This 1955 split-level home originally belonged to the owner’s grandparents. That said, the surgical facelift of its dark, inefficient kitchen had to be handled with care so as not to disturb the nostalgia. Expanding the footprint was not an option due to budget, but the simple removal of some non-structural walls and re-jiggering of countertop and appliance locations allowed more natural light in and connected the space beautifully to its adjacent rooms.
The quirky aesthetic, which designer Greg Krause describes as updated “tiki-style,” pays homage to the vintage house without feeling like an old school replica. “Kitchens in the Twin Cities during the 1950s were known for using oak, understated hardware, solid-colored countertops, and distinctive light fixtures, so we kept the palette fairly honest and neutral,” Krause says. All of the ingredients, including dark-stained low-VOC cabinets, rift-cut red oak floors, stainless appliances, and two-tone Cambria countertops, were sourced within 500 miles.
Traditional allegiances notwithstanding the space also has a fun factor. Grass-embedded eco-resin cabinet panels give the space a touch of the South Pacific, but their dimensions match the muntin bar patterns in the kitchen’s original double-pane windows. The reedy texture in the resin panels is repeated in the skinny orange backsplash tile accents, which Krause says was inspired by retro fabric patterns of the ’50s and ’60s.
Entrant/Builder: Otogawa-Anschel Design-Build, Minneapolis
