Bri Emery's Playful Kitchen Features Cool Curved Spice Storage

We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs.

Bri Emery of Design Love Fest has never been one to shy away from bold design decisions. (Ahem, remember her shag carpet–covered home office in Los Angeles?) So when she moved across the country to Pound Ridge, New York, last year, she called up the same designer who made her groovy WFH space happen—the brilliant Heather Phillips Spaulding of Sunday Supper Club Creative—and together, the two made magic once more. This time, in Emery’s kitchen.

But instead of going for a psychedelic Summer of Love vibe, Spaulding went all the way back to the 1940s for inspiration, pulling images of the era’s hand-painted furniture and finally presenting Emery with two amazingly named mood boards: Kindred Spearmint and Friends for Clever. They went with the former for the way it was grounded in soothing greens, but they obviously had to add the latter’s candy-stripe edging and Art Deco–leaning curved shapes. The result? A little grandma, a little Memphis, and a space that’s totally Emery. Here’s how it all came together.

Keep What You Can

Before photos of a kitchen with wood cabinets and a chandelier

Before kitchen images with cabinets and chandelier

The kitchen wasn’t a full demo, and Spaulding knew she wanted to keep some of the upper and lower cabinets. To freshen them up, she gave them a minty-cool wash of Benjamin Moore’s Cucumber Salad. And while the corner cabinet may look old-fashioned, it’s a new build that’s sleeker than the clunky rectangular ones that were there before—plus now it’s a pretty place to display booze.

Go With the Flow

Before image of kitchen with L-shaped island

Curved open shelving to display spice jars

Previously, the kitchen and dining room stayed divided by a half wall, but Spaulding’s goal was to connect the two in a way that felt cohesive and cool. The one thing standing in her way? “There was this weird post that the countertop wraps around,” she says. She couldn’t remove it, so she built around it, covering it in the same Zia tile as the backsplash and creating open shelving that would spill into the dining room. As for the curve it created? It’s now a spice rack.

Lean Nostalgic, Not Grandma

Big Chill refrigerator in a custom sage green color

Vintage-looking appliances, wood paneling, and hand-painted furniture—it can all look pretty dated, fast. “We all love a dose of grandma,” Spaulding says, “but it’s all about finding a balance.” To keep things looking 2023 and beyond, she kept everything else earthy, like the terracotta floor tile and the butcher block island countertop. (The rest of the kitchen’s surfaces are Durat.) Above the counter, two Huey Prairie pendant lamps shed some light on the whole situation. And in the dining area, a clean-line table and velvet chairs keep a cool balance. “The whole thing was a little risky,” she says. But to everyone’s delight, it was a risk that paid off.