A few years ago I sold a mid-century modern style home to a young couple, Jennifer and Kevin. Since then they’ve had a little boy as well as additions of pets to their family. Recently they decided to take on a remodel project at their home to turn what we knew at their purchase time was not their ideal kitchen. Now they have turned that funk-fest of a cabinet mess into an area that they are very excited about. Jennifer has been writing about the transformation on their own blog that you can find here. I’m stealing a couple of their before and after photos to whet your appetite to go read the full post.
Before is shown above – note the placement of the cabinet handles, smack dab in the middle of the doors, and the lack of counter space.
Kevin is an architect at Callison and knew a lot about the kinds of materials he wanted used in the home. One very earth friendly product they chose was cork flooring. I’d discussed this with Jen early on as I had cork in my old home office and I loved it. It’s great for a kitchen, which is where I’d seen it used originally in another client’s home, because it cleans up easy, is a renewable resource, and it’s relatively low maintenance. They have a dog so he’ll be able to walk on it with more confidence than hardwoods since it has a bit of grip to it, but not too much. The other thing that’s nice about the cork in kitchens is that it is somewhat flexible – meaning that if a glass dish drops it is less likely to shatter and it is also easier to stand on for long periods of time – which the person cooking and/or cleaning has to often do. Cork is also relatively cost effective too as a flooring material and with new styles coming on the market all the time there are more design options than ever. Just watch the pricing once you start getting “fancy” with it. 🙂
Other items used in the remodel were IKEA cabinets (low cost but good quality), new lighting fixtures, glass subway tile, stainless steel appliances and concrete countertops were added. Concrete isn’t a less expensive option but it’s a good material that is durable and can be worked heavily without the same worries of granite, formica, or other materials frequently found in kitchens.
The contractor on the project was Patrick Howe of Artisan Structural Innovation. I’d recommended Patrick to the family and he’s a general contractor that I and several of my clients have worked with over the years. He’s done a couple of big projects for me including my current remodel of my new home. I’ll post photos of that at a later date.
In the meantime, stop on by Jen and Kev’s blog to check out more photos from the complete remodel process.
