Jeremy Swearengin and Edy Zelinka spent more than a year designing their kitchen as part of an addition to their rural Silvana home.
They drew out their dreams on paper at first, turning their tiny kitchen into a spacious pantry and expanding everything else to create a showpiece kitchen, and, on their second story, a grand master suite.
When it came time to refine their kitchen design, they went outside and drew their countertop, kitchen island and appliance dimensions to scale, using landscaper’s paint.
“We wanted somebody to be able to have the dishwasher open and have somebody pass by,” said Zelinka, a serious cook who dreamed of escaping from their old, cramped kitchen.
That meant making the space between the dishwasher and their island 4 feet, instead of 31/2 feet, wide.
“We wanted to get away from your standard ’70s kitchen,” said Swearengin, who runs his own landscaping business, Hidden Springs Landscape and Design. “We just batted ideas back and forth.”
Though the process took a long time, Swearengin and Zelinka, who worked full-time during their remodeling project, are thrilled with the results. They ran their own project, but hired an architect and a variety of contractors, including the friendly workers with Marysville Everett Ceramic Tile, who installed their slab granite counters, an elaborate, beautiful backsplash and tile flooring.
“I love, love, love my kitchen,” Zelinka said. “We developed it how I always wanted it.”
Getting what they wanted, however, sometimes meant breaking with traditional kitchen-design rules.
With their home nestled in a wooded landscape, they wanted as many windows as possible to enjoy their view, and that meant no upper cabinets at all.
But contractors couldn’t imagine a kitchen without high cabinets, filled with drinking glasses.
“We were actually given a hard time about that,” Zelinka said. “Nobody saw our vision. I’m short anyway. I hate upper cabinets.”
Glasses and mugs are easy for Zelinka to get to now, thanks to slide-out drawers below the counters.
Swearengin and Zelinka chose an earthy Dakota Mahogany slab granite for their counters and – in another departure from the norm – matching granite tiles for the backsplash, accented with crackled glass tiles, also known as tantrum.
Warm cherry cabinets complement the counters, along with cobalt-blue swirl pendant lights that echo the silvery-blue flecks in the natural stone.
“We wanted a little pizzazz,” Zelinka said. “It sort of brings it all together.”
Reporter Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037 or sjackson@heraldnet.com.
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