A Kitchen With Personality

At first glance, Kristy Socarras Bigelow and Brian Bigelow’s Denver kitchen looks pretty classic—subway tiles, open shelves, oak floors. But a closer inspection reveals this room is far from ordinary. When the Bigelows started designing their kitchen, they contemplated a neutral palette. “I loved the idea of a clean and simple room, but I knew I wouldn’t be happy unless it had some spunk,” says Kristy.

There’s a breakfast nook with seat-to-ceiling tiles in graphic patterns, a nod to Kristy’s Cuban heritage. There’s an armoire painted aqua and bright yellow chairs. “What can I say? I’m from Miami—I can’t live without color!” says Kristy, who owns three trendy Cuban restaurants in Colorado.

Now the space has just the right ratio of splashy to subdued. Brian and Kristy with kids (from left) Leelé, 6, Mitchell, 10, and Giana, 4, love sitting around the breakfast table.

A 32-inch-by-46-inch window is surrounded by a patchwork of 8-inch-square cement tiles from cubantropicaltile.com. “I wanted it to look a little crazy but also have cohesive parts,” says Kristy. She figured out the design by laying the tiles on the floor first.