Creative Comfort

"My kitchen is da bomb!"

Story by Gretchen Wieman • Photos by Judy Patrick Photography

If this seems like a strong statement, then you've never seen Stacey DePriest's kitchen. And you probably haven't met Stacey herself, whose enthusiasm for color, food, and laughter is a bit of an explosion in human form.

Despite her sense of style, Stacey and her husband John knew more of what they weren't looking for that what they were. "We didn't want something shiny and perfect," says Stacey. "I looked at so many beautiful kitchens that just weren't me." By working with Catherine Call of Blue Sky Studio, Stacey was able to settle on the concept of an "unfitted" kitchen, meaning that they used a variety of materials for colors, counters and cabinets instead of a more monolithic palette. "Catherine really respected our vision and helped us translate it into a design that works," says Stacey. "She was patient with us and would often sit down and sketch ideas to help us work through design challenges."

"Stacey has a wonderful love of deep rich color and detail, so we were able to play with a varied color palette of rich hues," says Catherine, who provided architectural design for the kitchen. "She is a very creative person, so we had a wonderful time collaborating together on the interior finishes."

The finished kitchen features a mixture of cherry and maple cabinets with slate and laminate countertops.

Jewel-toned walls in burnt orange, pear and deep magenta accent the natural palate, while amber light fixtures cast their warmth throughout the room. The warm, comfortable kitchen is the perfect place to relax and enjoy the phenomenal views of Pioneer Peak, Hatcher Pass, and the creek running through the DePriest's backyard.

For Stacey, her kitchen is more than just a cozy place to admire the scenery and cook dinner. It is a place for her to create "food that tastes as good as it looks" and is where she spends 80 percent of her time at home, due in part to Gatherings, the business she and a partner founded a few years ago. Currently, much of her business centers on creating her blue-ribbon winning wine jelly, but someday she hopes to expand into a catering business or a restaurant.

Her new kitchen is a significant improvement on the "little corner I used to work in – all the extra space is CUSHY." Now Stacey is able to work on multiple projects and cook simultaneously with her husband without bumping into him at every turn. One of her favorite features is countertop heights to accommodate both Stacey's 5'3 frame and John's height of 6'1". They were even able to remove the legs from her Viking stove so that it is flush with the lower counters.

The finished kitchen is a true reflection of Stacey herself - vibrant, warm and one of a kind. She is, after all, planning to paint her Kitchen Aid mixer something "more interesting than white. Maybe black with orange flames."

Most definitely "da bomb."