After lighting struck their Texas home, Jeanne and Richard were forced to rebuild their kitchen from the studs. Rather than constructing a carbon copy of what had been lost, they decided to start anew celebrating their love for Danish Modern design and reminiscent of their parents' open ranch-style homes.
Armed with dozens of images for inspiration (including some from AT, which they discovered through their research!), their unique take on a classic modern look produced a dazzling finished product. This kitchen is a perfect symphony of Danish Modern: clean lines, joyous bursts of color and lots of natural light. Jeanne wanted the red cabinets to act as a stand-alone piece of furniture. Extending the window over the sink, the kitchen is flooded with daylight - a crucial element in Danish Modern design. In an interesting choice, they chose not to stain or paint the windows leaving the beautiful natural wood exposed to bring in more of the outdoors.
Structural changes to the kitchen included extending the counter from its original placement and eliminating the wall that separated the kitchen and living area. The result is a large open space with the ranch-style counter Jeanne had imagined for her daughter.
"I wanted a big counter where Madeline could sit and do homework, eat, help cook, do crafts, you name it, while I am working in the kitchen. I grew up with a counter like this in my parents' 60’s ranch house and have so many memories of talking with my mom or dad while they worked in the kitchen."
Left: Floor plan before, Right: Floor plan after
As difficult it was to lose their original home, Jeanne and Richard are completely overjoyed with the re-design of their kitchen. I can attest that when visiting their house, this kitchen is the place to be!
Resources of Note:
Oven: Ikea
Other appliances: AJ Madison
Vent hood: Futuro
Cabinets: Ikea
Countertop: Silestone
Clock: Etsy seller uncommon
Windows: Pella
Thanks, Jeanne & Richard!
Images: Micki Howl
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I hope the cat won't be allowed on the table anymore..
Lol...that's what I was going to say. I love cats, but not where food is served or prepared!
I love that ventilation hood. I wonder how well it works
I am not a fan of modern look but this is done so tastefully. I love your new kitchen, clean and european looking!
I especially love your countertop.
love, love, love
How fantastic! Love the red. Love how much lighter it is now. And the counter space (!)...oh the baking I could do with that much counter space!
I love how the change is so radical that it took me a few seconds to realize the "after" photo was taken from the same angle as the "before"!
Fantastic job.
Drooool! I love the big windows and the countertops. It's so gorgeous and bright. And I love that there's no cherry cabinets or black granite, bleh. The kitchen looks so much bigger too.
I really like it- nice & shiny & super clean. I have the same white cabinets & can attest to how easy they are to keep clean since anytime anything spills on them, I can see it & quickly wipe away.
I am a bit confused by the pendant lights- are they green when off but white when on? Maybe I'm missing something.... or haven't had enough coffee yet to wake up my eyes :)
From dark, dated, and cramped to WOW!
Amazing transformation! I love the larger windows - the entire area is saturated with natural light. Brilliant use of color!
It looks amazing. An unstained/sealed wood frame on a window over a sink? Maybe I'm the only one that manages to splash water everywhere at the kitchen sink, but I couldn't do that.
i agree with tallsara. i'm confused on the pendant lights but would love to know where they came from. can we get any info on them?
I love it!
how cool is this new place!!!
The pendant lights are white because the bright light blows out the highlights in the digital photo.
Wowwwww, that WINDOW! The lights! What a great job.
does it match the rest of the house?? I love it!
I love the stainless steel mini subway tiles (vertically no less!)! Source? Were they really expensive? I've had my eye on them for a while but they're far from cheap.
Holy crap! That was my literal first response. It's SUCH a dramatic change!
It's not my style, but I can totally appreciate it and how amazing the transformation is.
I, like djhollister86, also wonder how this "goes" with the rest of the house?
Wow! What a transformation. I never would have guessed that the red cabinets would work in there, but they totally do. Love it.
whoa! it's GORGEOUS and it gleams!!!
It's a nice kitchen (for IKEA), but there's not a single thing that's "Danish Modern" about it...
...if this were Danish Modern we'd be looking at teak cabinets, carved wooden pulls, sliding cabinet doors and handmade glazed ceramic tilework.
This is just "Modern".
i would also love to know where the pendants came from!
they look like the caps pendant http://www.lumens.com/Caps-Pendant-by-ET2/uu134426/product which i have been considering, and would love to know if thats what you used. they look awesome in your kitchen!
Yikes! That lighting can be dangerous!
Can't cats be trained to stay off kitchen surfaces?
Really interesting choice to narrow and elongate the kitchen. It looks like it works, but I'm curious if it works as well with multiple chefs.
Interesting design and I am impressed w/how well done it is.
Sure cats can be trained, but understand, in their minds we are beneath them so they will still try to cross every line you set. As a long time cat owner, I have learned to accept this.
I love the new windows!!
full house tour, please! i would love to see more - this is gorgeous.
Hi guys!! @Urban girl: this kitchen completely fits in with the rest of the house as the entire house was remodeled... full house tour soon to come!
