Homeowner Dora Hughes enjoys coffee in her kitchen’s separate breakfast bar area, which features a bold geometric backsplash inspired by designer David Hicks. With a microwave, sink and wine refrigerator, this area also can serve as a cocktail bar or snack area depending on that day’s needs.
After seven years of living in their 1940s colonial home, Dora Hughes and Scott McLeod knew it was time for a kitchen update. The space was dark, cramped and awkward — but the failing 1987 microwave built into the cabinetry and the not-to-code cooktop made it an easy decision for them.
“We knew there were issues to deal with when we moved here in 2013,” Hughes explains. “The floor was uneven, the linoleum was cracking, but the deciding factor was that the appliances started to die.” She and her husband realized that it would be impossible to replace the 1980s-era appliances without changing the cabinetry.
This was the summer of 2020, and the couple, along with their 9-year-old daughter, were spending lots of time in their Alexandria home quarantining. Hughes acknowledges that the pandemic gave her more time to focus on what wasn’t working in their kitchen. Little did she know that nearly nine months later, she and her family would be cooking in a colorful modern kitchen and also enjoying everyday life in other updated and beautifully designed rooms.
‘A Dream Partnership’
As Hughes talks about her home’s transformation, she still gushes about the chemistry between the kitchen designer and the interior designer, calling them “a dream partnership.”
Nadia Subaran, principal and senior designer, started Aidan Design LLC back in 2001 with her late husband. The company specializes in kitchen design with a strength in space planning and adheres to the “form follows function” philosophy, she says. The end product is organized and balanced spaces that reflect each client’s lifestyle and personality.
“We strive to create kitchens that feel like living spaces or extensions of living spaces,” Subaran explains. “They have places for artwork and interesting lighting fixtures.” She recommends a budget of 10% of the value of a client’s home for a kitchen project.
Subaran had worked with Iantha Carley of Iantha Carley Interiors on other projects in the past, including the DC Design House, Inc., the former nonprofit that raised money for Children’s National by having designers transform a showcase house each year.
Carley, who started her boutique interior design business in 2005, brings her passion for color, pattern and texture to each project. She also enjoys mixing traditional and modern forms to create unique and welcoming spaces.
For the Hughes/McLeod project, working together was a collaboration of expertise, with each designer providing the other with inspiration and support throughout. This partnership allowed the project to flow smoothly from an initial kitchen redesign to incorporating updated interiors for the dining room, family room, foyer and living room.
“Their [Aidan Design] work inspired me when choosing color — I was looking for a complementary color for the blue kitchen cabinets and went with orange,” Carley explains. She also turned to them when a room’s interior design could use built-in cabinetry, crediting them for custom storage creations in the foyer and dining room.
Getting to Know You
The first and most important step in kitchen design is getting to know the homeowner, according to Subaran, who has worked on more than 600 kitchens in her 22 years. She had Hughes and McLeod go through a questionnaire to better understand their family’s lifestyle today and how they can age into the space since most kitchen designs have a 20-25 year lifespan.
Do they like to entertain? Do they enjoy cooking elaborate or simple meals? Do they like to hang out in the kitchen area for other tasks? The answers to such questions give the project a focused direction and eliminates other components, Subaran explains.
For this exercise, Hughes was able to think through her “pain points in the kitchen” and consider other issues, such as lighting. She realized the kitchen was too dark and agreed with Subaran’s suggestion for three layers of lighting. Even though she loves the look of glass door cabinets, she knew her family wouldn’t keep them neat enough.
The questionnaire for Aidan Design also looks at ergonomics — asking clients their height, are they left-handed or right-handed? With a focus on ergonomics, the final kitchen design should be efficient and functional for the homeowners, with organization zones set up for everyday life and when entertaining. “We always want the cook to have a wonderful experience,” Subaran says.
Good-Bye, Outdated Rooms!
