Houzz Tour: A Kitchen for Family and the Joy of Cooking
San Francisco Remodel Creates Open, Connected Family-Room Kitchen
Houzz Contributor. I am an interior designer with a passion for modern clean spaces and timeless vintage decor which makes for a unique eye. I work in Los Angeles but offer e-design services nationally. Visit my website and my blog at http://www.veneerdesigns.com
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Welcome to a newly renovated kitchen designed by San Francisco architect Neil Schwartz, who transformed a Victorian-era back porch into a welcoming, hard-working kitchen that feels both modern and appropriate to the home's original essence. Open shelving and a series of custom ledges for this family’s seasonal canning efforts intensify the casual, working feel to the multi-use space. Schwartz, the project designer from Schwartz and Architecture, takes us inside to see some interesting details behind this gorgeous kitchen renovation in the city's Buena Vista Terrace neighborhood.
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| To preserve a family-room feel to the space, the primary kitchen functions form a long, partially hidden galley tucked along one wall. The designer was able to tuck the most intensive kitchen functions off to the side so that when you enter the room, it first seems like another casual living space.
One of the owners cooks a great deal, using the kitchen every day, organizing extensive annual canning projects and cooking in a hand-built outdoor pizza oven in the adjacent yard. The openness, the design of the center table, corkboard panel detail, and canning shelves are all very specific to the needs of this family. |
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Typical of many San Francisco Victorians, this home’s kitchen had evolved over the years from an enclosed porch and rear-yard service space. It was undersized and not integrated into the life of the current house. The designers updated this ad-hoc space, bringing it into the natural flow of the rest of the structure, and creating a stronger relationship to the rear yard. Now it is tailored to a more modern understanding of indoor/outdoor living.
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| The centerpiece of the new light-filled space is a custom island/drop-leaf table that converts from a casual family dining area to an ample area for the children’s art projects — or seating for 12. |
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| Schwartz strived to create a space that is calm and clean. He likes to use a few basic materials and detail them well rather than insert many different components into the design. |
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The home’s original kitchen was far too small by current standards, but Schwartz believed there was something about the open shelving and casual, “working kitchen” feel of the existing kitchen that was worth preserving.
The feeling of the space as a working kitchen was preserved by providing lots of open shelving and specific areas for canning operations and the display of the filled jars. This view of the shelving space deep in the galley shows how an otherwise overlooked corner can be both beautiful and well used.
A small issue came up: The clients had already purchased a new refrigerator before the remodel, which meant that there were limited places where it could be placed. It is odd to have the refrigerator door swing determine so much of the floor plan, but that happens in remodeling all the time.
The feeling of the space as a working kitchen was preserved by providing lots of open shelving and specific areas for canning operations and the display of the filled jars. This view of the shelving space deep in the galley shows how an otherwise overlooked corner can be both beautiful and well used.
A small issue came up: The clients had already purchased a new refrigerator before the remodel, which meant that there were limited places where it could be placed. It is odd to have the refrigerator door swing determine so much of the floor plan, but that happens in remodeling all the time.
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The resulting layout feels natural and has a good flow.
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| The kitchen was the last space to get attention in this otherwise remodeled home. |
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Remodeling an older building can always be tricky. You are constantly faced with decisions about when to upgrade verses when to start from scratch. The mix of modern lighting with vintage-style engineer stools promotes the blend of old and new.
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Some elements of the kitchen were carried into the bathrooms to create a consistent design vocabulary for the house. Minimally adorned cabinets with a medium-finish wood, modern fixtures, the similar countertop material was used here as well.
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The richness of the vanity cabinet with the gray-painted walls in this bathroom is just one more example of Schwartz's effortless style.
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The house is one block down from Buena Vista Park and has spectacular city views from the upper level. The rear kitchen and master bedroom, where most of the work was done, have more limited views to the garden and neighborhood beyond.
More:
5 Great City Homes
Open and Cozy Family Space
Clean, Creative and Comfortable in a Small Apartment
A San Francisco Cottage Grows Up
See more Houzz Tours
More:
5 Great City Homes
Open and Cozy Family Space
Clean, Creative and Comfortable in a Small Apartment
A San Francisco Cottage Grows Up
See more Houzz Tours
Ideabook updated on May 5, 2011.
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Mark B.
http://wwwmdmcustomremodeling.com
Mark B.
http://www.mdmcustomremodeling.com
That'll make a nice marinara sauce on the floor in the next earthquake.