When they purchased the modest-sized, woodland house in Towson, Md., from an interior designer in 1999 for $570,000, businessman David Watts and his wife, Nancy Watts—aged 59 and 58, respectively—fell in love with its natural wood finishes, especially the hewed cedar walls and beautiful chestnut beams in the family room.
Over the years, they complemented the rustic elements with additions of their own, including naturally shed elk and deer antlers from their property, repurposed as cabinet hardware.
“Yet, while the other spaces largely echoed the woods around, the white kitchen stuck out like a sore thumb,” says Mrs. Watts.
“They wanted the kitchen to be reflective of the surrounding nature.
We opted for warm woods in raw, unfussy forms, and smooth limestone-like finishes for the floors,” says Ms. Smith-Shiflett.