This Designer's 1950's Kitchen Renovation Took Inspiration From Beloved Restaurants

House Beautiful

Designer Gail Davis renovated her 1950s kitchen to look and feel like her favorite restaurants.

Transcript

00:00 (upbeat music)

00:01 My kitchen design fits into the rest of my home seamlessly.

00:06 It is absolutely amazing.

00:08 It's a continuation of the beauty

00:10 that I feel is in my home and the cohesiveness

00:13 and just the warmth and depth

00:16 of how I want people to feel when they come here.

00:18 (upbeat music)

00:21 Welcome to my home.

00:25 I'm Gayle Davis, and I'm so excited to talk to you

00:27 about my kitchen renovation.

00:29 (upbeat music)

00:31 My experience as a designer with kitchen renovations

00:33 have been very mindful because kitchens are so nuanced.

00:37 I wanna make sure I'm not missing anything for my client.

00:40 As a designer, designing my own space was easy,

00:44 but also intense.

00:46 I really got to do exactly what I wanted

00:50 and how I saw it in my mind's eye, if that makes sense.

00:53 I wanted to have a restaurant feel, but in a home,

00:57 and I took elements of different restaurants that I love

01:00 and incorporated in how I thought it would work

01:03 in our space.

01:04 I'm probably the only person in the country

01:09 that does not like islands.

01:10 I'd prefer a kitchen table or a banquette.

01:13 I'd rather be able to slide in

01:15 or just sit down comfortably instead of, you know,

01:18 hopping up on a bar stool, you know, a counter stool

01:21 to like lean over.

01:23 It's just uncomfortable.

01:25 My banquette was so important to me

01:27 because initially we had a table and four chairs

01:30 and it was great, it was okay.

01:32 But I was like, I really wanted that area to,

01:36 like whenever we go to restaurants,

01:38 we're always sitting at a banquette,

01:39 like I'm always requesting it.

01:41 And so I thought,

01:42 why not treat yourself and have it in your home?

01:44 And it is the best thing that we could have done

01:47 for our kitchen.

01:48 I am very much a texture girl or texture woman,

01:51 I should say.

01:52 And so I knew that I wanted the banquette cushion

01:56 to be leather.

01:57 And I knew I wanted the back to be corduroy.

02:00 The wallpaper was very important.

02:03 And so Phillip Jeffries had this very textural,

02:06 almost like a cable knit sweater

02:08 and just like the right tone of beige,

02:12 if you can believe it.

02:13 And it just ties it all together.

02:16 The reason why I chose the color of the cabinetry

02:19 from FabuWood is that I felt it was classic

02:23 and it had a timeless look and it's just very elegant.

02:26 I went to the tile shop

02:29 and I knew I wanted something interesting on the floor,

02:32 but not typical.

02:34 I wanted a repetitive visual interest.

02:37 And it was star oxide that I chose that's just beautiful.

02:40 So the reason why I chose the Blanco sink

02:45 is because it's customizable.

02:47 You can pick the finish,

02:48 you can pick the color, which is so amazing

02:50 because they have a myriad of colors.

02:52 And then they have all these accessories that go with it.

02:55 And so that was a big selling point for me.

02:58 It's a diamond sink in coal black silagranate.

03:01 And I have the beautiful Kalina faucet,

03:05 which just is so powerful and amazing.

03:08 And it's a game changer.

03:09 And it has this cap flow drain cover

03:11 that you don't see the actual opening.

03:14 And it has this beautiful silver dial, I'll say,

03:18 with the Blanco logo on it.

03:19 It's just beautiful.

03:20 I don't have the largest kitchen,

03:24 but I have a great layout.

03:27 And that is what is most important.

03:29 I think a lot of people think you need this huge kitchen

03:32 in order to really have storage

03:33 and have counter space and all.

03:35 There are so many ways to do it

03:37 and still have relatively medium to a small size kitchen.

03:42 Sometimes you think you need more of something

03:44 and you just need to be more organized

03:46 and streamline what you have.

03:48 Oh, how would I rank my favorite things about my kitchen?

03:55 First and foremost, okay, who's my favorite child?

03:58 I'll start with the range.

03:59 The monogram range is sick.

04:01 It is so amazing.

04:04 It is such a game changer.

04:06 Next up would be the warming drawer.

04:10 Whether we're having guests

04:11 or if it's just me and my husband,

04:13 as we make food and plate it,

04:15 we just put it in the warming drawer

04:17 and it works like a charm.

04:18 I love my coffee garage.

04:21 It is absolutely amazing.

04:23 I love that I get to hide all of that behind there.

04:27 This is my most favorite room in the house now.

04:34 I love being in that kitchen.

04:36 I can't get enough of it.

04:38 I literally sat in the kitchen on the banquette

04:42 and I looked up and I looked into the kitchen

04:44 and I was just blown away like, this is my kitchen.

04:47 This belongs to me.

04:49 This belongs to us.

04:51 And it made me cry.

04:53 It made me weeping

04:54 'cause I've been waiting a long time.

04:56 I create beauty for so many other people.

04:58 I wanted to create it for us.

05:01 (upbeat music)

05:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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