Go Green, Be Envied

By Caroline Barry

For Donnalyn Polito this project was a chance to totally transform disorganized, drab spaces into clean environmentally responsible getaways and to show that green design doesn't mean macramé.


Unnecessary walls kept this kitchen out of the bright light provided by a high row of windows.	With plenty of storage and work spaces, the redesigned kitchen makes the most of clean lines.

Fast Facts

	Donnalyn Polito Donnalyn Design and Interiors 459 El Granada Boulevard El Granada, CA ( 650) 712-0986

Project Location:	El Granada, Ca
Budget:	+$125,000
Objective:	To use environmentally responsible products and methods to make beautiful, sunlit and inviting spaces without sacrificing function or adding windows.
Focal Point:	In the kitchen/great room, the counter and bamboo cabinets; custom lighting in the dining room; vessel sink and pedestal in the hall bath; and in the master bath, the table sinks and corner cabinet.
Color Palette:	Olive Green, Chocolate Brown, White, Gray
Products Used:	Ebony countertops in kitchen and master bath by Richlite Auro Paints and Dunn Edwards Paint Lighting by Artemide, Bruck, Art & Light, and Metro Fabrics by H. Calvin, Glant, Kravet, Pindler & Pindler Hall bath sink is by Porcher Pedestal by Stone Forest Floor tile by Il Mosaico Sonia sinks Butler Johnson and Island Stone floor tiles Grohe faucets Tile Shop wall tile Windows from Glass Block Design

Donnalyn Polito approached this project under the weight of one overriding obligation: to create environmentally responsible spaces that would promote green design as a sophisticated and elegant contemporary design choice.

Polito owns Donnalyn Design and Interiors in El Granada, Ca. and she finds that while people have a general interest in environmentally responsible home design, they are also worried that going green means investing in a home covered in macramé and recycled tires.

This showcase home proves the folly of that thought and illustrates one of the most common and dramatic ways designers modernize homes. Contemporary homes often flaunt sunlight and generous, open space floor plans. They are attributes that in many older homes can best be achieved by knocking walls down, and that's how Polito started this redesign. Knocking down two unnecessary walls released the rectangular kitchen trapped behind them into the rest of the space and created a larger, more light filled kitchen that flows into a dining area.

Once the walls came down, Polito set to work bringing in new elements and reusing old ones. Instead of tossing out the existing kitchen cabinets, Polito stacked them and finished her design with a top row of lighting to create a useful, artistic and eco-friendly pantry area. She had new kitchen cabinets custom made of bamboo, a renewable resource (bamboo generates a crop each year, though hard and soft woods take from 10 to more than 20 years to grow to harvest) with strength comparable to steel and a unique natural beauty. The countertops are from Richlite and made from pulp and paper that come only from trees harvested from North American forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

In this home, Polito also redid two bathrooms, the hall and master baths, and turned a cluttered catchall sitting room into a simple and elegant dining area. The master bath features custom bamboo cabinetry, two white squared off countertop sinks by Sonia set, as in the kitchen, on eco-friendly Richlite counters. In the hall bath, Polito chose a vessel sink by Porcher on a wood pedestal by Stone Forest. The faucets in both baths are by Grohe and both feature wall tiles from Tile Shop. In the dining room, Polito illuminates her clean design and unique fabrics with custom lighting from Art & Light and Metro.

True to her goal and creative with her elements, Polito brought the best out in this home that just needed a little green put into it.


In the kitchen a suspended cabinet keeps the refrigerator integrated with the rest of the space.	Two sinks & storage spaces make this the ideal his and her bathroom.