Cozy kitchen at their command

From the day they bought their modest home in southwest Eugene four years ago, Erin Chaparro and Jeremy Hall wanted to remodel the kitchen “cave.”

But rather than busting out walls in the confined, dim kitchen right away, the couple dug deep into homework.

“We decided to live in the house for a while to see what the space needs really were,” says Chaparro, who entertains topics relating to home design, decorating and cooking on her blog, “Eugene Modern Monkey.”

Magazines like dwell, subtitled “At Home in the Modern World,” helped Chaparro, 35, and Hall, 37, envision a kitchen far better suited for time together and with friends.

“We like entertaining; we like having friends over. And Jeremy loves to cook,” Chaparro says. “We wanted a space that felt good to do all of those things in.”

But the remodel also had to be “aesthetically artistic,” Chaparro says.

“Yes, we knew that we wanted the space opened up, but we thought an architect could bring different ideas to the table than we could, just because they’re immersed in it all the time and we’re not. It’s not our area of expertise.”

They recruited two Eugene pros: young architect David Schmitz for both his design and structural expertise, and neighborhood cabinet maker Jonathan Plummer for sleek, modular woodworks key to the remodel’s contemporary flair.

The team stewed over details for another few months, and work finally began earlier this year. Now, some $25,000 to $30,000 later, the couple have a kitchen that commands attention on multiple levels:

Against modernistic elements such as stainless-steel countertops and appliances, thin-concrete floors painted midnight blue, and white-laminate cabinet doors, more natural warmth literally flows from a big, curved, handsawn walnut top on the island bar.

“Just being in the Pacific Northwest, we wanted something that feels cozy and brings in the elements, but that still has that modern aesthetic to it,” informs Chaparro. “So that’s what we were aiming for: modern organic.”

Valley Stainless Inc. in Eugene forged the stainless-steel counters as single units, one run for the cabinet wall with sink and the other for the island bar with cooktop. Cabinet maker Plummer estimates the counters — with sculpted sink in the cabinet-wall section — cost about $80 per square foot.

“Some people don’t like it that, over time, they show scratches,” allows Chaparro in regard to the shiny metal counters. “But we’re pretty active in our kitchen, and so the more scratches, the less you notice. You can still polish it up really nice.”

Likewise, she says it’s “really easy” to clean the white laminate fronts on many of the kitchen’s cabinet doors. “A little sponge, and it’s gone.”

No run-of-the-mill cabinets, Plummer built these with ApplePly, a plywood made by States Industries in Eugene. With about a dozen layers of hardwood, “It’s a very fine and regular layering,” notes architect Schmitz. Inside, the cabinets are faced in birch; outside, Eastern maple.

Artistic flair offsets the boxy wall cabinets. Above the sink, an off-white ceramic tile backsplash runs clear to a walnut display shelf — lined with glassware — at ceiling height.

Not only do cabinet doors push to open — good for when both hands are full and a knee or elbow can suffice — but logic pervades to nooks and crannies.

One cabinet drawer slides out for composting kitchen scraps; recycling bins tuck underneath the sink. A step stool, handy for reaching the high, slide-out liquor drawer, fits by design into a shallow crevice above the fridge and below the wall cabinets.

“There’s a space for everything now, and that really helps us keep the whole house cleaner,” Chaparro says. “There’s no question about where to put anything, because that space was built to put that item there. So that’s a joy.”

Even the island bar’s big walnut slab, cut from a whole tree by Curly Burly Milling in Cottage Grove, yields surprises beneath the surface. One swooshed out edge creates room below for a wine cabinet; another, display shelves.

Look up, and a ceiling cabinet above the island bar also includes display shelves.

But look closer at the birch frame with walnut divider, and you notice it contains a custom range hood over the cooktop.