Star Kitchen: Melissa d'Arabian

Only a fanatical home cook would buy a house and convert the entire living room into a kitchen — and that’s exactly what Melissa d'Arabian did. When the Guy’s Grocery Games judge and her husband, Philippe, first saw the 11-by-14-foot kitchen in this Coronado house, they knew the room wouldn’t cut it for their family of six (their four daughters are Valentine, 12, Charlotte, 11, and twins Margaux and Océane, 9). So the couple did some reconfiguring, turning the old kitchen into a guest bedroom and knocking down walls between the dining room, living room and family room to create one big space. The open plan now includes a small dining area, a den and an enormous kitchen where they have plenty of room for meal prep — and for hanging out with the kids and all their friends. The oversize quartz-topped island seats eight, but for parties (and they host some big ones here!) the island turns into a giant buffet table. "Food and community are really important to us," Melissa says. "That drove our design completely."

Melissa and Philippe love to host potluck dinners with their neighbors, and their six-foot-wide fridge has plenty of room to store everyone's dishes.

Melissa's favorite part of the kitchen is her commercial dishwasher — it finishes a cycle in 141 seconds! It requires its own water tank, so finding a way to install it became a passion project for Philippe.

Melissa and Philippe wanted the backsplash to be durable but look warm, so they chose wood-toned ceramic tiles that bring texture and a little color to the space.

The girls love teppanyaki (Japanese grilling), so Melissa and Philippe customized their 60-inch Wolf range with a built-in iron griddle. They also use it for cranking out large batches of pancakes and burgers.