A Bright Orange Pantry and Large-Chip Terrazzo Island Punch Up This San Francisco Kitchen
Words by Morgan Goldberg
Photography by SEN Creative; Design by Noz Nozawa
Historic architecture is revered in the U.S., but it’s more commonplace in other parts of the world.
That’s why one English couple living in San Francisco didn’t feel the need to maintain the century-old details in their Victorian home. “They grew up with Georgian, Victorian, and Edwardian houses,” explains Noz Nozawa, the interior designer they’d hired to update their new home. “They wanted to preserve the areas where it made sense, but also have a lot of fun imbuing the spaces with their personality, which aesthetically meant bold color and pattern.”
The owners, who are avid cooks, also asked Noz to maximize their kitchen’s functionality. The Expert delivered this request—while simultaneously nailing their vibrant style—by sourcing a custom orange BlueStar range, creating a spacious island with multicolored, large-chip terrazzo, and commissioning San Francisco Design Build to craft a tangerine-hued larder pantry. In the adjacent den, she combined vivid purple wainscoting and window trim with a lush, jungle-inspired wallpaper for a lively yet cozy vibe.
The project: A Victorian townhouse
The location: San Francisco, California
The space: A kitchen and den
The client: A small family with pets
Photography by SEN Creative; Design by Noz Nozawa
The biggest problems to solve
The existing kitchen was beautiful and of decent quality, but it was clear that whoever built it never cooked. There was no range hood and the cabinets were not practical for storing anything. The entrance from the garage level was awkward, with stairs coming up into the middle of the kitchen. We needed to move it to the foyer, which was a much more logical place.
The item that started it all
The clients were insistent on having a larder-style pantry. It was so nostalgic and beloved about their memory of the kitchens they grew up with in the U.K. We wanted to make sure it was joyful and representative of them. The client loves orange, so of course we went with that in a big way.
Photography by SEN Creative; Design by Noz Nozawa
The design risk with the biggest payoff
The mixed countertops. The client was down with whatever material combination we proposed, but I was nervous about not carrying the terrazzo onto the range wall. Ultimately, it felt too heavy there and we didn't want it to feel too much like a sports team with all the blue and orange, so we went with a white Caesarstone, which worked out really well.
The piece that anchors the space
The pantry wall was designed with the entire house in mind, so the ladder and rail continue into the dining room. It was intentional to connect those spaces, especially since the floor transitions from the new herringbone we put in the kitchen to the original straight-line hardwood in the dining room. The orange grounds the space from a color story standpoint. The terrazzo has orange flecks in it, and the client already owned a lot of orange Le Creuset cookware.
Photography by SEN Creative; Design by Noz Nozawa
I really had to sell my clients on
The purple wainscoting in the den—we needed to earn it. I pulled the purple from the lush, rainforest-y Cole & Son wallpaper. It lit up for me because of the transition from a deep peacock teal in the dining room to that orange pantry in the kitchen to the purple in the den. That movement felt great to me, as opposed to going with a green on the wainscoting, which would have been too rhythmic.
The splurge and steal in the room
There were two big splurges: the BlueStar range, which we did in a custom orange to echo the pantry and the cabinetry. We invested in built-ins to get exactly what we wanted, with custom details like integrated handle pulls and open shelving with Mondrian-esque geometry. We made savings elsewhere by using the client's sofa in the den. It adds character.
Photography by SEN Creative; Design by Noz Nozawa
The happy accident
The sofa was the perfect size for that back room. We would've just bought a new one if it didn't fit, but it was lucky.
The little detail with a big impact
The client specifically wanted us to find a way to display artwork on the range hood, so the cabinet maker created a white oak picture ledge that wraps around it. It's such a moment that makes everything feel so tied together and makes the monolithic range hood cover not feel so bulky and disruptive to the shelving. That’s a detail that I particularly love.
The final vibe
It's so warm and inviting. It's very stimulating. Aesthetically speaking, there's a lot to look at, but in a way that's very cozy and enveloping.
