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Quality ingredients

STEPHEN SETTE-DUCATI To make the most of his small kitchen, Christian Draz had cherry cabinets custom-built to fit the tight space.

IT DOESN'T MATTER whether you are a Julia Child wannabe who throws elaborate dinner parties or the type of cook who can't heat soup for one in the microwave. When it comes to the kitchen, the conventional thinking is that bigger is always better.

Christian Draz, who acknowledges that he is not big on cooking but loves big kitchens, had to settle for the tiny Pullman-style number that came with the Beacon Hill condo he bought in 1985. To compensate, he had his kitchen redesigned with quality as the guiding principle.

The result is a 10-by-10-foot room that seems larger, because it fills the eye with a wealth of warm inviting yellows and blues, top-of-the-line professional-style appliances, and custom-made American cherry cabinetry that complements the decor in the rest of his home.

For years after he bought the condo, Draz left the kitchen alone. Then, four years ago, he built a summer place in Truro that included a fabulous kitchen. "That spoiled me," he says. He felt compelled to update his city galley.

He wanted the modernization to reflect the style of the adjacent dining area as well as the rest of his home, which features French antiques mixed with modern upholstered pieces.

The key to making the most of a small kitchen, say Draz and Westwood interior designer Rosemary Porto, who executed the renovation, is to go for the best materials and take your cues from the style of your home.

This is especially important in a kitchen like Draz's, which is not enclosed. "The kitchen is part of the rest of the room, and the rest of the room had a certain formality, and I wanted to extend that formality," says Draz, a 48-year-old freelance writer.

To give the kitchen the look of fine furniture, the original cabinets, which Draz describes as "crummy plywood laminate" and Porto calls "very '70s," were removed. Somerville cabinetmaker Paul Morris was called in to build units that would fit the small space and tie in with the adjacent living quarters.

"One of the issues in a small space like this is you may not be able to buy off-the-shelf cabinetry," says Draz. "This was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle."

The kitchen motif was inspired by furnishings Draz already owned. "I had a cherry dining room table that's about 200 years old, and I wanted to match that wood," he says. "It's a very warm reddish tone."

To attain that, Porto suggested cabinets that would be beautifully finished solid wood (not veneer) that would age well.

Even though he's not into cooking, Draz does like to entertain. Each year, he hosts a pre-Boston Marathon pasta dinner for about 30 friends. So, for his kitchen redesign, "I bought everything a good cook would want." That includes a Swedish dishwasher, a Sub-Zero refrigerator, and a blue Viking stove with an oven that can reach temperatures as high as 600 degrees.

"Today, in doing kitchens, people are focusing a lot of attention and doing research on the appliances," says Porto. "It's kind of like buying a car. It's become a status thing."

The color of the stove inspired the saturated blue and yellow colors in the backsplash, brightening up the dark corner where the stove is located.

Linoleum flooring was replaced with hardwood, another popular choice for today's new kitchens.

While many people who can afford it choose to go with impressive-looking granite or marble countertops, Draz wanted Formica.

"Granite reminds me of a mortuary," he says. "I have never liked marble or granite countertops." The Formica is "not as cold," he says. "A kitchen should be a warm place."

In addition to appliances, countertops, and flooring, considering how light comes into the room is important in a small kitchen. Keeping the room light and bright should be the key consideration when making decisions about paint and window treatment, says Porto.

She used sheer curtains in Draz's dining area to allow every ray of light to filter into the kitchen. One overhead cabinet that faces the dining area has a glass cutout that lets light pass through.

In kitchen design, says Porto, "It's very important, no matter how big or how small, to make sure every inch counts." So, Draz's kitchen has a place to hang pots to save cabinet space.

"Function is first in a kitchen, no matter what," adds the designer. "And, when you're looking at a small amount of space . . . you need to make sure you can work in it and do what you need to do."

Other advice she offers to maximize space in a small kitchen: