A BLENDED KITCHEN AND DINING AREA THAT PAYS HOMAGE TO NEO-CHINESE INTERIORS.

When clients Laurel and Mike purchased this beautiful Oakland Hills home, they immediately recognized its potential. Unfortunately, a lot of it had been flipped to look like every other staged home – bland and “trendy” with very little functionality or personality. We spent the next year creating a design direction for whole home, but focused on updating wall treatments, lighting and furniture for their most used spaces: the entry, living room, dining room, nursery, and primary bedroom. At every site visit, we dreamed of one day gutting the kitchen and opening it up into the dining space. In early 2025, we actually kicked off the project.

Berkeley-based architects at 3rStudio came up with a floor plan that truly maximized wall space and height to make the space feel open to the rest of the house while still feeling like its own unique space. Laurel is an avid cook who needed a lot of storage capacity for pots and utensils used in Chinese cuisine, so we needed to play around with different dimensions for her drawers and cabinetry. Fully custom cabinets would have blown our budget, so we worked with the team at Nobilia North America to create a storage-heavy layout that complements the colors and textures of the newly designed dining room – connecting the spaces while keeping their unique identities in tact. I used the opportunity to really lean into Neo-Chinese design, which is famous for soothing palettes and lush materials that bring calm to everyday living. From the marbled honed quartz countertop stone to the weathered white oak cabinetry and leather stools, every element was selected to evoke warmth and peace with a contemporary layout.

Our longtime partners at Clementine Construction brought the space to life with such great attention to detail. By the time the renovation was underway, I had already made my move to New York, so when I returned for the photo shoot, it was my first time seeing the space in person. What I walked into was a kitchen that not only fit my client's taste, but also their lifestyle – from hosting toddler playdates to Laurel's famous Lunar New Year celebrations. That's what this work is all about - designing personalized spaces that tell a story and celebrate the passions, customs and cultures of those living in them.