What: 2008 Glen Ellyn Kitchen Walk & Gourmet Afterwalk Reception

When: Kitchens will be on display from noon to 6 p.m., and a dinner reception and silent auction will be offered from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 3.

Where: The dinner will be hosted by Drury Design Kitchen & Bath Studio, 512 N. Main St., Glen Ellyn.

Kitchens featured: This year’s collection includes eight kitchens including two custom rooms by Drury Design.

Spotlight: The McKay family’s kitchen, designed by Tina Muller with the help of Gail Drury of Drury Design, recently won third place at the National Kitchen & Bath Association’s design contest and will be featured in Trends magazine.

“This galley kitchen was done in Hampton style with a coastal look,” said Drury, the company’s president and a certified master kitchen and bath designer.

“There’s a Carrara marble backsplash with a herringbone in the center and a brick pattern on the outside area,” she added. “The mantle is a focal point, and it’s echoed on the opposite side of the room in the valence over the window. The beadboard wainscoting wraps around into the family room, and this all helps to have things flowing nicely, achieving a seamless look.”

The space is very small, Drury said, but it will help give walk participants ideas for what they can execute with similar space constraints. A look like this is easily attainable for average Glen Ellyn homes, she added.

The Foth family’s kitchen is another take on the simple Hampton style.

“It’s an understated design look — not too heavy with ornamentation,” said Drury, the head honcho for this project. “We wanted a casual, comfortable atmosphere — the kind where you just want to sit and pull up a chair.

“We had the exposed ceiling beams, so we tied those in with the floor and wooden countertop, which gives you the feel of sitting at a table, but didn’t want to go too dark with everything else,” she added.

The white painted cabinets with an inset design give the space a traditional look while the Carrara marble tile choice and subway pattern design and decorative metal inserts add some formal elements. The built-in mantle hood and blackboard-faced refrigerator serve as focal points yet blend in nicely with surroundings.

“It’s reminiscent of a farmhouse room but it’s dressed up with details like the chandelier,” Drury said.

Benefiting: One hundred percent of ticket revenues will go to Bridge Communities, a network of DuPage County churches and community groups that assists in supporting nearly 100 homeless families annually in a transitional housing program. In addition to residential help, the program provides mentoring, tutoring, employment counseling, and career and financial planning assistance. Bridge Communities is one of the top-ranked organizations to serve homeless families in the Midwest.

Now in its sixth year, the kitchen walk is Baird & Warner of Glen Ellyn’s 2008 GoodWill ok Network undertaking. The mission of the annual project is to help the needy in the company’s own backyard, and more than $1 million has been raised in just over five years.

Tickets: Minimum donation of $25 — the cost to provide housing and services for one person for one night — in advance available online at www.kitchenwalk.org and www.bridgecommunities.org or at Baird & Warner, Drury Design and Bridge Communities locations in Glen Ellyn; $30 the day of the walk at the featured homes

More information: www.kitchenwalk.org; Baird & Warner at (630) 469-1855; Bridge Communities at (630) 545-0610 or www.bridgecommunities.org