Custom Crafted

Erol Argun, a retired architect from Montreal, has owned his Sarasota, Fla. condominium for 25 years, and although he has always been happy with the layout, bay views, and the design of the downtown building, both inside and out, he decided to make a major change five years ago. With his kids grown and out of the house, the widower realized he wanted to change his guest room into an office, and that he would appreciate a spacious kitchen with water vistas. Possessing the know-how to do it, he swapped the location of both rooms and designed a white European kitchen to suit his style. He completed the floor plan, and brought on Kevin Bein as contractor. The renovation took 45 days. “I had a full functioning kitchen until the new one was ready, and then we dismantled the old kitchen and it became my office/guest room,” said Argun. “I knew from the location of the plumbing in the guest bath that I could do what I wanted with the new kitchen. I pulled the necessary extra electricity into the new kitchen by dropping the ceiling one inch. It all went smoothly, but I did the work so that the two rooms could quite easily be flipped back the way they were.” In the amply-lit, informal kitchen, the cabinets are white and plentiful and the counters are white tile — Argun laid them himself — with nautical blue decorative insets. The walls are lighter, aquatic blue. To accent the blues and whites he added all red small appliances. The round white breakfast table that looks out over the water is paired with bright red lacquer chairs, which the homeowner says he has no trouble maintaining when one gets a scratch. | Read More