Opposite, universal design principles drove this handsome single-family kitchen remodel on Longboat Key. “The husband is in a wheelchair, the wife is not,” says Eurotech’s David Asher. “We designed the kitchen so that both would enjoy working there.” The cooktop and sink islands are 30 inches off the floor versus the standard height of 36 inches. The two-drawer dishwasher is far easier to open than one big descending drawer. Oversized door handles are easy to grab. And all lower cabinets are fully accessorized with pullouts and drawers. With its maple Shaker cabinets and eye-catching Juperana Pitanga Gold granite island and countertops, it’s smart and beautiful.

Space planner and designer Billue Guignard of Metro Cabinet Company cooked up a bright, clean-lined modern kitchen for the homeowners of a new Lido Shores home, who wanted to pay homage to their neighborhood’s many historic Sarasota School of Architecture residences. Since the open-floor plan kitchen flows into the living area, materials—high-gloss, high-sheen white lacquer cabinets, white quartz countertops and a gray-blue vertical tile backsplash—were kept subtle.

Palma Sola Bay beckons from the near-floor-to-ceiling windows of this handsome island-style kitchen, above, designed for an entertaining-happy husband and wife by Metro Cabinet Company. The remodeled kitchen, formerly the family room and laundry, has four refrigerators, two sinks and dishwashers, an induction cooktop and 48-inch cook-and-dine teppanyaki grill built into the generously proportioned island. Glacier white cabinets, Parys Cambria quartz countertops, and a backsplash of white subway tiles with accents of blue Murano glass tiles carry out the transitional theme.

This Sanderling remodel by Affinity Kitchens was built for a retired high-powered CEO who’d never stepped into the kitchen until his wife became ill. An adventuresome neophyte cook, he insisted on a five-burner gas stove, built-in coffee machine, built-in deep fryer, teppanyaki griddle, convection oven-microwave combo, and, under the regular oven, a steam oven for preparing vegetables and fish. The look is transitional: Warm walnut cabinets have stainless-steel toe kicks for a little edge, and high-gloss white cabinets and Brazilian granite countertops and backsplash in a swirl of blue, salmon, orange, green and charcoal create drama.

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This article appears in the February 2014 issue of Sarasota Magazine. Like what you read? Click here to subscribe. >>