Defining Style

Laurie and Bobby Smith—both city people who grew up in old houses—found the perfect setting for their eclectic furnishings in a 1918 Prairie-style Denver home. But there was one catch. “The house was light and roomy and well-designed, except for the kitchen. It didn’t have good flow or workspace,” says Laurie Smith, who wanted the kitchen to be a family gathering place.

So they planned a major kitchen renovation, never realizing that the room would not only complete the home, but also prove essential to Laurie Smith’s career as a food photographer. “The new kitchen is a magical space,” she says. “The light is so beautiful and there are gorgeous surfaces like marble and soapstone and wood. It works much better for photography than my former studio.”

The primary intent, however, was not to create a place where she would photograph sumptuous dishes for magazines and cookbooks, but to design a more useful and spacious kitchen. The couple hired kitchen designer Mindy Sunday, who carved out more space by removing a wall to the back porch and opening the kitchen to the dining room. “I take what exists and make it bigger, without going up or out,” Sunday says. “It’s really all about space planning, optical illusions, color and light.”

It was important to the designer and her clients to honor the architecture of the house and create a classic look that makes people wonder, “Is it old or new?” The custom Shaker cabinets match the heft of the original window moldings, while inset doors and bin-pulls add to the traditional look. A white lacquer finish pairs elegantly with dark soapstone countertops. The stained sycamore island is topped with timeless Carrera marble.

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