This Rye Brook Kitchen Renovation Is Elegant and Family-Approved

Photos by Kyle J. Caldwell

Erin Coren and Lina Galvão of Curated Nest Interiors create a family friendly kitchen for Coren in Westchester County.

The Team

Having a baby changes everything, including home decor. But just because you have small children doesn’t mean you can’t have a stylish home, says designer Erin Coren, who worked on her own kitchen renovation while pregnant with her second child. Coren and Lina Galvão, who met in a new-moms group, formed the Rye Brook-based design firm Curated Nest Interiors to help design homes for young families. “One of the things that drew us together was this idea of transitioning to having kids,” says Galvão. “Your house does not have to be a mess just because you have a busy family life. Our goal is to cater to families’ needs, first focusing on function and flow, and then letting the aesthetics follow.”

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For Coren and her husband and two kids, that meant tackling a gut renovation of their 90-year-old Tudor in Rye Brook and building a new kitchen with the little ones in mind. “I’m big on independence with children,” she explains. “Anytime I can make a kitchen accessible to my kids, it’s going to make my life easier. I wanted to emphasize lower cabinetry. My kids can go and get their own snacks. We put in a built-in beverage fridge for snacks, so they can open it.” In fact, the kitchen has only one upper cabinet; the rest are drawers from CliqStudios.

Knowing that the kitchen would be a space where everyone gathers, they wanted a large island and plenty of storage. It has a built-in microwave drawer and prep sink, making it easy for Coren to get meals ready for the kids. The island top is composed of practical-but-sleek quartz, which withstands stains and scratches. She saved the marble for the backsplash, tiles of Calacatta Gold set in a chevron pattern.

The positioning of everything in the kitchen was carefully planned: “Function comes first, where things will be located and why,” says Coren. When she is standing at the stove, everything she needs is right there, with a built-in fridge and coffee maker steps away and the prep sink behind. That stove is a special, customized Italian Ilve (you pick the colors, dials, and legs) with eight burners and a griddle. “It makes you think I can cook,” Coren says with a laugh. “It cooks my frozen pizzas very well.”

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Open shelves and sconces flank the stove. “It’s a continued trend of not having the uppers and doing the shelving instead because people are approaching the kitchen as a living space, not just a utilitarian area. The heart of the home and something more,” says Galvão, who helped design the kitchen. She adds that the open shelving allows you to switch out decor, personalize the space, and make it seasonal for holidays. “There’s lots of ways you can style it.” An archway was added to open the kitchen to the dining room and to match the architectural detailing of the Tudor, which Coren says makes the house. She retained certain quirky details, such as an original milk door.

Wood and brass elements around the kitchen complement the mostly white room. The brass farmhouse sink was placed by the window, from which the family can see the yard. A metal support beam above was wrapped in wood, giving it some farmhouse flair. The hardware has a historical feel but with a modern edge. Even details like the cabinetry toe kicks were given careful consideration: Legs make the cabinets look more like bureaus. As Coren explains: “We wanted it to feel more like furniture, very homey and inviting.”