Even though this home is a traditional colonial like others in Alexandria’s Beverley Hills neighborhood, its kitchen was full-on 1980s. Checkered floors, dark smaller cabinets, black countertop, black appliances and a peninsula rounded out this outdated look. The kitchen had been redone about 35 years ago, along with an expanded eating nook area and family room addition.
Kitchen designer Subaran recalls the awkward cooktop on the peninsula, which formed a U-shape layout blocking the flow within the space. This made the cooking area feel very disconnected from the eating nook area, whose space wasn’t fully functional with its clunky table and chairs.
The rest of the rooms on the first floor also were showing their age, with wall-to-wall carpeting in the family room, dark red paint and an ornate ceiling medallion in the dining room, dated light fixtures such as track lighting and heavy chandeliers, nonexistent storage space in the foyer, and well-loved furniture that had seen better days.
Carley, the interior designer, praises Hughes for her foresight in having the rest of the downstairs refreshed at the same time as the kitchen redesign. “You get the domino effect — it calls attention to the other areas that need work,” she explains. The cosmetic changes in the other rooms would create a more consistent updated look throughout the home, Carley explains.
Hughes agrees that once they decided to have hardwood floors installed in the kitchen and family room, it forced them to refinish the other hardwood floors on the first floor, leading to other much-needed improvements in each room.
‘Fearless with Color’
Walking into the redone kitchen, the bold colors stand out in a refreshing way, energizing the space. “No ‘all white kitchen,’ no beiges … let’s have some fun with it,” Hughes recalls telling the designers. Carley concurs that “Dora was fearless when it came to color.”
The focal point is the breakfast bar area that has a geometric backsplash. “The backsplash pattern was inspired by the David Hick hex pattern that he created in the 1960s,” Carley explains. “It’s actually a reverse painted glass (églomisé).” The backsplash is one piece of glass that was custom painted by Billet Collins.
She went with the orange, blue and gold pattern to match the kitchen’s orange island and the Sherwin Williams Moody Blue paint on the Shaker-style cabinets, which feature gold-toned hardware.“It was hard to imagine but it [the backsplash] turned out very beautiful and distinct,” Hughes says.
Even though she wanted more color, especially blue, since it is her favorite color, Hughes deferred to Carley, especially for the bright orange on the island. “My younger sister told me ‘You don’t have good taste’ — ‘Get out of the way of the designers,’ and so I did,” Hughes laughs while explaining why she embraced their suggestions.
The bold orange on the island complements the blue kitchen cabinets, and this burst of color is balanced by the white main backsplash and Caesarstone countertop that are softer and cleaner, Subaran explains. Plus, the island’s walnut top provides some warmth to offset the bold colors and white surfaces.
Reworking the Kitchen
The previous kitchen lacked enough counter space, even the awkward peninsula had a cooktop. Subaran created a more logical design by adding versatile counter space with the breakfast bar area, the moveable island on casters, and even an induction range cooktop — when not in use, the cooktop is a continuation of counter or service space.
Subaran suggested an island with wheels since the peninsula blocked access to the kitchen eating area and she wanted to open up the space. The wheels allow flexibility for the family to shift the island for their needs. Hughes agrees that they move it more than they thought they would, especially when hosting events for better room flow. “It’s beautiful to look at and functional,” Hughes says of the island.
Subaran also points out, “The stool and overhang of the island countertop show another sign of designing with ergonomics in mind. Having a seated stool for repetitive tasks or chatting with the cook is [optimizing performance and well-being].” The homeowner’s now 13-year-old daughter loves sitting at the stool — a special request she made for the custom-designed island.
The breakfast bar area is another versatile addition to the new kitchen and better utilizes this space. It can be a breakfast bar or cocktail bar or snack bar — whatever you need for that day. Its extra counter space, cabinets, sink, microwave and a wine refrigerator take pressure off the main kitchen, especially when entertaining, Subaran explains. The breakfast bar area also is just off the main dining room, making it convenient when hosting events.
