A kitchen with a peninsula: the perfect balance between spaces and styles

A kitchen with a peninsula: the perfect balance between spaces and styles

A kitchen with a peninsula becomes the focal point of the open-space living area overlooking Val Seriana. With its L-shaped layout, it interacts with the living area through the marble-effect peninsula and with the entrance through double-sided furniture that creates a transition zone.

Kitchen with a peninsula in matte white lacquered MDF with a stoneware countertop

The layout of the kitchen with a peninsula: volumes of varying heights combine functionality with a dynamic aesthetic.

Although designed as an open space, the sequence of volumes with varying heights creates distinct areas, each with its own function. The arrangement of taller columns virtually defines a separate space while still interacting with the adjacent area through shared furnishings.

Entryway unit with an open compartment in gold leaf and an internal hanging section

The most immediate example is the entryway area. A filtering element is created by the kitchen’s double-sided columns: the first serves as a coat rack with shelves, while the second is divided into two compartments. The upper section features an open niche covered in gold leaf, standing out for its ability to reflect light from the large front windows and its refined aesthetic.
This element showcases attention to detail—from the shadow gap that visually separates it from the rest of the unit, to the glass shelves, and the double-depth back panel that houses integrated LED lighting, creating a subtle visual detachment.

Horizontal hanging detail of the entryway unit
Detail of the open compartment covered in gold leaf with a black shadow gap and glass shelf
Entryway unit with open doors in matte white lacquer and an open compartment in gold leaf
Entryway unit closed in matte white lacquer with an open compartment in gold leaf
Entryway area, front view of the double-sided divider unit

On the opposite side, the double-sided use of the columns serves the kitchen with a full-height pantry compartment. The column layout continues on the adjacent side, housing the oven column (traditional and microwave) and a freestanding double-door refrigerator. The black aesthetic line creates both a chromatic and material contrast.
Encasing these elements are doors with internal shelves and a drawer beneath the ovens, which includes an additional internal drawer for extra storage.

Double-sided entryway unit pantry with a closed lacquered door
Pantry entryway unit double sided interior shelves

The kitchen layout continues with base cabinets distributed along two sides of the space, parallel to the wall units. Connecting these elements is the marble-effect stoneware countertop with a matching backsplash.

In the corner, an undermount sink is positioned, flanked on one side by the dishwasher and on the other by a set of three service drawers. The peninsula is equipped with a cooking area featuring an induction cooktop with an integrated hood, beneath which drawers are arranged for accessories. Doors with internal shelves and front pull-out units ensure maximum optimization of this kitchen with a peninsula.

Kitchen with a peninsula, marble-effect stoneware countertop, lacquered doors, and Lacobel wall units
Drawers under the oven column
pull-out-corner-basket-lacquered-doors
front-pull-out-condiment-rack

The peninsula area becomes the key point of connection and interaction with the living space. This is achieved through a service column with a reduced depth, featuring height-adjustable internal shelves accessible from the outer side.
The peninsula is equipped with a snack counter, shaped at the structural base below. It serves both as a workspace and as a spot for quick breakfasts and meals, ensuring functionality and flexibility while maintaining a sleek and elegant aesthetic.

Kitchen with a peninsula, cooktop, and integrated hood

From the stoneware countertop to the lacquered doors: elegant materials

The choice of materials and colors for this kitchen with a peninsula aligns with the overall aesthetic, where modern elegance meets French-inspired details. This is evident in the gold accents, used sparingly for select highlights. Among these are the open compartment in the entryway, the recessed spotlights in the ceiling, and the pendant lights above the peninsula. Another refined touch is the oak parquet flooring, laid in a French herringbone pattern exclusively in the living area.

Complementing these elements, the kitchen stands out for its neutral tones and brightness. The tall unit and base doors are made of matte white lacquered MDF, while the horizontally oriented wall units feature a white Lacobel finish, echoing the glossy surface of the stoneware countertop. The under-cabinet LED lighting not only enhances functionality during food preparation but also accentuates the kitchen’s horizontal design.
The Calacatta Macchia Vecchia marble-effect stoneware from Ariostea lends grace to the countertop, particularly in the peninsula area. Here, the slim 12mm thickness emphasizes a deliberate lightness, in harmony with the apartment’s overall design.

