By Monica Jones

Photos By David Dietrich

The kitchen could easily win awards for being the most challenging room in the house to remodel. Not only are you inconvenienced in more ways than you can imagine, but the bank balance at the end of the project can leave you feeling rather shell-shocked. Is a budget as large as the national debt inevitable when it comes to remodeling a kitchen? Not if you’re Harry Deaton.

And Harry would know. She’s been working as an interior decorator for the longest time, commuting back and forth from a small town in Tennessee to the Western North Carolina area for over 15 years. Recently, she decided to put an end to the commute and buy a place in Hendersonville—after all, that’s where all her clients are. Harry is straightforward, tells it like it is and gets on with the job. She’s creative, fun-loving and pragmatic and her home definitely reflects her character.

"When we bought this house about a year ago, we knew it needed a lot of work," she says, "but we gutted the house and put it back together again in about six weeks." Deaton doesn’t lack for ideas in putting together a home, but funds were definitely limited. And when it came to the kitchen project…well, she knew she had to pull a hat trick.

The kitchen space was tiny, but with a large sledge hammer and some serious reevaluation of the space, Harry and husband Joe demolished a basement staircase, moved a wall, took out a door or two and opened up the kitchen to a reasonably workable size. "It’s still little, but it’s all we need," she says.

Ten layers of old linoleum were removed to reveal the original oak floors, and the old plaster walls and ceilings were given a knockdown finish (a textured plaster technique) to hide some of the imperfections and stress cracks. "The knockdown texture is very forgiving," says Harry, who interspersed the same treatment with flat surfaces throughout the house to add more interest, "and besides, I like the way it looks."

Having worked with clients on their kitchens for so many years, Deaton has always stressed that the most important part of planning an efficient kitchen is to sit down with a kitchen designer to discuss needs and best use of space. She considers herself no different. "Believe me, it’s the most important step," she says, "and it’s money well spent. Thanks to Christy Cooke of GBS Lumber, we got the most use of this space and there’s not an inch wasted.

"You need to know what will work, and what won’t. All the planning has to be done down to the tiniest little inch. You need the specs of the appliances you’re going to use so you don’t have big gaps between the counter and the stove, and you need to know whether the dishwasher is going to be able to open without hitting the island—things like that. No matter how expensive or inexpensive you go, the planning is part of the service and I highly recommend that you use it. I have storage out the yin-yang thanks to Christy."

As a designer, Harry’s trademark color is Glidden’s "Salsa Red," and true to form, her kitchen walls and ceilings are painted that rich, vibrant color. The cabinets are maple, with concealed hinges, and the island is finished in distressed black. Husband Joe refinished an old corner "appliance garage" that they’d "lugged around for years," to match the island.

When it came to appliances and fittings, Harry kept them affordable. The Danby wine chiller in the island came from Sam’s Club, the Broan range hood and the rest of the appliances (all KitchenAid) came from Lowe’s, as did the hardware. "I saved a bundle on buying Lowe’s hardware instead of paying extra for the high-end product, but I blew my budget on the recycled glass tile from Salon Blue Ridge," she laughs. "I couldn’t help myself. I’m there all the time with clients and I just fell in love with it."

A large reclaimed light fixture hangs over the island, and a hanger from an old meat locker, found in a Charleston antique shop, has a renewed life as a pot rack over the sink. "They used to hang sides of meat on it," says Harry. "It weighs a ton, but it fit the space beautifully. Joe’s a big man and does most of the cooking, so it saves him from crawling under cabinets to find pots and pans."

The ergonomically minded Deatons raised their dishwasher, which not only adds architectural interest, it’s also more practical. "Joe did it in our other house and it makes it so much easier to empty," says Harry. "We really thought it out. All it requires is a box underneath—there’s a fake drawer-front on it—and the dishwasher slides right out if you need to service it."

Flanking a long cabinet is a large antique mirror (missing its base) and a painting of Marilyn Monroe. The cabinet is actually two old cabinets reclaimed from the Landmark Building in Hendersonville, which Joe reworked to look like one. They now house some of Harry’s collectibles and cookbooks. "The alternative was a boring pantry," she says, "but this is much more interesting."

By mixing affordable fittings with more costly ones, new items with reclaimed treasures, and using imagination, creativity and daring to try something a little out of the ordinary, Deaton has pulled together a lively eclectic kitchen that—although small in space—resonates abundant warmth, geniality and charm. Rather like its owner.