Back of House is Front of Mind for Kitchen, Bath, and Bar Designer Sarah Blank

Sarah Blank is a kitchen, bath, bar, and Butler’s pantry design expert. Based in Greenwich, Connecticut, Blank has worked on exquisite homes across the country and collaborated with some of the top names in design. Blank and her team’s expertise allow them to approach each project from the basis of a strong technical background, designing spaces that 20 years later function and look as good the day they were created. Blank credits a lifetime of continued learning for her strengths as a designer and the ability to create timeless “back of house” spaces that are as beautiful as they are functional.

Spanish Revival Kitchen by Sarah Blank. Photo by Stacy Bass.

When starting a new project, she first sets out to understand her clients’ needs, goals, and their home’s architectural aesthetic. Often working with the home’s architect and interior designer, she collaborates to ensure the spaces she designs are at one with the rest of the home. Elements from around the house are often incorporated into the kitchen, inspiring the hardware, millwork, finishes, or other various design elements. Especially in the case of historical homes, Blank seeks to respect the home’s aesthetic and original influences.

Master Bathroom by Sarah Blank. Photo by Stacy Bass.

The kitchen and spaces Blank designs are intended to flow externally with the rest of the project and internally to ensure it operates at its highest function. The needs of the client and how they would like to use the space inform Blank’s designs. Questions of how the kitchen will be organized, what appliances are needed, and where they will be stored are asked at the start of the design process, not after. The kitchens’ designs are molded around the clients’ activities, not the other way around.

Scarsdale White Kitchen by Sarah Blank. Photo by Stacy Bass.

The ideal is when a client approaches Blank for a new project before they have moved out of their old homes, when she can see the effects of the continued use of the kitchen, when weaknesses are present, and every drawer or cabinet can be opened to reveal their contents. Everything is measured, analyzed, and recorded. Blank’s goal is to study how the client lives and functions within the space and what design solutions can be incorporated into the next home for more comfortable, enjoyable experiences within the kitchen.

Photo by Carmel Brantley of Sarah Blank’s Kips Bay Decorator Show House Palm Beach 2020 Kitchen.

To properly design the kitchen, Blank must not only get a sense of how the kitchen will be used but also who will primarily be using the kitchen. Numerous times in Blank’s career, the kitchens she designs have been created with the needs of a professional chef in mind, as they will either cook in conjunction with the homeowners or will be the primary users of the respective kitchen. Their needs differ from the typical home cook and therefore require a different set of principles and rules.

Blank recognizes chefs’ preferences for working in tighter spaces, with the range, refrigerator and, pantry right by them, not on the other side of a large kitchen. Rather than having appliances that help to control temperature, heat, or steam, chefs prefer appliances that allow them total control, and therefore, require a separate set of appliances.

Darien Kitchen by Sarah Blank. Photo by Neil Landino.

A common design snafu noticed by Blank when she is called in to redesign or renovate kitchens, is the tendency for the pre-existing kitchens to look beautiful without functionality being of obvious consideration. For example, limited to no storage space, a lacking of countertop for proper workstations, or layouts that create a bottleneck in the traffic patterns of a kitchen. Alternatively, kitchens can be over-designed to a point of impracticality with too many accessories and not enough restraint.

Darien Kitchen by Sarah Blank for Susan Thorn. Photo by Neil Landino.

Blank has been asked if she tires of designing kitchens. Her answer is no. Each kitchen, pantry, bath, or bar offers a unique set of challenges for each client and their specific needs. Since no two people are alike, why should kitchens or other “back of house” spaces be so? Blank’s kitchens offer different personalities and functionalities. However, amongst the many differences, there is one commonality for many kitchens – the color white: a timeless color that imbues the space with a sort of disciplined simplicity. However, Blank recently challenged the tendency to use white in the kitchen during her debut in the prestigious Kips Bay Decorator Show House Palm Beach 2020

Photo by Carmel Brantley of Sarah Blank’s Kips Bay Decorator Show House Palm Beach 2020 Kitchen.

Sarah Blank and her team designed the show house’s kitchen. With a short lead-time of a few months, Blank was able to design an elegant, fully functional, custom kitchen. The kitchen was praised for its incredible color, mixing of materials and styles, and the rethinking of the space’s use. Cabinets were painted in Benjamin Moore’s vibrant Blue Dragon paint and applied with leather panels. A modern Remains Lighting fixture hung over an antique tailor’s table, and a pantry was developed into a wine cellar.

Photo by Carmel Brantley of Sarah Blank’s Kips Bay Decorator Show House Palm Beach 2020 Kitchen.

Blank used the experience to take calculated risks to design a comfortable, colorful Palm Beach kitchen with character. As people spend more and more time in the kitchen, the space she designed was an argument for thinking of the kitchen as less of a utilitarian space and more of a part of the home that could dazzle and delight while also serving a clear purpose. Through her constant analysis of classical architecture and her continued determination to study and learn about varying styles and aesthetics, she has developed an understanding that a beautiful and functional kitchen is not only an integral part of the house’s architecture but also the very heart of the home. Her Kips Bay kitchen as well as the other spaces she designs inspire use, comfort, safety, and timeless beauty. What more can we ask for in a home?

Photo by Carmel Brantley of Sarah Blank’s Kips Bay Decorator Show House Palm Beach 2020 Kitchen.

To learn more about Sarah Blank and her design work, visit sarahblankdesignstudio.com and follow @sarahblankdesign on instagram.