Our Mid-Century Modern Kitchen Make-Over

Our Mid-Century Modern kitchen remodel was featured on Apartment Therapy’s The Kitchn yesterday.  This was one of my all-time favorite projects.

We started with great bones that had suffered from an unfortunate 1980’s remodel.  The particle board cabinets had to go to make room for a stylish and functional kitchen.

With any remodel, it’s a challenge to work within the confines of the existing space.  We were able to incorporate the laundry closet and another closet that was accessed in the carport (later turned garage) into the kitchen by moving the laundry room to a small addition just off the kitchen.  It was also a great challenge to  remove the 50’s posts that were helping to hold up the ceiling.  We did this by replacing one of the major beams in the ceiling that supports the roof.  This also allowed us to vault the low, 7-foot Frank Lloyd Wright inspired ceiling to open up the entire space.  The beams are both structural & architectural and I love how the turned out.

The upper shelves in the island are structural and functional.  We added support back under the beam at a critical point with a strategically placed support wrapped in the shelving.

The pantry door was custom, made from a left-over door slated for the land-fill.  In the top panel, we attached a cork board stained to match the other woods in the home.  On the bottom, we painted a brown background and then added a panel from Crestview doors painted with a silvery paint with actual stainless steel dust inside.

To save space, we added a banquet rather than a traditional breakfast space and put in a sliding glass door to let in plenty of natural light, along with a view of the amazing garden.

The kitchen is now open to the dining, entry, and family rooms, creating a “great room”.  The beams overhead along with light fixtures help to define each space.

The countertops are “Rainforest Gray” marble and the backsplash is a glass tile.  The table is free-standing, actually simply from Crate & Barrel.

This is one of my all-time favorite transformations and I think it is well-deserving of all of the attention it still gets from online blogs to local news to builder’s association awards.  I can’t wait to share another kitchen re-do we are finishing up a few blocks away in the same neighborhood!

What’s your favorite thing about this space?  I’d love to hear your comments below.