Kitchen Design: Old World Meets New Build

Inna Kovalinskiy and her husband, Vitaliy, are from Ukraine, and they find design inspiration during their annual trips to Europe. A recent project in the Plantation Falls neighborhood of Mint Hill was an opportunity to showcase that Old World, English aesthetic they love. They designed the 4,200-square-foot home with a young family in mind and gave it a “showstopper” kitchen with custom espresso wood cabinetry, stone backsplash, a waterfall island, and an adjacent breakfast nook. “My husband is the contractor, so I point, and he does,” Inna says. “I only gave him one letter of resignation during this project.”

TIMELESS DESIGN

Inna achieved the English-cottage feel with a natural stone backsplash and dark wood cabinetry. They worked with a West Virginia company to install the custom, Shaker-style cabinets and splurged on real stone instead of ceramic or porcelain. “For the stone, we specifically asked the installer to do an over-grout so it has a slurried look,” she says. “That way, it looks like it’s been there forever.”

COUNTER CULTURE

Inna chose neutral quartz countertops “with a little veining and slight color variation” so they wouldn’t compete with the dark wood and stone. They had the range shipped from Italy and installed a custom vent hood with a limewash finish. “We were supposed to do stone on there, but it wasn’t to code because you have to be able to remove the cover,” she says. “We added the stained cedar beam to complement the cabinets.”

SHINE BRIGHT

The brass pendant lights above the island modernize the Old World aesthetic, and the sconces on either side of the vent hood balance the weight of the stone. “I love the juxtaposition of stone with a fragile-looking light,” Inna says. “They have a glass insert and very elegant lines—nothing too heavy.” The pot filler is polished nickel, and all other metals are polished brass. “If you go into old kitchens,” she says, “they were always mixing metals, so that adds to the timelessness of the space.”

RISE AND DINE

They gave the breakfast nook a custom, built-in bench with reeded sides for visual interest. The rectangular wooden table is from West Elm, and the wicker-and-brass pendant light complements the brass elements in the kitchen. “I just love the warmth it gives off,” Inna says. “(This kitchen) is for someone who loves to entertain, and it has a coziness, which is difficult to achieve with a new build.”