A REMODELING FEAST DESIGN TOUR IN PASADENA SPOTLIGHTS 5 KITCHENS THAT ARE TRULY CUTTING-EDGE.

Byline: Pam Waterman Correspondent

The kitchen is one of the most-used rooms in any household. That's why if you are going to renovate your kitchen, you need a plan designed for all its uses. There's no better way to get inspiration for a kitchen renovation than to visit recently renovated kitchens and get some ideas for your own.

Five state-of-the-art kitchens will be on display Sunday in the Pasadena Kitchens & Interiors tour.

Sponsored by the Pasadena chapter of the American Society of Interior Designers, the tour will take you inside five homes, all within a 9-mile radius, where kitchens are at the heart of the home.

Other parts of the houses - living rooms, entryways, family rooms and home offices - will be open for viewing as well, but the kitchens are definitely the stars of this tour.

``The kitchen is usually the first room a homeowner wants to remodel,'' explained Christine Santana, president of the Pasadena chapter of ASID. A well-designed kitchen improvement can add thousands of dollars to a home's value; most of the cost can be recouped at sale, according to ASID members.

One of the tour homes, a 1941 ranch-style home in the Linda Vista area, was completely updated by Michele Hughes for a young professional couple. After the remodeling, all that was left of the original kitchen were exterior walls and foundation. A marble-topped chef's table now forms the centerpiece of the newly designed kitchen. Textured beams added to the ceiling create a feeling of coziness along with a color scheme that unifies the house and garden. Two rooms of the house have been adapted as work areas and feature sophisticated storage spaces with custom cabinetry.

Linger in the rooms of this house and notice the masterful use of wall color and ambient lighting.

Designer Lori Sitz-Teacher remodeled the kitchen of another Pasadena ranch house, this one from the 1950s and located near Orange Grove Boulevard. The original kitchen contained a partition separating it from the den area. The design challenge was to open up the space, creating one great room more appropriate for California's indoor/outdoor living. Dark ceiling paneling was raised and painted white to create a brighter, more open feeling.

Visitors may examine the customized, pullout storage. An armoire, rather than built-ins, houses the owner's china and glassware because, Sitz-Teacher said, ``I like furniture in the kitchen.''

A Normandy-style home near Caltech offers visitors the opportunity to see how a designer's vision can completely revitalize a neglected residence. The Lion House, built in 1926, was in extreme disrepair when purchased by the present owner. English Tudor details added to the exterior and Spanish touches to the interior masked the basic French design of the residence.

Jessica Cooley and Lee Mink of Lee Mink & Associates collaborated to create a charming kitchen with granite counter surfaces in the space that was once a one-car garage. Solid maple cabinets were installed and finished with a painting treatment that required 16 layers to complete.

They replaced the Mexican tiles in the entry with stone flooring typical of Normandy homes. New French doors open to a charming enclosed courtyard featuring a mural painted from the owners' travel photos.

Visitors also will be invited to tour the spacious master bedroom on the second floor and notice the collection of family antiques placed throughout the residence.

The design challenge for Janie Fain of JF Interiors when she remodeled the kitchen area of a 1932 San Marino Spanish Revival home was to create a functional area from the small, dark kitchen that desperately needed updating. The owners love to cook, and Fain needed to find new storage space as well as make the entire kitchen area more inviting.

She added ceiling beams and light walnut hardwood floors. Hand-painted tiles were inset in new plasterwork around the window looking out to the back garden. Verde Copperfield granite counter tops on the work island are aesthetically pleasing and also provide an excellent surface for food preparation and dining.

To increase storage for kitchen supplies and implements, the designer ``stole'' space from the rooms behind the kitchen. In keeping with the home's Spanish heritage, all pullout storage cabinets look like doors. Now the kitchen area is functional and beautiful while in harmony with the original Spanish design of the home.

The final house on the ASID tour is a grand Italian Revival estate in San Marino built in 1929 by the team of Alfred E. Freeman and Wallace Neff. The current owners asked Jennifer Bevan-Montoya of Jennifer Bevan Interiors to oversee a renovation project that updated a kitchen and breakfast area adjacent to a new family room, spa room, bath and lady's office.

The design challenge was to bring back the original grandeur of the estate while seamlessly adding an additional 5,000 square feet of living space.

In the remodeled kitchen area, Bevan-Montoya incorporated hues of green, gold and rust, along with Italianate accessories. In the family room, custom-designed light fixtures complement a hand-painted ceiling by Randal Stokey.

What makes the ASID Kitchens & Interiors Tour unique is that the homes are inhabited.

``These aren't showcase houses,'' said event chairwoman Shirli Yazaki. ``Real people live here and the spaces were designed for specific needs. The designers had to take into account existing possessions.''

``These homes represent successful cooperation and communication between designers and their clients,'' said co-chairwoman Celeste Day-Drake. ``The tour gives the public a chance to meet different ASID designers and talk to them about trends and design challenges.''

Shopping for treasures is an added benefit of the tour. Nineteen retail design boutiques will be featured on the street outside one of the homes.

ASID Kitchens & Interiors Tour

What: A tour of five state-of-the-art kitchens throughout the Pasadena/San Marino area.

When: 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

Tickets: $25 in advance; $30 on the day of the tour. Call [phone] to purchase tickets or visit www.asidpasadena.org. All proceeds benefit the Pasadena Chapter of ASID.

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Window-framing Catalina tiles, granite countertops and abundant storage space highlight the functional new kitchen created by designer Janie Fain from the original small, dark kitchen area in this 1932 San Marino Spanish Revival home.

(2 -- color) In the space that was once a one-car garage in the 1926 Lion House, designers Jessica Cooley and Lee Mink collaborated to create a kitchen with granite counter surfaces.

(3 -- color) The kitchen of this 1953 Pasadena ranch house was created by removing a partition that separated it from the den area, creating an expansive ``great room.'' Designer Lori Sitz-Teacher added ample pullout storage, plus an armoire to house the owner's china and glassware.

Photos by Pam Waterman