Crafting a Dream Kitchen

In a home designed for a busy young family, interior designer Renae Keller ensured every element of this kitchen speaks to both practicality and elegance. The result is a space that balances bold design decisions with subtle details, creating an environment where functionality and style superbly coexist.

The Kitchen Focal Point

The kitchen’s centerpiece is a generous island—topped with Cambria’s Ella quartz design in a matte finish—where the family can enjoy most of their meals. “There’s a small sink in the island mostly for washing hands or grabbing a glass of water,” says Keller, who notes a separate sink just steps away in a scullery where Ella continues over the scullery countertops and backsplash with a little bit of a ledge for herb pots. The scullery sink is large enough, and the surrounding Cambria durable enough, to handle just about any culinary task or kitchen chore.

“What we loved is having that consistent Cambria countertop,” says Keller. “You need to have a visual balance, and Ella, with its subtle movement, is the perfect balance. Ella is a more delicate choice. It’s one of my favorites and it helped balance the heaviness of a lot of brick throughout the house. Its veining is a bit meandering but still feels directional, and it’s available in matte. It was one of the decisions we made to keep the house at a human level so it feels cozy, warm, and welcoming.”

Keeping Things in Proportion

Visual balance is also achieved in this kitchen by having a chunkier quartz countertop on the island to create more presence under the 10-foot ceiling. Keller says, “when ceilings get high, it gets difficult to keep things in proportion.” The thicker island countertop is replicated with proportionally thicker bottoms along all of the upper kitchen cabinets—a design detail Keller credits to principal designer Rob Hull of James McNeal Architecture and Design.

The kitchen cabinetry is crafted from rift white oak in a warm nutmeg tone. Behind the cooktop, a tile backsplash adds a layer of texture and interest with elongated picket-shape tiles in soft brown and gray tones. Above it all, a custom copper range hood with antique brass accents adds a refined yet rustic charm. “[Design is] like baking,” says Keller. “Too much of any one thing overwhelms the recipe.”

Benefits of Working with a Pro

Color plays a pivotal role here, particularly in the aforementioned scullery. After testing several shades of blue, the team landed on Sea Mariner from Sherwin Williams—a moody yet approachable blue. Paired with creamy-colored trim and punctuated by satin gold fixtures, the palette strikes a balance between masculine depth and feminine softness. The result is a kitchen that feels cohesive yet layered, a study in nuanced design.

Design decisions like these can be overwhelming for busy homeowners. This is why hiring interior design experts like Keller ensures a smoother process, helping to curate a home that is beautiful, functional, and deeply personal without the stress of trying to manage every detail on your own.

Keller says, “I built a house with my husband six years ago, and I am glad we did, because we lived through it. I had decision fatigue. I had a pit in my stomach over the budget.” She experienced a lot of what she knows her clients might be feeling and she prepares them for the emotional rollercoaster of building or remodeling.

The Design Process

“You start out thinking this is great,” says Keller. “You will have really happy moments, but also some hard decisions to make. Then there will be a quiet time when the decisions are made and you’re sick of dining out. It can even get frustrating if items you decided on are discontinued or delayed. We once lost a sofa because of a hurricane. The company went bankrupt and that was that. But we try to be good stewards of your time and money—to help you stay the course and see that it’s going to be great.”

Keller’s ability to help clients overcome their design “hangups” is another way she delivers spectacular spaces. For example, she understands someone may have spent hours removing wallpaper when they were in their 20s and their wife was pregnant, and now they have kneejerk reactions to wallpaper. But Keller assures people that when installed properly by a professional, it won’t be stressful, and it will be beautiful.

The Finished Product

Every designer wants their clients to be happy, and that means when they see and use something as integral to their home as their countertops, it’s important to help guide them to a selection they’ll love. “I’ve said how Ella is a great choice,” says Keller, “and it will always be a great choice for me.”

“We actually just did a project for another client with Cambria’s Ironsbridge™. They've been in their home for 18 years and it was just time for a change. We took out the granite, and installed Ironsbridge and she is so happy. The design looks kind of like a glacier moving across the countertop. It looks amazing with the cabinetry. Everything is just so much brighter in there. And the polished finish is easy for her to keep clean when the grandchildren are around.”