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Building a home from scratch is no easy feat, but one family found their kitchen to be the easiest and perhaps best part of the process.
When Priya Acharya and her family received a gift of land from her parents, it didn’t take long to figure out what to do with it. They chose to build their home from scratch in Old Mill Plantation, a beautiful community just off Bent Mountain Road. While the neighborhood feels removed from Roanoke, her husband, a neurointerventional radiologist at Carilion, enjoys the drive home each night as it allows him to decompress from a busy day.
Originally from Pulaski County, Priya is a periodontist at Coots, Cross, Lavinder and Quinn, though she is preparing to open her own practice in 2018. With their two daughters, ages two and five, they had many considerations when it came to building their home.
Their kitchen actually turned out to be the easiest room in the house. The design expert, Christine Wade of Reico Kitchen and Bath, drew the picture for them, and luckily there were no major hiccups or changes, thanks to building the room from scratch.
“Christine had it on display in their showroom,” Acharya says. “I loved it and didn’t want to change much to it besides the backsplash and adding an island. I just thought, ‘she has good taste!’”
While the showroom model had no island, Acharya knew it was a must-have for her own kitchen. She wanted a contrast, not wanting her kitchen to be all white, and chose a darker island with the same quartz countertops. With a ton of storage underneath, there are also electrical outlets on either side for appliances.
“Counter space was where we suffered in previous apartments, but everything is built-in here,” she says. “We have so much counter space and can utilize every piece of it. It’s so much easier to cook now.”
The island’s storage hides the waffle maker, blender and a few other pieces quite nicely. There is so much storage, in fact, she hasn’t filled it up yet.
“Now I have an excuse to go buy more stuff,” she says, laughing. “I have so much cabinet space, I don’t know what to do with it!”
While her husband picked out most of the appliances and light fixtures, Acharya herself worked closely with builders on the custom high ceiling. She became inspired by Pinterest, wanting a similar style for her own home. The kitchen and family room are the only space in the house with the contrasting ceiling. Acharya wanted the appearance of a large space with the open floor plan.
Soft-close drawers and cabinets mean little ones can’t slam doors (or fingers), while the built-in coffee maker is a dream-come-true for her husband, as he’s often on call. The fact that it saves space is a huge plus. In addition to stainless steel appliances, the gas range stove can double as a grill. On the wall above it is a pot filler, which makes cooking convenient when Acharya can stay on one side of the kitchen. The backsplash, a limestone bevel, is perhaps the most custom part of the kitchen. It added dimension and changed the look of the kitchen completely once added.
With two small girls, their open kitchen allows space to run around, as well as keep an eye on them when they’re sitting in the accompanying family room. Natural light floods the room through several large windows, keeping the room bright.
The dining table is a gorgeous piece, with a hint of rustic but still fitting in with the modern feel. Acharya plans to have a piece of glass cut to place on top, and the cream-colored loveseat feels cozy and modern. Their light fixtures, found in a catalogue and purchased at Williams Lighting Gallery, fit with their modern theme but aren’t too trendy. Acharya loves clean lines and admires the interesting fusion of the fixtures as they have an industrial feel but fit in with either side of the room.
“We want it to feel cozy without being sterile,” she says. “It’s a good mixture for us. We don’t want a lot of clutter anywhere, especially on our counters.”
Building their home from scratch was an 18-month process, and the family couldn’t be happier now that they finally live there.
“We love the kitchen,” Acharya says. “It’s our little sanctuary. It’s where we all hang out. Even when we’ve had people over, we end up standing around the island instead of sitting at the table!”
… for more from our September/October 2017 issue, Subscribe today, view our FREE interactive digital edition or download our FREE iOS app!