And about the cat... they unfortunately lost him recently so maybe no more cat comments ;)
Love this! It looks like you eliminated the table in favor of a bar seating arrangement. Is that right? I'd love to do that for my kitchen, and I'd love to hear any comments about this idea.
WONDERFUL!
I'm in love with the market's current trend toward clean lines and uncluttered looks. Must be reflective of our brains being saturated by nine million simultaneous information streams. The crisp minimalism of this looks so restful.
SWOOOON!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ab-so-lute-ly-a-ma-zing.
I love the Silestone counter. Silestone is so shiny and smooth. Amazing.
Just a different kind of ugly... and not particularly danish modern... hope the next owner doesnt mind the ikea special layout and unreachable upper cabinets... with an unusable window...
Absolutely beautiful. And I am so sorry about your beautiful kitty!
wow, some of these comments are harsh! this design is not for me, but i'll take that after design over the before any day! (also, a lightening strike? YIKES!)
bravo on doing a great job with it. i do like the big window and that metal finish on the wall.
Agree that there is nothing Danish Modern about this. Interesting redesign but I find it too shiny and reflectiony.
this is really nice, i expected painted white cabinets but this was a surprise. beautiful redo, def not cheap but i love the red. it's not my particular style but it is lovely, well done, i too adore the bigger window. enjoy your kitchen!!
Beautiful remodel.
Love that vertical stainless steel tile. Abstract red is pretty awesome when done right. Kudos!
what a transformation!!
Very nice and something different.
I also don't have a dining table, instead opted for a long kitchen island in my studio like space. I love it. Lots of room to prep and I have hosted dinners where we ate at the island but I do have limited seating, which would be the case even if I put a table in. For older guests, I have a white elm parsons desk that's being used as an entry way table, I add some chairs and use it for dining if needed.
KlyeAD - seriously? completely unnecessary to call someone's home ugly because it's not your taste. You must think very highly of yourself. Criticism on this site is great if its constructive and productive.
Love that sexy sci-fi modernism, with red, white, silver, and just enough green to prevent the look from being excessive.
The silver tiled feature column is great.
However if anyone is considering copying this design, you might like to NOT put the hotplates in the island bench. It's not the safest location.
Oh no, they got rid of the cat!
This space is stunning, I love everything about it.
Love the green apple lights with the red cabinets. And, the idea of having a big space to cook, do homework and generally talk about the day is great! I can imagine the daughter bringing home her teenage friends to hang out - such a cool space.
Sorry about the kitty - s/he was very beautiful! Our cats also think they are in charge of the house.
I was expecting that! Beautiful.
A few notes from the owner: The kitchen design is completely my own--and while the cabinets are Ikea (recommended by a very high end kitchen designer we know--who swears the hardware is exactly the same as in the Italian kitchens she installs and who routinely uses Ikea bases and hardware and then puts custom or Italian door fronts on them) we worked hard to mix much more expensive elements and appliances, and a 9-foot window's worth of Texas sunlight, to make it our own. The column unit in the middle was at first a problem--we had the walls removed to open the entire space up and there was a very small segment of load bearing wall (3 2x4's worth) that could not be eliminated--so we designed around it. A chef friend suggested putting the ovens there (which everyone loves--it moves one cook around the other side to utilize all that clean countertop), and what you maybe can't see around the corner from the tile is another cabinet that opens on the side of this unit at a 45% angle to the ovens. The back of that unit is dry-walled to match the dining room on the opposite side of the ovens--and works as an art space at the head of the dining room table. I spent many hours looking at Italian kitchen design online to decide where to put the blocks of red so that they would "pop" instead of overpower. We did the entire house in a very spare modern design with a nod towards the Danish Modern (not Swedish) roots of both of our childhoods. The green lights are from Lamps Plus online--caps collection green mini pendant chandelier. Maybe we will get to see what y'all think with a House Tour someday.
Interesting lay out of kitchen. Will steal some of those ideas. I have had an ikea kitchen and the hardware is excellent. Would go with Ikea again. Great window.
hueylaw... I actually thought it looked more an Italian kitchen (than Danish). (One day I hope to have snaidero...).
Can't wait to see the rest of the house.
I cannot conceive of a single reason on this planet or any other that I would put a giant counter right through the middle of my work triangle (quadrangle?).
I think the kitchen is beautiful! I love the light and the lightness!
I think a lot of AT posters are terrible snobs. I have heard that IKEA kitchens are actually remarkably good quality. Get over your box store hangups, people!
And cats on counters are fine by me -- we FEED our cats on the counter. Before we cook, we clean them, but mainly we eat out, so no problem. If you own and love cats, it's pointless to be squeamish -- they are what they are. (Sorry about your loss, @hueylaw -- that's hard.)
Gorgeous!
I'm danish and living in Copenhagen. Its a very Scandinavian inspired kitchen. Great job with the large windows, the natural lighting is the best improvement. It looks great!
beautiful !!
Great Job!!!!
I love this after.