• Technavio has published a new market research report on the DIY home improvement market in Europe 2017-2021 under their consumer and retail library. (Graphic: Business Wire)

Release Summary

DIY home improvement market in Europe is expected to grow at a CAGR close to 2% by 2021, according to a new market research report by Technavio.

Contacts

Technavio Research
Jesse Maida
Media & Marketing Executive
US: +1 844 364 1100
UK: +44 203 893 3200

Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: Eric and Ariana Fonnesbeck
Location: Maynard, Massachusetts
Size: About 220 square feet (20.4 square meters)

Before. “As a big-time kitchen user, I wasn’t thrilled with the layout or functionality,” says Ariana Fonnesbeck, referring to the kitchen in her three-bedroom, one-bath condo of 821 square feet (76.3 square meters). Ariana owns The Bake Shoppe and needed a workable kitchen space. She bakes from her home, selling her baked goods at local farmers markets for part of the year and fulfilling special orders placed online. She also wanted to replace the oak-faced cabinets and address the limited counter space and lack of a dishwasher and built-in microwave.

Together with her husband, Eric, a program manager for the U.S. Air Force, they renovated their space, replacing the cabinets, installing appliances and creating a more user-friendly layout.

After. The door on the left is the entry into the couple’s condo. “When you first enter, you’re smack in the kitchen. So we added some sense of an entryway with an L-shaped peninsula counter,” Ariana says.

Eric and Ariana planned their new kitchen layout using Ikea’s planning tool. Adding more storage for Ariana’s kitchenware and tableware was a priority. “We chose white cabinets to keep things light. We felt that anything darker would have been too heavy, visually,” Ariana says. New butcher-block countertops were installed and stained.

“Until we renovated, I had a little desk lamp next to the sink because, without the extra light, you really couldn’t see if the dishes were clean or not,” Ariana says. “There is nothing worse than trying to work at the counter [and] sink with the only light source behind you and pointing to the floor. It was dismal!”

They spent $13,300 on their kitchen upgrades, which included floor leveling, electrical labor, new cabinets and new appliances, except for the refrigerator.

Countertops, cabinets and hardware: Ikea; flooring: Pergo; stainless steel dishwasher: Gold series, Whirlpool

“For me, light sets the mood, says Ariana, pictured here making a batch of Angel Thumbprint Cookies (recipe follows). “When I’m having a relaxing evening and cooking dinner, I like to work by the light of the pendants and the undercabinet work lights,” she says.

The couple installed overhead can lights that light the kitchen well and make the space feel bright in the evening when they’re hosting friends or baking.

During their remodel, “some of our biggest challenges were fighting seasonal weather, making time to push forward our projects, especially with the heavy lifting, and trying to survive several weeks with only a microwave and toaster oven midkitchen renovation,” Ariana says.

Before. The previous kitchen had a disconnected layout and limited storage.

After. The couple kept the existing refrigerator and installed cabinets above it. They painted the walls in Original White by Behr.

A brick backsplash, black sink and wooden counter give color and warmth to the new light-filled, white kitchen. “We love our Kräus Black Onyx granite kitchen sink,” Eric says. “It’s incredibly durable against scratches and heat, and looks great with our wooden countertops. Our faucet is also Kräus.”

Before. This photo illustrates the limited counter space and orangish-pink tile floor, now replaced by a Pergo laminate from Lowe’s.

After. The pair wanted to retain a sense of the history of the building, built in 1888, especially since they live across the street from a historic mill. “This is what prompted us to include a brick backsplash,” Ariana says.

Stainless steel microwave-range hood: Whirlpool

Before. “When we moved to Massachusetts, I wanted to keep the momentum of my business going but didn’t have the right space to work in,” Ariana says. “After our renovation, I was able to get my kitchen home-certified, and now I can bake for local markets and do projects by order.” This rolling kitchen cart was a temporary solution to add another workspace in the kitchen.

After. New cabinets add a lot of storage on this wall of the kitchen, helping the pair keep things neatly tucked away.

Ariana primarily sells her baked goods on weekends at the Maynard Farmers Market, which is open from June to October each year. “I bring cookies, Bundt cakes and small pies on a weekly basis. It’s been a great way for us to get involved with our small community,” she says. During the rest of the year, she fulfills orders through her website, and for the holidays, she has been selling platters with a variety of cookies.

The indoor window box holds cyclamens from Russell’s Garden Center in Wayland, Massachusetts. “My mom keeps cyclamen on a shelf just outside her kitchen windows in sunny California, and to me, they mean Christmas.

I have to keep them inside, but they do well on the sill,” she says. “I try to always have seasonal flowers growing in my kitchen window boxes. I love the pop of color, and it greatly improves my view out the windows.”

The wreath is a DIY project Ariana made with boxwood and embroidery hoops.

Robert Papp art prints with linen-edged frames hang on a kitchen wall. “They’re super-classy prints, and the frames are neutral and textured, which I love,” Ariana says.

