Old World Look for a New World Condo

When the architectural molding company she was working with didn't have carved table legs thick enough to suit designer Connie Schey's needs, she opted to use fireplace columns beneath the kitchen bar and table in an Old World kitchen design.

"I kind of made that up," says Connie, who felt like she needed the heft and the ornamentation to continue a theme she developed with lots of ornate molding, distressed cabinets and a Jerusalem stone floor.

Connie, a designer for Insignia Kitchen and Bath in Barrington, Ill., shares the story of this unusual design and gives tips for bringing a similar look to a more modest kitchen:

The biggest challenge to the charming design: "I was working on a kitchen in a condo on the 10th floor in a building with no construction elevators," she says. "I was running up and down the stairs carrying 12-foot pieces of molding and I had to split the cabinet to fit it into the ordinary elevator. Plus, the place was 45 years old and I wasn't able to move any plumbing for the design."