Jeff Doubét shares Spanish kitchen design ideas + construction photos of a luxury build, and personal chef products + resources for planning a quality kitchen. Historically, many of the kitchens in early Spanish Colonial Revival homes were small and tucked away in a corner of the house. Larger estate homes had adjacent butler pantry rooms. But back in the day, kitchens were mostly just simple, functional spaces to work in.
But today, there is a high demand for redesigned kitchens in high-end Spanish homes. These modern kitchens are made to be charming. At the same time, they are now being designed to become luxurious areas for enjoying and entertaining family and friends.
Join me in this blog post as I share how a talented family transformed their small kitchen into a contemporary Spanish living arrangement.
Scroll over 30 photos to see how this local Montecito, CA home was redesigned into an inviting Spanish style kitchen. Open to the family room, the build became a work/live space any private chef would be proud to own (or work in).
Spanish kitchen design ideas + Construction
The pièce de résistance of this high end Spanish kitchen design is the unusually wide cooking alcove.
This Spanish-style cooking set-up is approximately 11 feet wide. Follow along as I show you how it was built.
A direct link to other Spanish-style products on Amazon (and my other project overviews where they were installed).
Construction Photo 1: In this image you can see how the cooking alcove was initially created. It was framed with an engineered beam to span the full width, with no need for extra supports. Also, see how the wood beams are supported by the wall and ceiling framing.
Construction Photo 2: A wide arch is framed next to the cooking alcove. The steps lead to the dining room, now being framed with corbel details (at a wide opening to the piano room). An antique Spanish door is being installed in the far background.
Construction Photo 3: An Artisan builder cuts custom wood venting. In the background you can see how blue board was installed at the cooking alcove. Blue board is the recommendation for veneer plastering, applied throughout the interior of this Spanish home.
Construction Photo 4: Bags of veneer plaster are stacked in a central location in the house. This way, the plasterers have easy access to their supplies as they work throughout the main level of the home.
Construction Photo 5: It was several weeks later when I shot this image. All of the blue board had been hung, and veneer plaster finishes applied. Now, the door specialist returns to install antique door hardware on the Spanish-style arch top panel door.
Jeff Doubét recommended product(s) for designing and building a quality Spanish style home +landscape.
Planning Spanish kitchen design Ideas For The Wow Factor
Building luxury Spanish kitchen design ideas into your home can be a lot of fun. There are countless decisions that go into creating a one-of-a-kind masterpiece. Each move you make adds to the unique character and design of your home.
Construction Photo 6: The talented project owners work on another custom project. He has a building background, and she is an amazing designer. Here, they cut a foam mock up for an exterior component for the facade of their home.
Construction Photo 7: The homeowner, general contractor and talented cabinet makers have an impromptu meeting. They are deciding on the perfect placement for the nickel plated antique icebox hinges and handles. The project is both decorative and functional.
Construction Photo 8: Here the cabinet maker installs one of the heavy metal latches for the fridge door.
Construction Photo 9: The homeowners confirm that the installed antique icebox handles are properly positioned for their use. The custom fabrication of faux icebox doors using high density fiberboard were designed to hide the walk-in pantry, freezer and fridge.
AFTER Photo: The “Ice Box” wall is now complete. The hidden walk-in pantry on the far left, and the fridge and freezer units next to it. A perfect Spanish Colonial Revival kitchen design solution to hide the necessary large appliances.
Planning Other Spanish kitchen design Details
Every surface of a high quality Spanish kitchen has a design detail that needs to be addressed. From the type of countertop edge detail to cabinetry function and layout, to backsplash materials…
Construction Photo 10: On this day the homeowners rough in a design for a custom sink backsplash to be cut from a slab of soapstone.
Construction Photo 11: The rough paper template for the Spanish-style backsplash was placed on the wall. An easy way to see how the shape looks with the surrounding open shelving.
Construction Photo 12: The general contractor discusses the technical aspects of the project. Getting the Spanish Colonial Revival sink backsplash to align with faucet plumbing is the current task at hand.
Construction Photo 13: Building open shelving with traditional Spanish-style wood brackets. They mount to the veneer plastered wall.
Construction Photo 14: The cabinetmaker installs a furniture base detail to the bottom of the wood cabinets.
AFTER Photo: This is how the oversized farmhouse sink backsplash turned out. It fits perfectly with the surrounding Spanish Colonial Revival details.
Spanish kitchen design Ideas For Small Spaces
Spanish style ADU’s (accessory dwelling units), guest houses and apartments can be improved with quality kitchen design features.
Construction Photo 15: This mother-in-law apartment was designed with a private entrance, and can easily be used as a Spanish-style ADU. The backsplash and open shelving designs from the main kitchen were built into this small kitchen, as well.
This is how the build turned out once all the details were completed. My book sits on top of a leathered soapstone countertop.
AFTER Photo: The completed small Spanish style ADU kitchen. White cabinets and open shelving, soapstone countertops, terra cotta clay floors and dark stained beams. All look great with the Santa Barbara white veneer plaster on the walls, and the antique arch top door.
Finishes of a large Spanish Cooking Alcove
Finishes are a big part of the Spanish kitchen design ideas you will need to think about while planning and building your own project.
Construction Photo 16: This homeowner chose to do an entire wall of Calacatta Gold marble, imported from Tuscany, Italy. The veining is more pronounced than common Carrara. Here the expert plasterer is applying a thin coat of veneer plaster on the cooking alcove hood.
Construction Photo 17: A close up of how the Artisan is forming veneer plaster into a natural bullnose edge detail.
AFTER PHOTO: A close up of the kitchen island with upholstered chairs, and two oversized pendant lights overhead. Also, the completed farm sink backsplash made of soapstone.
Installing Spanish Colonial Revival Flooring
Many of the Spanish homes I have designed include the Spanish clay floor patterns used a hundred years ago in Montecito and Santa Barbara.
Construction Photo 18: An expert Spanish clay floor installer sets the Spanish Colonial Revival design using a Squares and Pickets design pattern. Click the feature length story to see dozens more photos of his process of installing this floor.
AFTER Photo: A thick arch passage leads from the dining room into the kitchen and family room. Note the Spanish-style recessed thermostat box and old style push button light switches. Nice design details and touches you can include in your own build, as well.
AFTER Photo: The completed Spanish Colonial Revival family room adjacent to the kitchen. Details include a simple fireplace design, dark stained wood ceiling beams. Plaster corbel details at the passage way, and Tecate clay floors in a Squares and Pickets floor pattern.
Looking from the family room to the kitchen and the dining room through the arched passageway.
More Design Options for Spanish Style Kitchens
An 11 foot long iron pot holder bar was installed along the full length of the cooking alcove. A wall niche was also incorporated into the nook. Unlacquered outlet plates combined with black outlets coordinate nicely with the La Cornue range finishes.
A pot filler was installed on the wall of Calacatta marble. The oversized rectangular pieces were laid out in a herringbone pattern. Consider these Waterworks transitional design options for your luxurious pot filler.
THE EASY BUTTON TO VIEW ALL PROJECTS ON SITE
A direct link to other Jeff Doubét articles and site visits that have Spanish-style kitchens featured in the episodes.
AFTER Photo: A downlit arch top wall niche highlights a small vase of yellow flowers. A perfect touch to accentuate the Old World aspects to this modern day Spanish style kitchen renovation.
Well friend, this wraps another site visit episode in beautiful Montecito, California. I hope you enjoyed learning how to infuse more Santa Barbara Style into your own Spanish interior design project. Scroll to explore more helpful links and resources for designing and building your own Spanish-style home and landscape.
