Alison Victoria's Best Kitchen Design Ideas

What does the quintessential Chicago-style kitchen look like? Alison Victoria’s so glad you asked. On Windy City Rehab, she combines historic elements and design motifs with contemporary layouts and amenities to suit 21st-century palates — and the spaces she serves up won’t spoil over time. If your own kitchen feels a bit bland, consider this a tasting menu of her very best work; then re-season to taste.

While renovating this 1890s Chicago townhouse, Alison focused on classic themes to preserve the home's traditional elements and vintage vibe. In the kitchen, however, she leaned into modern touches: a clean, white palette, stainless appliances and a streamlined look.

Corbels are architectural brackets typically extending out from a wall or vertical surface, designed to support the weight of structural pieces such as beams, headers, balconies or (in interior applications) shelves, mantels, etc. They're often found in Victorian, Gothic, Italianate and Romanesque architecture and ornately designed and crafted to add visual interest to spaces, inside or out. For this reno, Alison played off the kitchen's modern design by incorporating traditional corbels as decorative supports beneath the island's stone countertops. It's a functional and stylistic accent that honors the home's traditional roots.

Drawing further from the home's historic roots, Alison installed a heavy vintage-style door for the kitchen's pantry entrance. The piece not only brings in architectural interest, but the rich wood tone adds a warm, softening element in the predominantly white kitchen.

The homeowners of this 1911 townhouse in Chicago's North Center neighborhood requested a high-end and sophisticated look that wasn't too formal or ornate, so Alison focused on open spaces, refined use of lighting and custom fireplaces. The renovated kitchen features gray granite countertop offset by rich dark wood for the island's lower section, brass fixtures in matte finish and open shelving. Distinctive brass sconces on either side of the vent hood add warmth to a space that otherwise may have felt stark.

The luxurious marble backsplash, large-scale vent hood and expansive island surface all contribute to a heightened sense of depth and movement in this kitchen — one that extends into the open-adjacent dining area and mudroom. With its smart layout and design, the refurbished kitchen is both beautiful and chef-friendly. “If I had a dream of a perfect kitchen, this is it," the homeowner told Alison after the renovation was complete. "It's stunning."

The glass-front cabinet doors above the dry-bar in this kitchen were salvaged following the demo of another of Alison's projects. Painted in matte black, they provide a distinctive contrast when paired with the white backsplash and light-toned wood of the lower cabinets. The upper cabinetry was fashioned by artisan and carpenter Danny Diaz. The style mimics the painted window and door frames that are also part of this renovation.

Alison transformed this formerly cramped kitchen into a spacious showplace as part of the ambitious renovation/expansion of a 1932 North Park cottage — which doubled the square footage of the original home. The veined marble countertops and matching backsplash, industrial grade fridge, warm Shaker-style cabinetry and clear globe pendants all add up to a modern, airy and luxe kitchen.

A palatial brass hood and a 60-inch double range balance separate fridge-freezer columns in Alison's most personal renovation to date. She carried a Parisian ambiance through her entire Chicago-based warehouse-turned-home — which means bold, natural colors and vintage touches. "Bringing green [into my designs] is so important to me ... it just exudes calmness and happiness and life and energy," Alison says.

This marble sink is a dream fulfilled for Alison. Antique, earthy veining prompts memories of worn cafe tables along cobblestone streets. The veining also takes form in floating shelves, a waterfall edge island and a cabinet niche crafted from the sumptuous slab.

Another place close to Alison's heart: her old home in Chicago, featured in HGTV Magazine. FYI, that’s not really a thick slab of marble on the island — it’s a countertop with mitered edges, a smart way to fake the look that involves joining together thinner pieces of stone. The waterfall edges on either side make it look even more luxe.

Where there’s no history, bring it in. Alison framed her coffee and shelving nook with an arch and antique corbels, which date back to the early 1900s. Now, the new build feels like it’s been around forever. Another cool touch: The coffee bar counter is a salvaged piece of 200-year-old walnut — it even has a lead bullet from a musket in it.

The new-build Georgia home Alison outfitted with contracting powerhouse Mike Holmes for the second season of Rock the Block boasts a magnificent kitchen. Alison and Mike infused it with Old World atmosphere by installing a brick arch and wall above and behind the range, adding furniture feet and custom cabinetry to the island and crisscrossing the ceiling with exposed beams.

See what we mean? Alison and Mike created what might now be the loveliest pantry passageway in Georgia by arching the doorway and adding graceful molding and cornices to maximize atmosphere. Those details make this brand-new home feel like an old soul (don’t be jealous, Alison’s Chicago properties).

While Alison may not have single-handedly created this bright cook space (her Battle on the Beach Season 3 team gets the honors), she had a major impact on the final design. To make the kitchen the focal point of the home, Alison and her team flipped it with the living room, enhancing functionality and flow. A lifted ceiling outfitted with joists brings airy appeal — as do the vibrant green cabinets.

Another Battle on the Beach stunner: this airy kitchen with an Old World twist from Season 2. When Alison's team's budget got a little tight, the planned stone archway over the stove hung in the balance. Alison convinced her team to dip into their funds for an extra $1,000, knowing it was a must. The result: an eye-catching focal point that helped name Team Alison the week one winners.

Alison also competed in Rock the Block Season 1 and spent a significant chunk of her renovation budget on this part of the home. The kitchen is “dripping in luxury,” as Alison put it. The gleaming gold appearance of her island and floating shelves is from brass shim stock, a thin layer of actual brass that imparts a cost-effective-yet-decadent finish — and lets a renovator dedicate most of their funds to other design elements, like waterfall-edge quartz, a microwave drawer and a porcelain sink.

It’s easy to imagine the ever-changing hues of Lake Michigan infusing this kitchen, where barely-there blue in the living room gives way to mist-gray cabinetry and a pair of vintage-inspired chrome pendants that recall ships’ fixtures. Gleaming chrome finishes continue through a goose-neck faucet in the island’s sink, another vintage-inspired piece at the sink beneath the window and along the cabinets.

This elegant kitchen features an angled interior wall that creates an intimate prep space and breakfast nook beyond the dining area. The distinctions between this room and the rest of the home’s high-ceilinged, open-plan ground floor are visual rather than architectural: A waterfall-edge peninsula extends the countertop, while dark cabinetry and appliances establish contrast within the larger, paler space.

The kitchen’s centerpiece is a nook anchored with a customized, professional-quality BlueStar range, then framed with upper and lower cabinetry that complements its color and sleek bronze hardware. Dramatic marble slabs form a sleek backsplash, while accessories like a jewel-toned culinary still life, a well-loved bread board, hand-glazed bowls and a vial-filled spice caddy add eclectic warmth.