Here’s how Acclaim Renovations & Design totally transformed this dated Mentor kitchen
By Patricia Nugent
Homeowners can feather their nest with excellent taste, beautiful furnishings, and all the right paint choices and finishes. But at some point they realize those things can only take it so far. A tiny kitchen is a tiny kitchen no matter how you dress it up.
This is the point the Holmeckis had reached in their 1986 split-level home in Mentor. They waved a white flag and reached out to the designers at Acclaim Renovations & Design to open things up.
According to Acclaim’s COO Bob Potocar, the existing kitchen lacked overall space, countertop space, storage and functionality.
“The appliances were practically on top of each other, the dishwasher abutted the stove, and the refrigerator faced the sink, close enough that you couldn’t even walk through the kitchen when the fridge was open,” he says. “They had a spice rack on the wall, and a beverage cart on wheels next to the stove. We knew that taking down the 90-degree wall separating the kitchen and family room would dramatically open the space, bring in loads of natural light, and allow us to put a spotlight on the soaring cathedral ceiling.”
The Transformation
“Once we took the wall down, that gave us the square footage to create the room’s main focal point, a massive island, 8-by-4-foot, in bright white Calacatta Laza quartz,” he says. “The island seats five people. We sunk the sink within it instead of the perimeter, so the work triangle is expanded and whoever stands at the sink looks directly into the adjacent family room. There was also room once we incorporated space from the former eat-in area to create a gourmet coffee station with glass-fronted cabs.”
Adding a touch of variegated interest to the sleek Freemont White cabinets in the backsplash in mixed shades of Artisan Alabaster set at a 50% offset. A black sink provides a match point to four dramatic and modern dropped pendant lights.
“Mixing up the layers of lighting to join the task pendant lights, we also added plenty of can lights in the ceiling and undercabinet lighting as well,” he says. “This renovation was a mission accomplished in terms of transforming a truncated, barely functioning space into a wide-open and ultra-glamorous kitchen worthy of a magazine cover.”
Acclaim’s Designing Women
Overseeing the Holmecki renovation and many others, Lisa Eldridge and Leigha Secue are the creative forces behind Acclaim’s signature outside-of-the-box interior designs.
A past president of the Northern Ohio chapter of the ASID (American Society of Interior Designers), Lisa got her start in the industry after graduating from the University of Cincinnati with her degree in interior design. She worked her way up to senior designer in commercial work, mainly in the hospitality industry. Lisa went on to have a solo design career after she had her children. Today this wife and mother of three lives in Chardon and enjoys sketching, painting and cooking.
Leigha entered the design world by working with her father in home renovation. Then when she married, she and her husband bought their first home and took it down to the studs, renovating every square inch. She started doing design on the side for friends and family and grew from there. Leigha’s specialty is in kitchen renovation, and she says her inspiration comes from Pinterest, Houzz and many interior design magazines. She lives in Amherst with her husband, two dogs and lots of chickens.
Both designers report their favorite part of the job is the look on their clients’ faces when they show them the final space they’ve dreamed together…the big reveal.
Acclaim Renovations & Design is located at 8550 East Avenue in Mentor. The design-build firm has won numerous industry awards. Call 440-974-8082 or visitAcclaimReno.com.