Name: Andi Forker
Type of Project: Kitchen Renovation — full gut remodel
Location: San Francisco, California
Type of building: 1890's Victorian condo
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My style is classic with eclectic touches. My boyfriend Dean is more of a modernist, but we try to meet in the middle. On this project, the historic Victorian architecture of the building will play a leading role in terms of style. That said, we are incorporating modernist, Scandinavian country, and industrial elements. The goal is to create a timeless, sophisticated kitchen that looks like it has a been there forever, but will also look current in 2020. We cannot renovate the kitchen again when it's time to sell the apartment in a 5 – 10 years, so it needs to stylistically stand the test of time.
I am inspired by small urban kitchens with rich finishes and smart cabinetry. The kind of kitchen that only produces trays of champagne, mini-quiches, and vodka-soaked cherry tomatoes. What a charming way to live (albeit impractical)! I also love butler's pantries with open storage. The pantries and china cabinets in Downtown Abbey come to mind, as does Bilbo Baggins' pantry in The Hobbit.
Dean is an architect, so we have that going for us! We designed the kitchen ourselves and approached the project from a space planning standpoint. We both had things that we wanted to include in the footprint. I wanted a large, "suburbs-sized" island for entertaining and food prep. Dean felt strongly that he wanted a regular-sized fridge — not a skinny European model, which I preferred. His refrigerator came under siege for more pantry space, but he got it in the end. The floor plan for the kitchen emerged from those two very large space demands.
The cabinets we chose are whitewashed birch (IKEA's Ramsjo white). They have a very subtle wood grain. I love them because they appear to be white, but when you get closer you notice a depth and natural pattern in the finish. The color and Shaker style references historic Victorian kitchens.
We hope that the original Douglas Fir flooring underneath the linoleum will be salvageable, providing a rich, warm backdrop for many of the cool, silver elements in the room. A zinc countertop on the island, stainless steel appliances, chrome hardware and a modern apron sink made of brushed steel are some of these silvery finishes. For the backsplash behind the sink and stove we choose a watery, crackled, faded tile in seafoam green. Dean says that color reminds him of hazel eyes, but for me it is the ocean.
Choosing a chandelier was a scary and tormenting process. It will be a visual focal point in the kitchen, and I had a lot of specific criteria. It needed to fit in with the building's Victorian roots but also be modern. It needed to be functional and light the 13-foot ceiling as well and the island. I wanted a chandelier that brought the night sky into my kitchen because, seriously, is there anything more beautiful than the moon? In the end we picked an orb-shaped chandelier with a yellow and gray crystal exoskeleton. We are content with it.
We will paint the walls in Farrow & Ball's Down Pipe, which is a very dark gray. The hallway is already painted this color, so we want continuity once the kitchen is opened up to the hall.
For more of my renovation inspiration photos, check out my project pinboard.
The materials I'm planning on using:
Cabinets: IKEA, Ramsjo white
Stove: Blue Star 30" gas range
Refrigerator: Samsung
Sink: Kohler Vault 36" apron front sink
Faucet: IKEA Ringskar with pull-out spout
Countertops: Zinc for the island, White quartz for the other counters (most likely)
Range Hood: Cavaliere-Euro 30-inch Wall Mount
Chandelier: Crystorama Solstice Collection
Vintage Pantry/Hutch: Urban Ore, Berkeley, CA
Backsplash tile: Ann Sacks Earthenware in Ming Crackle, 2" x 4"
Wall Paint: "Down Pipe" and "Lamp Room Gray" by Farrow & Ball
Ceiling Paint: "Pearl" by C2 Paint
Trim Paint: "Halo" by C2 Paint
(Diary Text: Andi Forker. Images: 1, David Prince via Desire to Inspire, 2. Mick de Giulio via Simplified Bee, 3. Deulonder, 4. Ballard Designs, 5. Organizing Options, 6. KitchenLab Chicago via Houzz, 7. Kohler)
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this is going to be so good! we were planning to use the Ramsjo white, and at the very last minute - a few days before we placed the final order - we switched to applad (the second least expensive option). Our kitchen also gives a nod to the house age (over 115 years old!) and victorian character - with hex mosaic floors and pressed tin ceilings - but the super modern, sleek cabinets actually look quite nice against that backdrop. And, we are getting ready to paint the walls a light gray from Farrow and Ball (cornforth white).