Figs and Avocados by Robert Papp: FineArtAmerica.com

Angel Thumbprint Cookies
Makes about 3 dozen cookies
(Recipe from family friend Janet Broderick)

Ingredients:

• 2¼ cups flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter, softened
• ⅔ cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, separated
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ½ teaspoon almond flavoring
• 1⅓ cups walnuts, finely chopped
• Raspberry jam, or jam or jelly of your choice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Sift flour and salt together in a bowl and set aside. Cream butter and brown sugar with a mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks and stir to combine. (Reserve egg whites for later.) Add vanilla and almond flavorings. Mix at high speed. Add flour and one-third cup finely chopped walnuts and mix well.

3. Line baking sheets with kitchen parchment. Roll dough into balls that are three-quarters ounce when measured on a scale, or about 1 inch in diameter.

4. Dip each ball in reserved egg white and then roll in remaining 1 cup walnuts.

5. Use your thumb or a teaspoon measuring spoon to make a depression in each cookie.

Tip:For a uniform look, use a measuring spoon. For an authentic home-baked look, use your thumb.

6. Fill each depression with 1 teaspoon jam. Ariana likes to use raspberry jam.

7. Place on parchment-lined baking sheets, evenly spacing 15 cookies per sheet.

8. Bake 8 to 10 minutes.

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

Today is SUCH an exciting day! The Gentry project is finished and I am so thrilled with how all of these spaces turned out, but I especially love the kitchen. When the time came to choose the appliances for this space, I knew we wanted to go with something modern, beautiful, and most importantly, high quality.

I was thrilled to get to partner with Bosch and Domino Magazine on this kitchen, and I hope you caught the video series we posted on Instagram the past couple of weeks. We had a lot of fun with this collaboration!

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

Okay, should we dig right in with some crazy before photos?? Check out that funky tile! 🙂

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

The footprint of the original kitchen from the ’60s was small and cramped. We gutted everything in here and bumped up the insanely low ceiling and took out a few walls to make the space work better.

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

Once the new walls were up and the white oak floors were installed, it was easier to get excited about the kitchen’s potential! 🙂 To help keep things bright and airy in here, we decided on white cabinets. We landed on an olive color for the island and pops of black in the hood surround, the backsplash grout and the cabinet hardware to contrast against all the white. 

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

Brass accents in the lighting and the faucet as well as the wood open shelving helps to warm up the space. The warm gray veining in the quartz countertops also really helps to add interest and character!

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

When we started working with Bosch on this kitchen build out, I was so thrilled to learn that their Benchmark Series Dishwasher accepts ready-made cabinet fronts (our cabinets were not custom) for a seamless look in the cabinetry. This really helps to make this kitchen look even bigger I think. And check out this video (link) to see how cool the is inside!

The tines that hold up the dishes are adjustable, the bottom rack holds all sorts of big, bulky items (like HUGE popcorn bowls and stock pots!) and there’s the MyWay Rack that allows you to accommodate deeper items that you usually never have a place for! I’m OBSESSED with this !

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

When I posted about this on Instagram, a lot of you that have this same model mentioned you LOVE the whisper-quiet aspect. I love it, too, especially for the Gentry house kitchen because it is so open to the living and dining rooms. It’s so quiet you can run a load during a dinner party and none of your guests would realize it! 🙂 You can literally be standing right next to the while it’s running and not hear a thing. 

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

We couldn’t choose a gas range in this house, so we used Bosch’s beautifully designed app to easily and quickly find the perfect 30″ slide-in electric range. Isn’t it gorgeous? We really needed the range to not have a back panel to work with the quartz backsplash design, and Bosch came through for us! We also chose a Bosch hood insert above the range in the custom surround our contractor made. I’m SO happy with how this whole range area turned out! It’s functional AND beautiful.

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

We also used the Bosch app to source the 36″ wide French Door counter-depth fridge. I love the sleek design and the organization of the interior components. The French Door design is a huge space saver and makes it easy to have a lot of people in the kitchen at the same time.
 

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

Our goal with this whole house renovation was to choose unique, beautifully designed elements that, most importantly, help this home function well, but that also look great. Bosch is known for making appliances that have quality that is both lasting and noticeable, and I know that the future homeowners will see and feel that from Day 1 here in the Gentry Project kitchen!
 

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

photography by TIFFANY HAYNES

This post was brought to you in partnership with Bosch and Domino Magazine. Thank you for supporting the brands we use and love!
 
SOURCES (links to come!)
Bosch Benchmark Series Dishwasher
Bosch Counter-Depth Refrigerator
Bosch 30″ Electric Slide-In Range
Bosch Hood Insert
Madera Cabinetry
Cambria Brittannica Matte Quartz on perimeter
Cambria Carrick Matte Quartz on island
Island custom, paint color is Ben Moore Dragon’s Breath
Cabinet Hardware – Pulls and Knobs
Brass Pull-Down Faucet
Sink
Brass Sconces
Brass Pendant light over island
Backsplash tile
Shelf Brackets, wood is 11″ Mahogany from Home Depot in Minwax Driftwood stain
Runner
Wood floors