Kitchen Islands for Small Kitchens

Applegate Tran Interiors Kitchen Design: Source Guide (2026)

A sourced guide to Applegate Tran Interiors kitchen design, with project credits, layout lessons and links to the people who made the work.

Last updated October 2026

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Applegate Tran Interiors kitchen design offers useful examples of how a kitchen can share space with the rooms around it. This guide follows the published credits for the San Francisco design firm. It then draws out ideas you can use when you plan storage, a work zone or a small kitchen layout.

This is an independent source guide. We are not Applegate Tran Interiors, and this page is not the firm's website or a way to book its services. Each project below links to its own source. Those credits matter: a designer's role may differ from the architect's or the cabinet maker's work.

Start with the project credit, then look at the layout problem. One kitchen opens into a dining room through a peninsula. Another uses wood grain to give its cabinets a strong visual line. You can learn from those choices without copying a large room into a small home. Keep each named firm's role clear, and use the source links to see the original work.

Who is behind Applegate Tran Interiors kitchen design?

Gioi Tran and Vernon Applegate founded Applegate Tran Interiors in San Francisco. In an interview with Gioi Tran in aspire, the magazine names both partners and dates the firm's start to 1999. The interview is useful background on the people behind the name. It is not a catalog of cabinet sizes or a set of fitting rules.

Read the firm name as a project credit rather than a product brand. A room credited to the studio does not mean every piece of furniture came from that studio. That is why a source guide should keep the other makers in view. Follow a builder's or architect's credit when you need to know who made a specific part.

For a small kitchen, the practical starting point is your own room. Note which door opens into the work area, where you put down bags and which cabinet blocks a path. A finished project can show one way to solve such a problem. It cannot supply the measurements for your home.

Applegate Tran Interiors kitchen design in a San Francisco remodel

Kaplan Architects' kitchen and dining remodel gives a clear account of a closed kitchen becoming part of a larger shared space. The architect describes removing the wall between the kitchen and dining room and putting a peninsula between them. The project kept a link to an existing atrium.

The credit is specific. Kaplan lists Applegate Tran Interiors for interior colors and finishes. It names Neil Yellin & Company as the general contractor. Do not turn that into a claim that the design firm alone did the whole remodel. The page explains the architect's layout work and then credits the other roles.

The lesson for a compact room is about edges. A peninsula can divide a kitchen from a dining area while keeping them connected. It can also take up a path you need. Sketch the doors, seats and walking routes before you sketch cabinets. The shape works only if the space around it works too.

You do not need to remove a wall to use that way of thinking. A small room may need a clear place to set down dishes or a worktop that stays free of bags. Name that job first. Our small-kitchen layout guide helps you compare the room shapes before choosing furniture.

Gioi Tran and the Moraga kitchen at Berkeley Mills

Berkeley Mills' Moraga project page names Gioi Tran of Applegate Tran Interiors as the designer. The cabinet maker describes Guajara, also called Moabi, wood with a horizontal veneer pattern. This is a useful direct source for the cabinet work shown on that page.

Keep this project separate from other homes in the same town. A shared place name is not proof that two articles show the same house. The Berkeley Mills page supports its own design and material credits. It does not establish the size, price or storage capacity of another kitchen in a magazine.

Wood grain can guide the eye across a run of cabinets. That is a visual idea you can assess in the source photos. It does not tell you how much usable space sits behind the doors. For that, check the clear cabinet opening and the shelf height. A wide front can still hide a narrow opening or a fixed divider.

If you are adding storage to an existing cabinet, use the pull-out organizer fit checker with your own measurements. It compares a rectangular product with the clear opening. It does not model a whole room, a corner mechanism or the path of a cabinet door.

Read Applegate Tran project credits before borrowing an idea

The Homes & Gardens city apartment feature names Vernon Applegate and Gioi Tran as the design duo behind the interiors. Its kitchen sits within a broader home story. Use that feature for the project context rather than treating a photo as a technical drawing.

The source describes a second home for a family who wanted to cook and eat together. That tells you what the design had to serve. Your own brief may be different. A kitchen used for packed lunches each morning has different storage needs from one used mostly for weekend meals.

Write down three things before you borrow a look: what you keep, where you use it and what gets in the way. Then sort one zone. The step-by-step kitchen organizing guide starts with the contents you own. A room photo can help you choose a finish after those needs are clear.

Questions about Applegate Tran Interiors

Is this the official Applegate Tran Interiors website?

No. My Overflowing Cup is an independent kitchen-storage site. This page gathers source links and explains a few kitchen-design choices. It does not speak for the firm, offer its services or claim a working relationship with its designers. Check each linked source for its own project credits.

Did the same firm design and build every part of these kitchens?

Do not assume that. Kaplan Architects lists separate credits for the contractor and the interior colors and finishes. Berkeley Mills credits Gioi Tran as designer on its own project page. Read the credit for the exact room you are viewing before you name the person or firm behind it.

Can I copy one of these layouts into a small kitchen?

Use the layout as an idea to examine, then measure your own space. The windows and fixed services can change what fits. Start with a clear walking route and a place for each task. A peninsula that works in a larger room may leave too little space in yours.

Where should I start if I only need better storage?

Start with one cabinet or drawer that slows you down each day. Empty it, group the items by task and measure the clear opening. Try the new groups with storage you already own. A new finish or a large remodel does not have to be the first step.

Verdict on Applegate Tran Interiors kitchen design

Applegate Tran Interiors kitchen design is most useful here as a set of sourced examples. Read the project credits, identify the layout choice and test whether it serves your own room. Keep design ideas separate from fitting claims. A source photo can start a plan; your measurements and daily tasks decide what belongs in it.