Does anyone know where the hutch in the 4th picture is from? "A vintage two tone hutch with open storage will serve as my pantry." I'm looking for something just like that.
@pghkatie It's Ballard Designs. I recognized it but the photo credits are at the bottom of the article as well.
@jlwmid Thank you! (Can't believe I missed that!)
If you want something that will stand the test of time, I would say no open storage (I think people are going to get tired of having to curate their kitchens all the time, and open shelves gather dust--the whole reason we put doors on cupboards is to keep out the dust!). Also, in one of the photos, there is wine stocked above potatoes and fruit--a big no-no because they can alter the taste of the wine. I checked this before posting and didn't see any mentions in English, but I found lots of mentions in French; perhaps because in France we buy wine with the idea of aging it for five or 10 years in our cellars, whereas in the U.S. it's for immediate consumption.
Lastly, white has the best lifespan. Different stains of wood come and go in fashion, but white hangs in there, from the Victorian era to today and probably beyond. Look at old photos and notice what still seems fresh.
You don't mention how much natural light the space gets. I think it's important because your paint choices are extremely dark. We have F&B Cornforth White in a very bright, East facing room with large windows, and it looks like a mid grey, not white at all. Still, the F&B range is beautiful - deep, chalky colours - they would complement your off-white cabinets very well.
"Curating" (I hate that word) is an option. I have open shelving and they're 100% dedicated to function. When you come over to my house, you'll see cereal boxes, jars, canisters, and bags of chips. We tidy it up when guests come, but we've never cared about whether anyone will judge us for using shelves to store things we need vs. things that just look nice. We also don't have a problem with dust because we keep oft-used items there.
A word about microwaves --
We have ours hidden inside our island, under counter-level and it works well.
However, our microwave broke down 5 or 6 weeks ago, and we don't miss it one bit. I realized that all we ever did was melt butter, heat milk for hot chocolate, or heat leftovers, all of which are easily accommodated by our stove and oven. These days, I'm thinking that we won't have ours fixed or replaced; not worth the money or kitchen real estate.
Hi pearmelon, there is not much natural light in our kitchen. There are three big windows but they look out onto a shady courtyard and an air shaft, respectively. Dark colors have worked well elsewhere in our home in small, dark spaces. It plays up the coziness of the room.
it's so funny to read this. we are on day 12 of our renovation and it sounds crazy similar to your plans. we live in a condo building built in 1913 and are going with ikea's ramsjo white cabinets, a stainless farmhouse sink my porter, bejamin moore's overcoat gray paint (which is dark gray)! our counters will be granite, the backsplash a dark gray glass subway tile and the floors are ceramic tile that are 2'x8" and white washed wood flooring inspired, so it won't be an exact, but we're very happy with how it is coming together. best wishes with your renovation!
I completely agree with mschatelaine- I recently moved and have been living without a microwave for about two months. While the convenience of heating up leftovers in a minute or two is slightly missed, the far superior texture you get from heating lasagna or a pasty in the oven is well worth the extra time. I also am now forced to sit down and enjoy my cup of coffee while it is hot, because I can't nuke it a half hour later. I hope never to own a microwave ever again.
I'm in the midst of renovating my kitchen as well and I'm thinking of using Ikea Ramsjo in white too. I like how it shows the wood grain through the wash, but I'm concerned about it's pink undertones. Ive read, you can manage it with the lighting. Has anyone seen a white Ramsjo kitchen and have we're the pink undertones staring back at you?
Modernista, you are right--there is a pink undertone to the Ramsjo. Somehow, when our stark white counters got installed this week, the undertone became less visible. Overall it is not bothering me, but I am going to play with the lighting to see if it changes the tone of the cabinets. I imagine a bulb with a yellow tone would be better than one with a rosy glow. Unfortunately, yellow light is not super flattering on my skin, so there are trade-offs. Definitely something to consider with the Ramsjo, though.
I did a test and LED lighting completely neutralizes the pink tone of the Ramsjo white cabinets. Just an FYI! There may be other lighting that works well too.