There’s nothing like a flood to rearrange priorities. Soon after Andrea and Brian Hubbell closed on their Rugby neighborhood house last March, the supply line to their kitchen sink gave up the ghost, spraying a geyser at the ceiling. Because the Hubbells weren’t yet living in the house—a 1950s brick structure—they didn’t discover the problem for a couple of days. “We were planning on doing renovations to the kitchen anyway,” said Andrea, “but not quite to this extent.”
With the ceiling ruined, the kitchen was primed for a total redo. Both trained architects, the Hubbells knew that they wanted to open the space to the adjoining dining and living rooms. “Movement and congregation were important to us,” said Brian. Stylistically, they wanted to walk a line between the midcentury character of the house and a more updated look. And they had just two weeks to complete the design.
“We just drew and drew all kinds of different options,” said Andrea. Whereas the original kitchen had only one wall of cabinets, the new layout found room for a U of cabinetry around a narrow island. The sink stayed where it was—centered on a window—but the stove and dishwasher moved to improve flow. Within a relatively small space, the Hubbells were able to create a working kitchen with plenty of breathing room.
That’s partly because of the way the kitchen now invites people in, visually and physically, from the rest of the first floor. The couple took out a coat closet to make a wider opening to the living room, and mimicked the original arched doorways found elsewhere in the house. “Without this archway, the kitchen felt like a box—too modern,” said Andrea.
The wall separating kitchen from dining room came out completely, and salvaged wooden doors on barn door hardware can slide shut to close off the adjoining den/guest room. It all makes for an updated, communal space where guests don’t have to be underfoot to feel like part of the action.
As for looks, the Hubbells meticulously assembled a materials palette that carefully balances black, white, dark gray, and wood—very contemporary with select nods to the past. Take the cabinets, which were built by Forevermark and came with a white finish. The Hubbells had local shop Pigment repaint just the center island in a powerful dark gray hue, then added vintage drawer pulls in red enamel. (The rest of the cabinets have concrete pulls, sourced on Etsy.)
Colors and materials thread through the space, unifying a design made of many different elements. For example, black walnut shows up as a stain on the hardwood floor, on the window sashes, and as a butcher-block countertop on the island. The Hubbells look forward to scratching and denting the latter. “I wanted something to show the patina of 30 years of dinner parties,” said Brian.
Meanwhile, the island’s dark gray echoes the slightly mottled color of the Waterworks penny tile that covers the sink wall. A painted breakfront in the dining room, which the Hubbells found at Pigment, is a similar hue. Even the toekicks under the cabinets are dark gray—to “make the white band [of the cabinets] feel like it floats,” said Brian.
Countertops are nearly-black Alberene soapstone, which lends the room weight and a touch of luxury. But the white walls and ceiling provide a light, clean contrast. Above the water-soaked plaster, the couple found ceiling joists in fine shape, so they decided to leave them exposed and paint them white, adding height and texture to the room.
One clever touch is the high-gloss paint that makes a “backsplash” on the two untiled walls. Though it’s virtually invisible, it makes cleanup easier than a flat paint would.
A well-curated collection of objects makes the room homey—a tall tower of cookbooks in the dining room, and dishes purchased everywhere from China to the Crozet Arts Festival. “We’re collectors,” said Andrea. “I get that from my mom. And being a food photographer, I need props.”
Having equipped themselves with the right appliances for their serious cooking habit (i.e. a double oven and a very large hood), the Hubbells are finding that their kitchen serves everyone well, guests and hosts. “We spend the vast majority of our time in here,” said Brian. “We achieved that breath and flow that we wanted.”