When designer Meta Coleman first laid eyes on this 1980s track home just north of San Diego, she felt the house, with its red Saltillo floors, stucco walls, and grille windows, "wanted to be Spanish Colonial Revival," she says. But the clients hoped for a more pan-European vibe, with lots of color and texture. Coleman knew a major tile moment—or two—was just the push it needed to truly make a statement. "Tile has always inspired me," she explains. "It's utilitarian but so beautiful."
Along with a style update, the family of seven longed for a more user-friendly kitchen than the original, awkward configuration. "The pantry was diagonal and tiny," Coleman recalls. "And the island came into the room at two different angles, like a trapezoid."
To solve these problems, Coleman moved a wall, reappropriating space from an underused nook in the living room. With the added square footage, she designed a sunny walk-in pantry complete with plenty of storage, prep-friendly countertops, and lots of character, thanks to its colorful checkered tile and yellow shelves.
Beyond the pantry's Dutch door, Coleman replaced the oddly angled island in the kitchen with a rectangular one painted a perky blue. The vibrant shade stands out against the kitchen's second major moment: walls lined in Mexican tiles designed by Coleman, each hand-painted with delicate corner flowers. Up against the tile, a green-and-white patio-striped banquette lines one side of the vintage dining table, bringing another happy hue into a kitchen that's now both as easy to navigate and as chic as its owners had dreamed.
The brass pot rail from Devol is a practical and beautiful place to keep tools.
Meta Coleman chose the Nostalgie 48-inch Ilve range in antique white and brass for "the classic timelessness of its design." Tile: custom. Cabinets: Oregon Trail Remodeling. Faucet: Waterworks. Island paint: Stone Blue, Farrow & Ball. Shades: Lewis & Wood. Banquette fabric: Flora Soames.
Alternating green accents on knobs and insets brighten up oak cabinets. A poplar hutch in a custom green stain complements the oak French doors.
The red Saltillo tile floor is one of the few aspects of the old kitchen Coleman kept.
Behind this custom wood casing–inspired by a 19th-century Eastern European marriage hutch—lives a refrigerator and freezer. The curved doors on either side conceal a charging station and pantry space. Paint: Berber White (hutch), Benjamin Moore and Creamy (ceiling), Sherwin-Williams. Lighting: Schoolhouse.
Pantry
Cabinet skirts soften the space while offering ready access to shelves.
There's ample room for meal prep on the walnut counter. Tile: custom, Balineum. Paint: House White, Farrow & Ball. Fabric: Antoinette Poisson.
"This color looks great with the adjacent blue and brown tiles," says Coleman. Paint: Sudbury Yellow, Farrow & Ball. Table: vintage. Baskets: Basket Lady.
