Written by Daria Smith | Photography by Ruta Smith
PROJECT FILES
Sound Design A James Island cottage gets a full-scale kitchen and primary bathroom renovation that draws its palette straight from the Lowcountry landscape.
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ituated along the edge of Clark Sound in Charleston, the 1,947-square-foot, three-bedroom Scarbrough House has stood since 1997. Senior Project Designers Michael Pope and Mary Gerard of Better by Design, Charleston's fullservice design-build firm, partnered with Elizabeth Fisher, owner of North Charleston-based GlassEco Surfaces, to transform the home's two most essential rooms into spaces that are as purposeful as they are beautiful. The kitchen presented the most complex set of challenges. Flow was disjointed, storage was inadequate, and the former dining room sat adjacent to the cooking space without contributing much to either. Better by Design's solution was to absorb the room entirely, folding it into the kitchen footprint and repurposing it as a dual-function wine bar and mahjong table. The kitchen now operates as a hub, with a generously scaled island anchoring the center and seating to encourage the casual, unhurried gathering that a home on the water invites. 110 • CH+D • Summer 2026
Finishes throughout the kitchen were selected with the surrounding landscape in mind. The cabinetry, a muted sage green running floor-to-ceiling on all perimeter walls, reads like marsh grass at midday, soft and cool against the warm honey tones of the new hardwood flooring installed by Timberland Woods Floors to match the existing wood throughout the home. A sculptural antique brass starburst pendant anchors the island from above, sourced through Charleston Lighting and Interiors, while oilrubbed bronze hardware from Foxworth Decorative Hardware ties the cooking wall to the sink. The elongated subway tile backsplash, supplied by Palmetto Tile Distributors, keeps the palette light without competing with the cabinetry. A custom range hood finished to match the cabinets disappears into the wall of green. GlassEco Surfaces makes its most visible contribution with the countertops. Handcrafted in North Charleston from recycled glass, the kitchen surfaces are a luminous blend of white, cream, taupe, and pale grey cullet, organic and layered, catching light differently