Erin Martin's Tips for an Airy, Modern Kitchen

Napa Valley interior designer Erin Martin tells how to give any style of kitchen a beautiful sense of balance.

Repeat materials and colors for a unified look

Martin likes the clean, bright-white color of statuary marble, which she used for both the countertops and the hood.

Use metal accents

Martin added rivets on the sandblasted steel backsplash built by JJ Forge and forged-steel rings on the edge of the stainless steel shelf for hanging ladles. 707-987-2400 or jjforge.com.

Pick pendant lamps

"Holes in the ceiling distract your eye," Martin says, so she avoids recessed lighting. She installed "Mania" ceiling fixtures from Studio Italia Design next to the hood and "Lampara" pendants from FontanaArte over the island. $453 per ceiling light, $460 per pendant; 866-428-9289 or ylighting.com.

Think about light and air circulation

Clerestory windows fill the kitchen with natural light; the "Cirrus" fan from Design Within Reach dissipates odors. $430; 800-944-2233 or dwr.com.

Plus: Lessons from Napa's
Top Kitchen Designer

Published April 2010