Kelly Tivey Interior Design has received a Silver Award in the Residential Modern/Contemporary Kitchen category at the 40th Anniversary Design Excellence Awards, presented by the ASID California Peninsula Chapter. The award recognizes the Bay Meadows Chef’s Kitchen, a project that took a heavy, dated kitchen and turned it into a streamlined, warm-modern space designed around how the household cooks, gathers, and moves through the home.
About the award
The Design Excellence Awards are judged online and anonymously by design professionals from outside the chapter. Judges score each entry on presentation clarity and quality, design appropriateness, and how well design elements and principles are integrated. Gold, silver, and bronze go to the three highest-scoring entries in each category, so a silver means this kitchen ranked second in its category.
The challenge
The original kitchen followed a Tuscan style that felt heavy and dated, and it did not match the clients’ preference for streamlined, modern spaces. A dropped ceiling over the range, builder-grade short cabinetry, and an underused built-in desk closed in the room and limited how it worked. Traffic flow suffered as well. A cat-feeding station blocked the path through the butler’s pantry, and an unsightly drop zone at the main entry collected clutter.
BEFORE
BEFORE
DURING
The solution
We approached the kitchen as a set of connected zones, each solving a specific problem:
Modern materials: Inset, rift-cut oak in a natural finish, paired with bold black accents. Marble-look surfaces, including a waterfall island, add visual warmth alongside durable porcelain.
Clean architecture: We removed the dropped ceiling and the builder-grade details, and replaced them with full-height cabinetry, angular lines, and simple forms.
A beverage hub: Dedicated refrigeration, a coffee bar, hidden appliance storage, and temperature-controlled wine storage sit along a single high-traffic workflow.
A pet station: A custom, waterproof alcove with integrated power holds an automatic feeder, which clears the path through the dining room.
Storage at the entry: The unused desk became an enclosed cabinet system for jackets and gear, which ends the clutter at the entry.
A bistro nook: The traditional kitchen nook became a bistro-style seating area with a banquette and a round table, suited to breakfast and to evening entertaining.
AFTER
The result
The remodel moves the kitchen from a generic builder-grade space to a warm-modern room that works for the people who use it every day, including the household’s cat. The judges recognized that balance of style and function, and we’re proud to see the work honored.
