Modern Riverside Kitchen Remodel: Luxury Waterfall Island Design

Project Highlights

A Kitchen Built Around One Stone

The goal in this Riverside kitchen was a room that works hard every day and still feels calm, and the decision that made it work was using one stone across the whole space. On the island it wraps the top and runs down both ends to the floor as a waterfall edge. Behind the range it climbs the full height of the wall up to the hood. Using the same stone in both places means the eye moves around the room without hitting a break, and the veining does the decorating so nothing else has to. The cabinetry stays quiet around it. Warm gray shaker doors run the full kitchen, glass-front uppers with interior lighting add depth along the ceiling line, and tall pantry towers handle the storage that would otherwise end up on the counters. Brass pendants over the island and recessed lighting throughout keep the room bright, and large-format hexagon tile on the floor balances the darker cabinet tones.

A Waterfall Island That Anchors the Room

The island is the first thing you see from the doorway and the piece the rest of the kitchen is arranged around. Carrying the stone down both ends to the floor turns it from a work surface into a piece of furniture, and it protects the cabinet ends from the knocks an island takes every day. The seating side leaves room to pull up stools, so the kitchen works for cooking and for having people over at the same time.

A Full-Height Backsplash Behind a Professional-Style Range

Behind the range, the stone runs all the way from the counter up to the hood rather than stopping at a standard backsplash height. It is easier to wipe down than grout lines, it frames the range as the focal point of the wall, and it ties the cooking side of the room back to the island. The wood-clad hood above it and the glass-front cabinets on either side finish the wall without competing with the stone.

Why Denali?

Removed two non-bearing walls and reinforced the ceiling with a 24-foot LVL beam to open the original galley kitchen into the dining and family rooms. New white oak cabinetry, honed marble counters, and a 48-inch range anchor the space.