Saint Paul Revisited

2017 Remodeling Design Awards
Kitchen Remodeling over $100,000: Merit

The challenge in this kitchen remodel was twofold: First, honor the wood-centric style of this 1907 Tudor Revival home while bringing light into the space; second, forge a connection to the outside.

That connection was created by knocking out the old kitchen’s back wall and creating an addition to make a space where the owners could hang out with family and friends. Architect Chris Christofferson brought to the table “the idea that this space could be designed to suggest a porch that had been infilled,” says studio founder David Heide.

With its beadboard ceiling—stained the color of coffee grounds to match the dark color of an existing front porch—and walls of windows showcasing the landscape, the space does exactly that.

A peninsula extending from the new kitchen’s counters anchors the space where the wall was removed. A large opening at the peninsula’s end signals the easy transition between the two rooms. Anyone working in the kitchen has sight lines directly into the new addition and backyard.

The addition, like the kitchen, has birch cabinets, windows, doors, casing, and floors. It also has wood-clad walls and a stenciled frieze, with a design appropriate to the style of the house, just below the ceiling.

With access to the original plans of the home, the architects knew that the back part of the house was birch, which guided their decision to use that wood species in the design.

“We chose red birch, because it mimics more the color of old-growth birch, and we used a shellac to give it an amber hue,” says Heide.

In contrast to all the wood, Christofferson used a pale quartzite on the counters and white subway tiles on the walls. Stainless steel appliances and cabinet hardware lend their own luster to the space, as do the milky iridescent hand-blown glass shades of the lighting fixtures.

“We designed all the lighting,” Heide says. “Each piece is made for a specific location.”