Barbara Bowers is a designer and mosaic artist, gifted with the ability to take disparate elements, see the big picture and create a unified whole. So when she and her husband Roswell decided to undertake the renovation of their newly purchased home outside Brevard, it was clear that a cookie-cutter approach simply would not do.

The kitchen, in particular, was in need of restructuring — good bones, ample space and a terrific view — but lacking warmth and livability. "The house was great, structurally," notes Ros, "but it was very formal — almost like a museum."

"It was very intriguing," agrees Mary Adams of Cocoon Interiors, who worked with the Bowers on the project, "but there were a lot of space issues. The way we live today, we want different amenities, so the first challenge was how to work with the footprint they had, but change the layout to accommodate their lifestyle."

The original kitchen had a very traditional arrangement: a single doorway linking it to the great room, a long, narrow island and a standard sink-beneath-the-window configuration.

Barbara had other ideas.

"The kitchen was basically closed off," Barbara notes. "But this is a place where we spend a lot of time and we wanted to gather people together." The solution was to reconfigure the space to integrate the functional aspects of the kitchen with informal dining and a seating area for relaxation and conversation, allowing family and friends to remain a part of the action without interfering with it.

"It’s a live-in kitchen that harkens back to the early days of log cabins where you had everything going on in one room," says Adams. "Barb and Ros love to entertain, and that is one of the key differences from the original set up of the house. It’s been translated into a space that’s designed to make entertaining easy, comfortable and relaxed. There’s a great flow to it."

The restrictive wall between the kitchen and great room was removed, and wide corridors opened around a stand-alone median which houses the Viking six-burner gas cooktop with center grill. The staggered cornices and decorative detail of the surrounding knotty alder cabinetry give the impression of a piece of fine furniture, while providing storage and concealing the range hood behind an arched and paneled façade.

With the console establishing the boundary, a massive island was designed to anchor the kitchen space. Enclosed in creamy white cabinetry, it features a work level, 6-foot-by- 7-foot slab of Wild West Green granite from Brazil and a raised, hand-crafted black walnut breakfast bar by Craft-Art in Atlanta. "The wood countertop is one of my favorite things in the kitchen," says Barbara. "It’s so tactile — every time I walk in here I just want to run my hands over it."

"We were a bit concerned because the island has a rather large footprint," says Adams, "but by breaking it up with different levels and materials, it gives you a lot of functional space for preparation and entertaining. The layout allowed us to incorporate the oven, the dishwasher and the sink all in that one area, which left us a lot of wall space for storage and prep areas."

Appliances were chosen to provide convenience and flexibility. The recessed sink features a tall gooseneck faucet, which makes cleanups easy, and a second faucet that provides instant piping hot or icy cold water on demand. While the island houses a built-in Bosch dishwasher and extra large 36-inch Viking oven, Barbara also installed a convection microwave in the "coffee niche" next to the fridge. "I love it because when it’s just my husband and me, I can even bake in the microwave," she notes, "but when I need two full ovens, I have the capability."

Practicality may have guided many of the design decisions, but some were strictly intuitive and aesthetic. "Barb’s eye brings a lot of artistic detail into the room," says Adams. "It was often an emotional response to things that fell right in place: Early American touches, Provencal, South of the Border." Among her signature touches is an English wrought iron chandelier above the island, powered by beeswax candles rather than electricity.

Creative thinking is a key feature of Barbara’s overall vision. "I have a bit of a contemporary side to me; I didn’t want it to be too overwhelmingly "country." So the countertops bring that in, although they might not be what others would have chosen for this space. We also chose to use several different tones of wood," says Barbara, "and varied the heights of the cabinets to give it a more eclectic look. Most people think that the black china cabinets are actually furniture, rather than installed components." Adams adds, "It’s sort of a mixture between a fitted and an unfitted kitchen."

A warm, autumnal palette, polished oak floors, custom ceiling beams designed and installed by contractor Steven Blythe’s woodworking foreman Tim O’Shields and a fieldstone fireplace cultivate an embracing atmosphere of warmth and intimacy.

"My favorite time is when my children are visiting," Barbara says with a smile. "My son Robert is a really talented amateur chef. He and I always get together, plan the menu and work together in the kitchen while my husband and daughter sit, read and relax by the fire." And that’s when all the pieces come together to form a very pleasant picture indeed.