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Kitchen of the Week: Historic Queen Anne Renovation
Reclaimed 120-year-old shelving, soft materials and space-saving storage turned this outdated kitchen into a beautiful, functional space
Homeowner and architect Geoffrey Gainer of Actual Size Architecture lives in a Queen Anne in San Francisco's Mission district. While renovating the kitchen, he didn't like the idea of trying to hide new appliances behind wood paneling, but he also didn't want to design a modern space that would jar with the rest of the house. See how he solved this design dilemma by using materials that would show gentle wear over time.
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| Gainer took out a wall between the kitchen and dining rooms to merge the spaces. The salvaged Douglas fir shelves come from the original 120-year-old wall, making the kitchen and historic home more cohesive. These shelves, the cork flooring and the paper-based countertops will all ding, dent and darken over time to meld with the home's old charm. Gainer found the antique chandelier and made two kitchen pendants to match. Found parts from Ohmega Salvage and the hardware store help tie the kitchen and dining area together. The large steel post in front of the island serves as a structural support beam in the ceiling and acts as a conduit for the shelf lights' wiring. Metalwork: Wendell Jones; sheet metal (except hood): stainless steel, Pacific Coast Stainless |
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| The open cabinets are a great solution to the lack of light in the kitchen. Because this a historic home, Gainer couldn't expand the windows or move them. The floating glass cabinetry allows the light to filter through the entire kitchen. Gainer bought knobs at Ikea and sanded and painted them for a high-end look. "Two sinks make for a good marriage. It's seriously worth the extra couple thousand dollars," says Gainer. He and his wife knew that it'd be hard for both to find room at the range too, so they found a set of two electric burners at a garage sale and installed them under the window facing the porch. Cabinetry and shelving: custom by David Brunjes; cabinetry finishing: Ciarlo Brothers |
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| The lower cabinetry was kept open to make accessing everyday items easy. The kitchen island is open to the dining room, but Gainer didn't want his guests to see a kitchen mess while eating, so he wired the kitchen lights and dining lights separately. At night, when the kitchen lights are off, the space feels completely separate. Countertop: Richlite; refrigerator: GE Profile; range: Viking; hood: Stack, Rangecraft |
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| The space-saving island design is Gainer's favorite thing about the kitchen. The top drawer is a knife rack and the third drawer has a pot-lid rack with adjustable steel rods, which he designed. The space between the sink and the cabinet walls was just big enough for Gainer to put in a drawer for tall bottles of olive oil and other cooking essentials. The apron front of the sink is actually a tilt-out tray to keep items handy, and there's a custom swing-out trash can for easy cleanup. |
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| Gainer and his wife have two young daughters, so kid friendliness was important. "Keeping them on stools at the counter is far easier than trying to monitor the mess at the table, and they like it better there too," he says. Oven: Miele; wall sink: Elkay; faucets: Chicago More: How to Remodel Your Kitchen | More Kitchens of the Week |
Ideabook updated on May 5, 2012.
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Modern Furniture
I see more than a few design and use consideration that should have been thought out more carefully. For example the pull out drawers on the island have no raised sides so items will fall or get jammed up in the cupboard area.
In addition. those utilizing the island seating while food is being prepared will have to be concerned about grease burns or water splatters. The electric two burner cook top added in front of the porch window seems very dangerous for both adult and children who could bump into something cooking and sustain severe burns from cooking items. Finally, San Francesco is an earthquake zone so this kitchen concept does not seem to be well thought out. It looks like another statement design without taking into consideration some important realities.
I wish there was a picture of the outside of the home - I often find that categories assigned don't give the picture - My In-laws had a modest Queen Anne, far from the more glamorous expanded versions. we almost purchased a towering one where the real old kitchen had been in the basement, and the "modern" kitchen was the size of a mid size bath, despite tons of cut up space on the main floor. So to my mind there is nothing holy about keeping all details of a home "historic" when the originals do not work for the people who live in them now. There are some homes that are significant and have precious details, but not all do. And eclectic design was a hallmark!