Jason and Joy Phillips remodeled the kitchen in their West Jefferson home to create a warm and inviting space that’s equally suitable for cooking and entertaining.
On their way to a kitchen perfect for entertaining guests, Jason and Joy Phillips started with the pool. “That was my wife’s priority when we bought the house,” says the husband, a contractor who founded Phillips Custom Builds in 2009. Shortly after they moved in, he presented her with a curved pool and outdoor spa overlooking their 12.5-acre West Jefferson lot, which sat behind the house and was surrounded by greenery.
The beautiful backyard oasis made the lifelong compromise with a plain, only moderately functional kitchen worthwhile for several years. But not forever. And so in 2022, the couple began designing their dream kitchen, where they could cook and entertain family and friends in comfort and style. Of course, it was a project that ended up involving more: They modernized all the common spaces in their 1993 ranch house. The kitchen ceilings were raised to 10 feet to match the living room, and a pantry was added next to the kitchen that leads to the garage. A powder room in the entry hall was sacrificed, so the 2,200-square-foot house has three full bathrooms and four bedrooms.
Entering the house today, one finds a modern, functional and sociable space that offers meditative views of the forest and stream from both the kitchen and dining room. Rather than dominating a corner, the kitchen is now truly at the heart of the house, with an open floor plan that separates it from the living room only by a staircase leading to the finished basement.
The space is dominated by black cabinets and drawers below, but feels light and airy thanks to white quartz countertops and expansive white walls and ceilings above. The design includes a restrained use of light natural wood cabinets with chevron-patterned doors, and floating shelves decorated with personal photos and ephemera frame the main kitchen sink rather than using every available square foot for cabinetry, which can seem like a necessity in some homes. Brass drawer pulls and black light fixtures bring drama and contrast to the black-and-white-natural wood theme.
“We wanted it to feel light,” says Joy Phillips. “So we left most of the black downstairs. We thought black upper cabinets would look dark and cave-like.”
Dinner parties and family gatherings are easier than ever for the couple who love to cook, with two dishwashers, prep sinks, and trash cans. A large island topped by a bright chandelier sits in the center of the room. A Thermador induction cooktop is the highlight on the island, and the homeowners love it. Water boils in minutes while the rest of the surface stays cool, making it a safer choice for an environment where children are present. The cooktop is also very easy to clean—just a little soap and water removes spills without scrubbing or abrasive cleaners.
Instead of an extractor hood, the homeowners have installed a so-called downdraft extractor hood. At the push of a button, a metal plate extends from the cooking island behind the stove and quickly sucks the cooking smoke and steam into ventilation openings that transport it to the basement, where it is ducted out of the house.
On the wall behind the hob hangs a large, black-framed television screen on which you can play scenes of your choice – usually family photos – or cartoons when your two-year-old granddaughter is there. Soon there will be more children – the Phillips’ two daughters are pregnant.
Opposite the island, a 7-foot-tall Fisher & Paykel refrigerator and freezer are hidden behind doors designed by local craftsman Chad Keeler of Keeler Carpentry to resemble the surrounding cabinetry. They, like the flooring by Deible’s Floors, are made of rift-sawn white oak, which has been hard to source in recent years due to the boom in craft whiskey aged in barrels made from the wood.
Next to the refrigerator, a sliding door leads to the pantry, a long and narrow additional kitchen space that traditionally housed large serving dishes, linens and storage. Such spaces, also known as “sculleries,” are currently making a comeback.
Phillips’ version features double-walled ovens that keep heat and debris out of the main kitchen area. Ample storage surrounds a built-in Miele coffee machine that filters water, grinds beans and brews cappuccinos, lattes and macchiatos. (Joy takes plain black coffee, while Jason prefers what’s called a “long coffee,” a regular brew with an extra shot of espresso.)
The coffee bar is joined by a cocktail counter and drinks fridge, just below a bright pink neon sign that reads “Cheers!” Arched doorways, framed by tall, black sconces, lead from the pantry into the kitchen and then into the long, narrow dining room, creating a visual effect of spaciousness, alignment and dynamism.
Phillips credits much of the design work to his wife. Joy spent months creating mood boards on Pinterest and sharing ideas with her two daughters. She wanted a space that was primarily functional, and she achieved that. She also brought elegance to the project with her choice of colors and materials.
The couple only had to live in an RV in the driveway for one winter. The project took about a year in total.
When the couple bought their home, they had planned to build in the popular Hidden Creek subdivision in West Jefferson. They had plans and were ready to tackle the project. But life has its twists and turns. One Saturday, a friend asked if Jason had seen a house with land for sale on Taylor Blair Road. Although Joy had reservations at the time, the next day they agreed to buy the property. “It feels like home and we definitely love it here,” she says.
This story is from the July 2024 issue of Columbus monthly.
