Back Door Kitchen Tour
Black is the new white in trending kitchens nationwide and this
Wilmington
couple were not afraid to invest in the Bertazzoni gas range,
the centerpiece of their high contract kitchen.
bustling Market Street in the heart of
Wilmington’s Historic District, the
ruminating started in the kitchen,
because frankly the back door
accessed by the alleyway had become
the primary entrance and well, as
they say, the kitchen was a hot mess.
The interior had been cobbled
from remnants from cosmetic
upgrades to other rooms in the
house. Bathroom counters for
example were repurposed, leftover
vinyl flooring was on top of what
the Hortons hoped were hardwoods,
and plywood beaded board fronted
cabinet doors.
It looked good, Andrew Horton
says, but all the doors were fall-ing
53
One hundred years after
their 1915 house was
built, new owners
Andrew and Nicole
Horton began the process of reno-vation,
room by room. Fronting a
off. His mother, a professional
kitchen designer, was their first con-sultant.
The couple took her plans
to Nick Balding of Balding Brothers
to price the cost of the work, then
tabled the project.
Balding was called in about six
months later and took an active role
in the design process then led the
renovation project taking it down to
the studs.
One of the biggest challenges was
establishing the flow bisected by an
oversized peninsula. Three of the
room’s four corners led to dead ends.
To improve the functionality of the
space, the peninsula was removed
and replaced with an island that dou-bles
as an informal dining area and a
work surface for Nicole Horton.
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