Designer Jill Litner Kaplan on White Kitchens

Everyone loves a nice clean white kitchen,” says designer Jill Litner Kaplan. “They are timeless, classic, and forever chic.” Lest you think an all-white kitchen runs the risk of being monotonous, Jill explains that it’s all in the details. “Details are what distinguish the basic from the beautiful.”

One of the kitchens Jill designed was featured in our September-October feature on wonderful kitchens and baths. Here, she tells us a bit more about that one, and shows two more white—but hardly basic—examples of her kitchen design. “Each of them” she says, “has its own unique personality, one that reflects its owner.”

“I love the panes of antique mirrored glass we installed in the upper cabinet doors,” Jill says about the kitchen in this new house designed by LDa Architecture & Interiors.  “They are glamorous and elegant, and reflect the light from the extraordinary Lindsey Adelman Branching Bubble fixture that floats over the large, curved island.” Jill tempered the glamour by adding a backsplash of hand-cut elongated milky white glass subway tile from Waterworks. “The homeowner is an excellent cook, and given the workout this kitchen gets on a daily basis,”
she adds. “The backsplash and caesarstone countertops are easy to clean and always look fresh.

Photo by Michael J. Lee

Crisp, understated, and pristine describes the look of this kitchen, a classic with its gleaming charcoal-gray Caesarstone countertops and a stainless-steel hood and backsplash. “It opens to the family room on the other side of the wall opposite the main sink,” Jill says, “so the goal was to have one open space where all pattern is relegated to the family room and table furnishings.” For design continuity, the tailored molding detail on the face of the kitchen cabinet doors is echoed in the family room built-in directly behind it.

Photo by Michael Blanchard

This kitchen, says Jill, is “fun, modern, and playful.” The brilliant bouquet of clear glass globes suspended by rope above a walnut island gives the iridescent glass mini-brick subway tile backsplash extra sparkle, making this a great destination for a couple and their four daughters.
“The island, surrounded by sleek, polished chrome-legged counter stools upholstered in charcoal stitched faux leather, is the centerpiece of this spirited kitchen,” the designer explains. “Tailored valances, made of a custom Galbraith & Paul geometric printed linen, and a white capiz-shell drum shade fixture over the kitchen table ensure that this kitchen is anything but basic white!”

Photo by Michael J. Lee