Thin stoneware kitchen countertop
Kitchen with a peninsula, marble-effect stoneware snack counter in Macchia Vecchia
White kitchen with a peninsula and stoneware countertop

This kitchen with a peninsula is not just a functional element within the home but becomes the focal point of a dialogue between spaces, materials, and design details. Thanks to its configuration, it successfully balances practicality and aesthetics, seamlessly integrating into the living area while maintaining its own identity.

The choice of materials, finishes, and attention to detail give it a refined and contemporary character, striking the perfect balance between elegance and functionality.
Other examples of kitchens with a peninsula: one where shades of gray meet wood, another seamlessly integrated into a tavern-style setting with a bold and youthful character, and one nestled among the gray tones of an attic with charming antique accents.

Modern style: rigorous, elegant and prestigious

Modern style: rigorous, elegant and prestigious

The modern style links the vision of interior design to architecture, in a relationship of mutual collaboration. Between rigorous furnishings, bright rooms and a prestigious appearance, the modern-style interiors express timeless elegance.

The modern style in history: the masters of design

To fully understand the modern style, it is useful to take a few steps back in time to its historical origins.
We are between the two World Wars in a context of renewal that involves the formal plan of architecture, but also urban planning and design.

Under the classification of Modern Movement, also known as International Style, belong the currents De Stijl, Bauhaus, Constructivism and Italian Rationalism.
The main exponents are architects of the caliber of Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, Mies Van Der Rohe, Alvar Aalto and Walter Gropius.

Starting from a strong conception of architecture as an organic structure in relation to the external context to which it belongs, the Modern Movement also sees the house for its social use and not just as a family unit. Frank Lloyd Wright with his organic architecture gives excellent examples.
Among these, the Waterfall House, designed in its architectural conformation in strong relationship with the surrounding geological and natural context. Each element is configured both on the architectural level and on the interior design level based on a strong contamination between inside and outside. In doing this, the choice of proportions based on the human figure is fundamental.

Natural materials combined with organic shapes that favor horizontality, but also harmony and brightness become the key principles of the Modern Movement. Instead, the priority need is to achieve the best functionality of the building, which can also determine its aesthetic beauty.
In doing this, the house frees itself from the unitary vision to which it was accustomed to take on a social meaning in relation to the surrounding buildings.
The extreme example is the building that itself becomes a city, as in the case of Le Corbusier’s Unitè d’Habitation.

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Eileen Gray’s E-1027 House, a modern style living room with iconic piece of furniture.

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Left: modern style living area (Photo: Andrew Pielage, Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation)
Right: Fallinwater House by Frank Lloyd Wright (Photo: courtesy of the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy)

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Villa Savoye by le Corbusier. The relationship between inside and outside is expressed in bright rooms and ribbon windows

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unitè-habitation-marsilla-le-corbusier_esterno

Unitè D’Habitation, Le Corbusier. The building becomes a social community by offering, in addition to the family housing units, all the services necessary for individual life.

Modern style furniture: the strong relationship with architecture

The modern-style interiors both in the course of history and in the contemporary context are based on a strong relationship with the architectural context in which they are inserted.
This is how bright environments are created. Here, the exterior constantly communicates with the interior through functional choices that also justify the aesthetics.
Therefore, windows can take on a more elongated shape and it occupy a higher position than the standard ones. This allows the entry of natural light, which will obviously be studied according to the optimal orientation of the house, but at the same time allow the inhabitants not to be seen from the outside.

