A Personality-Packed IKEA Kitchen Beautifully Transforms This “Standard Flip” House
It’s rare to build a kitchen from scratch, but in some cases a complete demo (or moving in to a place that’s mid-demo) calls for it. When interior designer SK Stokes Kennedy (@stokeskennedydesign) moved into her current house with her wife, MyLin, and their three sons, they rented it from family members who were “in the middle of a standard flip” but “stopped halfway through realizing they weren’t prepared to rent it out or sell it.”
“It was an heirloom that was left to them by their late grandmother, but they simply weren’t ready to invest the time or money,” SK adds. “As a safe alternative and an opportunity to move my young boys into a bigger space, we offered to help complete the space for a decent lease and an opportunity to have a family home in California that I don’t own but could love and curate as though I did.”
After moving in, SK quickly gave the kitchen a more-than-standard flip filled with function and style.
IKEA to the rescue.
The first step was placing the appliances, and then SK bought, built, and installed IKEA SEKTION cabinets with STENSUND fronts. “We’d just purchased some bar-height barstools and didn’t want to replace them, so I framed a small bar on the counter as well,” she says.
The countertops are also from IKEA. “Of course, I wanted quartz or stone countertops, but with the time working against me and the DIY bug in my heart, I needed material that was available and that I could independently install,” SK says. “With no water saw and the need to make a quick decision, I went with laminate countertops from IKEA with the plan to update them in a year or two. We’re at year three, and they’re still hanging on!”
IKEA storage extends into the kitchen.
To balance out the open shelving in the kitchen, SK added tall, closed cabinetry along the wall of the dining area. Those are IKEA cabinets, too. “We started with the space that made up the pre-existing kitchen and then made the decision to extend the kitchen storage along the dining wall to maximize function,” she says, although she’s not sure if she would make the exact same decision again.
She loves having the storage for her family, but she also thinks the family would benefit from a dining nook or long storage bench in that space. Her best advice is to live in your space for a while before making big design decisions.
“My circumstances didn’t allow for us to get our bearings, but if you do have the chance, I encourage you to watch the rooms as the sun sets and rises, find where it’s quietest in the house, find where you like best to read,” she says. “It might seem silly, but when you remodel your home based on how you use it, there are so many more opportunities for unique and bespoke details that are perfect for you.”
Wallpaper adds boldness.
And speaking of bespoke details, SK knew she wanted a pattern to pop behind the “clean black metal” shelving. She opted for Milton & King’s Aztec Suns wallpaper in olive green, MyLin’s favorite color, and the wallpaper was easier to install than SK expected. She also added a pop of pattern with a red sink skirt.
“That fabric was brought back from my home country, Liberia, at the top of the year and is the perfect addition to the kitchen, adding bold color contrast,” SK says.
Tile elevates the kitchen.
She says adding the black ceramic tiles from Floor & Decor was the hardest part of the process. “I’d never installed tile before!” she says. “I’d never even use a tile cutter. It was a huge point of humility because one of my BIGGEST detailed points as a designer is tile installation. I care A LOT about placement, spacing, patterns, and layouts, and to see how hard it was for a basic layout really put me in my place.” I’ll continue to hire the best installers because this really is a skill and talent!
But she says the tiles are really what complete the kitchen. “It really added to the organic feeling of everything and merged well with the dark countertops,” she says. For more dark-and-moody-meets-organic kitchen makeovers, check out this studio apartment kitchen and this dramatic blue kitchen.
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