An IKEA Plant Pot Inspired the Colour of This Calgary Kitchen

Daniela Sanchez confesses that it took a little convincing to get her husband on board with a pink kitchen.

“I’m obsessed with pink,” she says. She would have happily splashed every surface with it, so the blush-toned kitchen island in her Point McKay townhome was a compromise.

This particular hue was discovered while wandering through IKEA: “I found a pink plant pot, and I was like, this is the shade,” Sanchez says. For the team at Amanda Hamilton Interior Design, the humble pot served as the perfect inspiration.

“It’s great to start out that way,” says creative director Amanda Hamilton, noting that Sanchez’s request for soft, rounded edges also informed the kitchen’s standout feature — the island. It flows through the space beautifully, and there was a practicality to the silhouette, too.

“Because we have kids in the family, it was really important that the island was curved from a safety aspect,” says Sanchez. “I’m super clumsy, too,” she adds with a laugh. The island is also functional for cooking the foods of Sanchez’s Venezuelan roots — many an arepa has been expertly stuffed on the white quartz counter.

When the family first purchased the townhome the kitchen was dark, dated and in need of a major overhaul. “Like most older homes with traditional floor plans, everything was broken up into different spaces,” says Hamilton, who started by demolishing the wall between kitchen and dining room.

Open white-oak shelving brings both warmth and airiness to the kitchen, and a curved hood fan complements the rounded island. Hamilton notes that open shelving isn’t something all her clients are, well, open to.

“But, I have found that for families or people who love to entertain, open shelves are way more convenient,” she says. The exposed shelves are artfully stacked with the family’s most-used dishes and pretty glassware, while hefty drawers provides space for everything else. The low drawers also make it easy for Sanchez’s daughter to help out in the kitchen and get involved in what’s cooking. “It’s an environment where we can get messy and have fun,” Sanchez says.

The island

A half-inch reveal separates the island countertop from the pink-lacquered MDF, so it almost appears as if it’s floating. “It’s a really nice detail, because it gives each material an opportunity to stand alone, and have a little bit of breathing room,” says designer Hamilton.

The dining area

The original layout of the townhome separated the kitchen from the dining area, but the Amanda Hamilton Design team opened up the wall to create a more open-concept space — something Hamilton says resulted in a “lighter, fresher and brighter” vibe.

The sockets

It’s all in the details: plugs integrated into the kitchen island are a whimsical take on the standard electrical (“they almost look like happy faces,” says Hamilton). The fitting-free sockets are well-placed for a stand mixer, blender or charging a laptop.

The storage

The kitchen was designed with lots of drawers within reach of little hands, so basic dishes and pantry items can be easily obtained by the household’s smallest member. “We want our daughter to be independent, so she has access to everything that she wants,” says Sanchez

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