The subdivision of the rooms between the sleeping and living areas is based on a logic that considers the orientation of the house and its visibility or protection from external factors.
The hearth is definitely a central point in the design of a modern style home.
A place of aggregation and socializing, it expresses hospitality and intimacy at the same time, creating a strong suggestive interior.
For this reason, in modern homes par excellence it occupies the central position with respect to the living area, becoming the fulcrum for the arrangement of the remaining rooms.

 attic entrance

The living area of ​​this modern style attic with the iconic chaise longue designed by Le Corbusier

vertical living room

Modern style kitchen and living room with reflective materials and simple lines for this Modulor creation

Fine living room view

A modern living area on the bottom of which an elegant wall with a three-dimensional effect is identified

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 cabinets-corridor-finishing-elegant-modern-style

The equipped corridors of this Modulor realization express their modernity in the choice of material.
Soft and textured to the touch and extremely elegant to the eye.

Modulor modern kitchen in dark tones_01

Una cucina moderna firmata Modulor con particolare attenzione alla scelta cromatica e materica

Shapes, colors and materials between past and present

The choice of materials in a modern style also comes from the contamination between inside and outside.
Great importance is given to materials capable of enhancing the brightness of environments through their reflective and brilliant surface, even better if of natural origin.

Wood knows its maximum expression both in the traditional form of the Modern Movement and in its contemporary conception.
Chosen for its malleability and natural aesthetics, it brings the exterior directly into the home interior, also molding itself into irregular shapes. Over the years, it has also known the polishing treatments and the recent painting that make it possible to obtain reflective surfaces capable of giving brightness to the environment.

Neutral tones are favored, starting with the classic white, but colored variants are also welcome especially in the current years. In this sense, it is important to underline how the contemporary trend in the modern style prefers monochromatic colors and tone-on-tone games that opt ​​for desaturated colors.
Prestigious and elegant interiors that do not, however, give up a touch of color capable of giving character to the rooms.

The design forms abandon their rigidity and linearity in favor of simple but sometimes irregular solutions. To enrich a modern style home, the icons of Modern design cannot be missing. Here then are seats with leather padding and chromed aluminum structure with slender lines.

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Materials, finishes and aesthetics of the modern style, including upholstery in warm-colored leather and chromed aluminum

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The attention to detail of this wall is expressed in an elegant and monochromatic three-dimensional surface inserted in a prestigious Milanese apartment.
Inside there is a door identifiable by the handle with soft modern shapes.

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In the modern style of recent years, the great icons of design are often inserted in environments that are more daring, not only with neutral colors but also desaturated colors with a timeless beauty

The rediscovery of modern style

In recent years the modern style has undergone a great revaluation. The soft but rigorous shapes of the design icons of the Thirties are back in vogue in a contemporary reinterpretation proposed by the main brands.

Just think of the Five To Nine dormeuse proposal, born from the Studiopepe project for Tacchini (2020) or the Camaleonda modular sofa designed by Mario Bellini for B&B Italia (2020). But also, the new Pacific (project by Patricia Urquiola for Moroso) and Soriana (design by Tobie and Afra Bianchin Scarpa for Cassina) both launched on the market during Digital Design Week 2021.

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Tacchini-FivetoNine-Studiopepe

Soriana, Tobia Scarpa and Afra Bianchin Scarpa, Cassina, 2021
Five to Nine, Studiopepe, Tacchini, 2020

With its rigorous and prestigious interiors, the modern style is aimed directly at personalities who love architecture and its relationship with nature. Characterized by a timeless beauty, it is aimed at rigorous characters but at the same time open to new changes.

A cerulean blue modern kitchen

A cerulean blue modern kitchen

The cerulean blue hue defines the stylistic firm of this modern kitchen, set on dark wood tones with brass finishes. The care of detail gives shape to an extremely elegant project, modern in aesthetics and contemporary in settings.

Modulor modern kitchen with dark tones_01

The on-view composition

An interior that becomes furniture. The design of this kitchen diverges from the traditional vision of the closed room to become an open space composed of different volumes.
The main block is a visual union of the low volume in ribbed wood set between wall units with a vertical subdivision and full-height columns.

The common thread that contain the perception of the environment is the brass base, taken from the light and linear handles.
The island block with rounded shapes and overhang countertop, elegantly conforms to the main volume, despite a stylistic change in the design forms.

