful, creamy Ann Sacks tile from the new Studio McGee line. We didn’t have the furniture locked down when we were choosing tile or stone, and Katie and Ken are pretty risk-averse when it comes to tile colors/patterns, so as you can see, the main finishes are pretty safe (if not still so beautiful). We knew from day one that they wanted a whole wall of tile to create that beautiful texture and reflection, so the overall impact is soft, quiet, and really pretty. You don’t turn the corner and scream at the boldness from color, which is good (they aren’t bold tile folk, TBH).

Also, within view, you have two huge tiled fireplaces (living and dining), so the tile really needed to work with the other choices. Now that it’s all done, I love the calm simplicity of it (especially with the green stone countertops). The ultimate vision and intent of the house remains clear – warm minimalism, with a Pacific Northwest bent.

A Non-Boring, But Still “Safe” Tile Layout

Grout | Tile

We laid out the tile in what I dubbed a “double stack stagger”, where two tiles are horizontally stacked on top of each other, but then staggered 1/2 way over two more stacked tiles (hard to explain, just see above). It was slightly more midcentury and a bit unexpected. We went through all the options (the horizontal or vertical stack or the traditional stagger/running bond), and this felt like a really great complement to the other tiled fireplaces in the room. Katie and Ken were nervous, but I felt that it was such a safe risk, so I pushed, and they agreed. We chose a really neutral grout, Platinum by Prism, that added some dimension without too much busyness (but not a bright white). I LOVE how we put it behind the hanging cabinets (which Max designed) so you can see the tile through the glass. It’s subtle but so pretty.

The Pendant Lights

Pendants | Sconces

I was so excited to finally use Blueprint lighting. I’ve been a fan for a while, but since my house is so vintage, it didn’t feel as right there. But this kitchen felt simple enough that adding some more sculptural pendants, almost like art, over the island was the right move. These are called the Montera pendants, which have a lot of different metal and enamel color options from both the shades and the stems. We chose Slate, which at times reads way more blue, which was the intent (other times, like in these photos, they are more gray). The black sconces over the bar are from Rejuvenation and complement the Blueprint pendants really nicely, while pulling in the hits of black we have around the kitchen.

I love how the more delicate shape of the shade contrasts against all the hard lines of the wood, and the reflection of the shiny metal pops so well off the wood. Once they were up, I actually decided that black stems and canopies would be better and ordered them to replace the gold. It felt like they were just disappearing too much. But as the room came together (and as we kept putting off calling the electrician back), we decided that these look great.

The Bar + Coffee Bar

Upper Bowls | Middle Bowls | Mugs | Espresso Machine | Drawer Pulls | Cabinet Knobs | Appliance Pulls | Plates | Vase (unavailable) | Runner

They have a separate cabinet run for the bar (that opens to the kitchen patio) and houses their coffee situation. It also has drawer fridges and a pebble ice machine (like brother, like sister). The window is from LaCantina Doors, and I had nothing to do with it, but it’s pretty dang awesome.

As you can see, we chose unlacquered brass hardware from Rejuvenation, in handles, knobs, latches, and appliance pulls. Once again, their selection and custom options can really make your project look special. We were hoping to reduce contrast here by choosing the brass, but I think black could have looked hot, too. I just love how the brass patinas, even in a contemporary house like this.

The Brass Faucets + Purified Water

Planter | Faucet | Sink | Berry Basket

The faucet is a Purist Kohler pull-out bar faucet (in Vibrant Brushed Moderne Brass) for washing veggies and for drinking water. Over here, they have the Culligan water filtration system, inside the cabinet below, that gives them extremely purified water (all the things are filtered out, including microplastics). Listen, Portland doesn’t have the best water, so I’m jealous of this and might get it for myself now (especially after all the very recent microplastic reporting). It was a super easy install for them (harder for me, as we have less clearance in our cabinets, so stay tuned on that). The faucet comes in a lot of finishes, and Kohler has so many different styles, but we thought that this one was contemporary and transitional – not hyper-modern but fit stylistically really well.

Faucet | Sink

The kitchen faucet is so gorgeous. It’s Kohler, in the same Vibrant Brushed Moderne Brass finish, single-hole pull-down. It can have a regular water flow or a more shower-like spray. It’s a one-and-done faucet for those who want a lot of function in a really simple shape.

The Green Leathered Stone Countertops

Pasta Bowls | Ramen Bowls | Plates | Pasta Bowls (similar) | Glasses | Small Bowls | Wide Bowls

I wrote about the process of choosing the stone here, but with the tile being a creamy white and the cabinets being wood, I was desperate to bring in some color and something punchy. We had Caesarstone on board to trade the countertops (which is a super durable choice that Ken and Katie were excited about), but I was just so worried that without color in here, this kitchen would simply put, look boring (and I told them that). So I found this green stone from Elmar, and thankfully, they were on board (nervous, but they trusted me). It felt so perfect since the green of all the trees outside was a huge part of the interior color palette.

We had the stone leathered, which enhanced a lot of the veining and gave it more of a matte textural finish. Be warned that it needs to be sealed IMMEDIATELY afterwards because theirs wasn’t, and there was an immediate ring from a sub that no one took responsibility for, but was very expensive to remove. Not sure why it wasn’t sealed when they leathered it before it was on site, but it was one of those dumb blame game situations that is unfortunate during a remodel. And I felt so responsible because I was the one who forced natural stone on them, but you can barely see it now, thank goodness.

The counter stools are from CB2 and are pretty much perfect in here (which is why I forced them to buy them). Since you mostly stare at these stools from the back, they needed to be interesting, and that mixed leather/metal finish is just so architecturally striking (not to mention being comfortable, and family-friendly since it’s a dark fabric).

The biggest debate that we had at the beginning of the design was whether you want to face the river/view while washing dishes or eating at the island. It’s really just a personal preference. At one point, Anne even tried the sink cabinet run at the window with the kitchen island behind it, where the range wall is. Lots of opinions on this one! I LOVE how Anne ultimately designed the layout, and having spent a lot of time in the house, sitting at that dining table is just so special, and the kitchen is so close and so inviting.

Wait, Where Do You Keep The Food???

I totally forgot to mention that there is a big walk-in pantry in that hallway where they have a second small fridge, their built-in microwave and steam oven, and tons of cabinets and drawers for food. We’ll shoot it eventually, I promise 🙂 You’ll see the dining room soon. But for now, let’s get to those before and after sliders 🙂

It’s a real case for keeping hard finishes simple, and the power of styling and decorating. I can’t stress this enough – you don’t want to redo the hard finishes, but it’s so easy to switch out almost everything else based on your style shifting.

I’ll show you the living room soon, but know that you can see the TV from the kitchen, should there be a big game on – you can even cook while watching the new season of The Bachelorette that we are all VERY excited by.

It’s a super easy to live in, easy to keep clean, dreamy kitchen for this family, and I feel so lucky and grateful to be part of it (and hang out here).

Kitchen Resources:
Plumbing: Kohler
Water Filtration System: Culligan
Windows: LaCantina Doors
Tile/Stone: Ann Sacks
Cabinetry: Custom
Main Wall Color: Alabaster by Sherwin-Williams
Pendants: Blueprint Lighting
Sconces and Hardware: Rejuvenation
Stools: CB2
Flooring: Stuga

*Architect: Anne Usher
**General Contractor: JP Macy of Sierra Custom Construction
***Interior Designers: Emily Henderson (me!) and Max Humphrey
****Styling: Emily Henderson (me!)
*****Photos by Kaitlin Green