Philadelphia Home: Photos of Philly’s Best Kitchens

The Sophisticate Philadelphia Kitchen

With industrial touches and European craftsmanship, Bennett and Judie Weinstock’s Rittenhouse kitchen epitomizes old-world charm.

“He is a collector like none I’ve ever witnessed,” kitchen designer Joanne Hudson says of interior designer Bennett Weinstock. Bennett’s predilection for stylish excess is apparent in his kitchen in the Barclay, where his vast collections—dairyware, antique scales, china—are artfully displayed in built-in cabinets and shelves. Weinstock installed pinewood floors (to evoke the Barclay’s “old-hotel feel”), and Hudson designed a backsplash of clean white subway tiles and marble countertops (“to look as if they had been in a butcher or pastry shop in Europe”). La Cornue metal cabinetry, plus a matching range and hood, add an industrial touch. Authentic Holophane pendant lights from the 1920s hang above a handmade reproduction of an antique silver sink from Germany. The Weinstocks’ creative solution to the unsightly view from the kitchen windows: decorative stained glass.

The Bold Philadelphia Kitchen

A Mount Airy kitchen delights with splashes of color and whimsy.

You wouldn’t guess that this room, brimming with loud colors and bold shapes, is situated in a formerly dark, neocolonial home. But with the help of architect Alan Me­tcalfe and Manayunk-based interior designer Val Nehez, homeowners Michael and Amy Cohen infused the 1920s house with their bold Memphis-modern aesthetic. In the kitchen, bright white walls add contrast to the punches of color—all variations of lively primaries. A herringbone slate floor grounds the space (and is equipped with radiant heating); the countertops are a warm figured maple. “Everyone is uptight about counters—stainless scratches, Formica scratches,” Metcalfe says. “But wood is a forgiving material. It can take a cut; if you oil it, the cuts disappear into the patina.” The pièce de résistance: a colorful wall that separates the kitchen from the dining area. The art installation, commissioned from Drexel professor and artist Paul Schultz, features assorted plastic bread tags suspended between acrylic panes—a kitchen-perfect masterpiece.

The Modern Philadelphia Kitchen

A Wyndmoor kitchen marries off-the-shelf and custom for a study in chic minimalism.

Interior designer Rebecca Paul’s b­iggest hurdle when designing this narrow shoebox-shaped kitchen wasn’t the confining space, but the timeline. “We had six weeks and then they were throwing an engagement party,” she says. Her plan? Mix one part top-of-the-line (all appliances and fixtures; the Dorenbacht faucet in the island was the last of its kind in stock in the country), one part custom (a stainless-steel trough sink by the bar functions as an ice bucket du­ring parties; the boxy stainless hood was Paul’s own design), and one part off-the-shelf (the milk-glass-fronted cabinets are from IKEA!). The cabinets stretch across four walls and provide ample storage for amenities like a built-in Miele coffeemaker and a flat-screen TV. A chunky Galaxy-glass-topped island adds counter space, plus valuable extra seating for the o­wners’ four young children. In the end, Paul and Lansdale contractor David Biché finished the job on time, proof that Paul’s oft-repeated motto is true: “Sometimes you can get things ‘in the box’ if you think outside of the box.”

The Boho Philadelphia Kitchen

A cozy Queen Village kitchen finds new life with rustic reclaimed materials.

When Caryn Furtaw bought her trinity in 2001, the kitchen was tiny, closed off from the rest of the first floor by a wall, and outfitted with a white tile floor and characterless fixtures. That kitchen is still small—an angular 12-by-seven-foot space—but the tiles have been torn up, the fittings ripped out, and the wall removed for an entirely new kitchen, crafted from wonderfully old materials. In stripping the space, designer Niko Dyshniku, formerly of Greensaw Design, discovered hidden gems like the brick wall previously hidden by cabinets. Reclaimed wide-plank chestnut salvaged from Philly churches replaced the floor; cabinetry was made with reclaimed Belgian blue glass and wood from a Pottstown barn. The petite space still houses all the necessary amenities, among them an 18-inch Bosche dishwasher, a Bertazzoni range, and a Liebherr refrigerator—some of the only new elements in a kitchen that reverses the “out with the old, in with the new” adage to stunning effect.

The Traditional Philadelphia Kitchen

In condo king Allan Domb’s sprawling space, sunny cabinetry steals the spotlight—and a secondary kitchen works overtime.

There are only so many appliances one can stuff into a kitchen. But how about two kitchens? Designer Joanne Hudson decided to divide the space in real estate mogul Allan Domb’s Rittenhouse condo into two equally functioning spaces, an idea she stumbled upon while at a cooking school at the Ritz-Carlton in Paris. “There were two kitchen areas,” she says. “In one, you’d make this big mess, and then it was all taken to the cleanup kitchen.” So now, beyond the matte black La Cornue stove and hood in “Kitchen A” lies another fully equipped “Kitchen B,” complete with an oversized cleanup sink, dishwasher, oven, refrigerator, and plenty of additional storage. “When someone is preparing and cleaning dishes, they aren’t doing it where guests are sitting and eating,” she explains. “Heavy-duty prep work and cleaning are kept out of the way, so people can carry on with conversation.”