Indeed, it is this difference between the straight and geometric shapes of the back unit and the rounding of the profile in the central island that defines the stylistic imprint of this kitchen.

The traditional closing shoulder is replaced by a recessed library that visually lightens the perception of the kitchen characterizing the furniture. A full-height bookcase compartment that alternates shelves in a well-balanced geometric composition.

recessed bookcase side abutment
bookcase abutment division sleeping area
Modulor modern kitchen with dark tones_02

Functionality and aesthetics in symbiosis

Not only the general volumetric setting, but also the internal organization demonstrates a perfect relationship between functionality and aesthetics.

As a demonstration of this, the central island is equipped with rounded corner doors in order to make the best use of each available corners.
Shaped white shelves stand out among the dark tones and blue doors of this modern kitchen, showing all their functionality. The choice of appliances is also avant-garde, as for example the induction hob with attached extractor hood that reduces the functional components to the essential in favor of visual essentiality without sacrificing the practicality.

Modular kitchen island ribbed wood
open door with shaped shelves

Colors and materials

Cerulean blue matt lacquered MDF, dark ribbed wood and brass are the protagonists of this modern kitchen in which dark tones are chosen for their elegance.

A rigorous environment that is being fascinated by contemporary functionality.

The chosen shade of blue, extremely modern, is enriched with a warm appearance especially when combined with the dark-dyed ribbed.

It is precisely the materiality in the latter’s finish that enriches the main volumes of the kitchen with movement and rhythm.

The brass of skirting boards and handles, underlines the design lines with a precious character that gives refinement to the project.

Modulor materialboard
Modulor modern kitchen with dark tones front view
Modulor materials finishes

Advice

The choice of colors and materials often defines the character of an interior. We are often intimidated by intense colors and dark tones, especially if imagined on large surfaces. The final impact can instead reserve great surprises, and give a touch of freshness and modernity.
Here is another example, in this case a dark gray kitchen with oak inserts.

An interior between soft pink, white and gray

An interior between soft pink, white and gray

A warm and welcoming interior characterized by soft pink shades, capable of warming hearts of those who live there. Containing elements that divide the spaces match to these.

entrance hall pink and white with divider

CONCEPT

For the project we worked mainly on the very large and square-cut living room, which represents the most airy and used room in this apartment of a young family. We divided it into zones, a total of four, by identifying the activities that should have been carried out there. The first, at the entrance, is dedicated to the hospitality, with a two faces furniture: on one side, a pocket tray and shelves, for keys and objects to be placed as soon as you arrive home and on the other, a coat rack, for the coats and shoes of the family and guests. The second zone is reserved at the symbolic play of the childrens and their intimate reading moment. The third one is intended for the mother, as a work area. A retractable desk combined with storage elements on the side that can be used to serve the kitchen. The fourth, last but not least, is dedicated to relaxation. A large central island sofa that is illuminated by external light and frontally a cabinet with retractable TV and storage compartments. The need was also to have open libraries available in which to dispose of the wide range of family books and also storage spaces where to put games, but also everyday objects. For this reason, we have created a corridor at the entrance that screens the activities of the living area and welcomes the visitor and directs him to the other areas of the house.

living room pink and gray
living room pink and gray 02

COLORS AND MATERIALS

The main color chosen for the walls of the entire apartment is a soft pink, matches with walls of a slightly more decisive antique pink. Become fashionable once again, it is associated with positivity and the ability to drive away negative thoughts, from a symbolic point of view. In combination with it, for the furnishings of the living area, very modern elements have been chosen, with hidden recessed handles and push compartments. The shades of white with some soft gray inserts perfectly fit with pink illuminating the environment and making it timelessly elegant. In the master bedroom, on the other hand, the wardrobes facing the bed that go to the ceiling are soft pink like the rest of the walls and seem to disappear in the general environment; only the bedside tables with their strongest pink focus attention.

forniture living room
forniture living room close
forniture living room open
living room pink white gray