The redesign also did away with the double-wall ovens and separate cooktop, replacing them with one induction range with a custom hood that matches the blue cabinetry. Customers usually have a wish list for appliances, says Subaran, and Hughes was no different. However, due to delays during the pandemic, the refrigerator is a more modestly priced one with French doors. When working with clients, Aidan Design encourages clients to look for appliances that are better for the environment and more efficient, such as the induction range.
The uneven lighting was corrected with under-cabinet lights for tasks and another two layers with accent and ceiling lighting. The sculptural lighting fixtures over the sink and eating area match, helping to unify the two areas within the kitchen space.
Harmonizing Rooms with Color and Design
Once Carley knew the look of the kitchen, she worked on harmonizing the colors and design within the first floor so that the rooms all flowed naturally, but were still distinct in their own way. Various shades of blue, such as teal, were used throughout to create this consistency, such as the vibrant wallpaper in the dining room, the grass cloth wallpaper in the foyer, the velvet couch in the living room, the modern Noomi Chair in the family room, and other upholstery, window treatments and rugs throughout.
Modern chandeliers and light fixtures, several with gold-toned features, were another subtle design element that helped harmonize the spaces. Most of the fixtures came from Visual Comfort, which has many style-forward selections at great price points. Hughes selected the dining room chandelier, a trendy starburst look that Carley agreed to accommodate — “If it’s something you love, it’s not a trend,” she acknowledges.
The family’s own artwork was incorporated throughout the rooms to showcase their personality and history, including their daughter’s tiny “adorable” sculptures on the fireplace mantel in the living room. “All of it has meaning to the family,” Hughes shares, explaining that many were gifts from friends, family or her daughter’s creations.
Most of the artwork hadn’t been framed properly so Carley worked with The Art Registry, a DC-based company that curates art collections. The company went through the artwork, framed pieces, helped with placement, and finished the job by hanging them. Relying on the company’s expertise was well worth it, according to Hughes. She praises them for the well-laid-out gallery wall in the family room and by avoiding extra holes in wallpapered rooms.
Final Thoughts
Nearly three years later, the family loves the kitchen redesign with its “logical flow" and enjoys the other “very usable rooms,” as Hughes describes. It’s now a more fun and vibrant home that reflects their family’s personality.
Looking back, she recalls they stayed within budget since most of the work outside of the kitchen was cosmetic, and they focused their budget on what had the most impact, such as the kitchen cabinets. It was challenging to have construction start in early 2021 during the pandemic, but the family made it work by living elsewhere during the week. Overall, the project exceeded their expectations, and they are glad they tackled the home’s dated kitchen when they did.
Photo Captions:
- (Woman in kitchen)
Homeowner Dora Hughes enjoys coffee in her kitchen’s separate breakfast bar area, which features a bold geometric backsplash inspired by designer David Hicks. With a microwave, sink and wine refrigerator, this area also can serve as a cocktail bar or snack area depending on that day’s needs.
2. (Kitchen)
The resigned kitchen is colorful, bright and open with its Maple Shaker-style cabinets painted in Sherwin Williams Moody Blue and a custom orange island on casters the homeowners can shift when needed. The window treatments and accent lighting help unify the kitchen’s work space with its eating area.
3. (Kitchen eating area — Kitchen nook)
The kitchen eating area features a large custom window seat that better utilizes the space, and the cabinet drawers underneath provide additional storage. The glass kitchen table and translucent chandelier help make the space look larger and more open.
4. (Dining Room)
The dining room’s bold Farrow & Ball wallpaper incorporates different levels of blue — the homeowner’s favorite color — and the wainscoting adds dimension to the walls. Vegan leather chairs create comfortable seating around the round table, which can be enlarged with two leaves.
5. (Foyer)
The foyer features limestone tiles in a rectangular modern style, and the grass cloth wallpaper in teal pays homage to homeowner Scott McLeod’s Jamaican background. Custom built-in cabinetry creates a shallow closet that hides shoe cubbies and coat hooks.
6. (Living Room)
The inviting but elegant living room with its vibrant peacock blue couch has a "modern regency look” that includes custom shades and drapes. Treasured family artwork is displayed on the fireplace mantel.
