With sleek Italian cabinets, a Dorchester kitchen remodel exudes sophistication

Walnut veneer and white glass add both sophistication and warmth in this update to a 1980s design.

DAN CUTRONA FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

Anil Nair (left) and Philippe Saad in their kitchen, where Krishna watches over the breakfast nook. Walnut veneer on the tall wall cupboards balances the minimalist white back-painted glass lower cabinets. Above the Jenn-Air stove, the backsplash is a single sheet of thin porcelain that looks textured but is smooth to the touch.

Call it a eureka moment. Philippe Saad and Anil Nair were wandering the Boston Design Center searching for fixtures for the new kitchen they had designed for their 1890 Victorian in Dorchester when they stumbled upon the Scavolini kitchen showroom. Although they had already selected cabinets for the project, they zeroed in on the Italian manufacturer’s LiberaMente line. The walnut veneer and white glass-front cabinets “were just what we envisioned,” says Saad, an architect and associate principal with DiMella Shaffer in Boston. If the contemporary but conventional cabinets they originally picked were a Cadillac, these were a Ferrari.

Saad and Nair owned the house for eight years before embarking on the renovation. “It’s important to see how you live in a space before you remodel a kitchen,” says Saad, a native of Lebanon who came to Boston 17 years ago to attend school. The existing kitchen, installed in the 1980s, was jammed into an isolated space at the back of the house, with no connection to the outdoors or the dining room. “We are both from cultures where food and entertaining are important,” says Nair, who was born in India, grew up in New York, and is a chiropractic physician and owner at Back to Life Chiropractic & Wellness in Dorchester. The new kitchen meets all of their needs.

They enlarged the space without adding to the footprint by removing an inoperable chimney and relocating an adjacent half bath and laundry room. To create a direct passageway to the dining room, they opened a wall and, much to their surprise, discovered the original butler’s pantry. They converted it into a wet bar.

Natural light floods the kitchen through energy-saving windows and a new glass door, which opens to a deck. French doors in the dining room also lead to the deck, facilitating indoor/outdoor entertaining. The kitchen flooring, quarter- and rift-sawn oak laid in a herringbone pattern, relates to the parquet floors throughout the house; the custom moldings are a modernized version of the house’s original trim.

For all the sleekness of the finishes, this is a warm, welcoming room. Over the cozy corner breakfast nook, the Hindu god Krishna, depicted in a carved wood panel, appears to give his blessing.

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DAN CUTRONA FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

The renovated kitchen now opens to the deck, making indoor/outdoor entertaining easy. The black channel below the Caesarstone countertops adds another dimension.

DAN CUTRONA FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

The Scavolini wall cabinet above the wet bar has a glass front that lifts up with the touch of a finger.

Source :

 Design: Philippe Saad and Anil Nair

■ Cabinetry and Installation: Scavolini Store Boston, cucinamoda.com

■ Backsplash: Division 9 Collaborative, division9collaborative.com