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Kitchen of the Week: A Warm and Eco-Friendly Update
A Seattle Couple Remodels Their 1920s Kitchen With Reclaimed and Salvaged Materials
When Bruce and his wife Vinita Sidhu moved into a 1920s Craftsman-style house, remodeling the kitchen was one of the first projects they wanted to tackle. The original kitchen had been built in a galley style and was far too small to do any serious cooking. By enclosing the back porch and removing an unusable chimney, Parker and Sidhu were able to double the kitchen space.
Reclaimed and salvaged wood and glass were an important facet of this home's design. Parker, who is the founder of Microhouse in Seattle, did this not only for the sake of sustainability, but also to preserve the style of the home. "Our goal was to come up with a design that would bridge the gap between the needs of contemporary living and our 1920s Craftsman house," Parker says.
Reclaimed and salvaged wood and glass were an important facet of this home's design. Parker, who is the founder of Microhouse in Seattle, did this not only for the sake of sustainability, but also to preserve the style of the home. "Our goal was to come up with a design that would bridge the gap between the needs of contemporary living and our 1920s Craftsman house," Parker says.
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| All of the cabinets in the kitchen were custom designed by Parker and Sidhu. Although stylistically they were inspired by famed architecture firm Greene and Greene, they also put a huge emphasis on reclaimed materials. "Using reclaimed woods saved on material costs, but added a lot of time," Parker says.
Reclaimed fir was used for the cabinetry, shelving and window frames. The flooring is made of salvaged oak topnail, which blends with the rest of the home. Where reclaimed materials weren't used, the couple opted for hard-wearing materials such as the honed black granite countertops and the backsplash from the Ann Sacks Element series. |
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| Because the kitchen is a small space, Parker wanted to allow for as much natural light as possible. "It's hard to describe the quality of sunlight in the Pacific Northwest, but it's often muted and filtered by layers of cloud," he says. "So the quantity and placement of windows was crucial."
Parker concentrated the windows in the kitchen to the east and the north, which captures morning light from the patio and garden. "The small size of our house made the connection to the outside that much more important," he says. For additional lighting, Parker installed pendants over the counter from Rejuvenation. |
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| The kitchen table is the heart of this kitchen. It's made out of a ship's hatch that Parker's father found on the beach in the 1960s. "It was fun to be able to incorporate this family relic into the design," he says.
Since space was such an issue, Parker and Sidhu decided to avoid using a lot of above-counter cabinetry and instead put shelving on one of the interior walls. |
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The design of the original kitchen was so small that there was no room for a refrigerator. With the new, open space, Parker was able to create a built-in space out of reclaimed fir.
"As with most projects, a lot went into it before we got to do the fun stuff, like working on cabinets," Parker says. Updating the wiring was a huge challenge in this kitchen. Because Parker wanted to keep the plaster, he had to carefully pull the wiring out of the plaster to minimize the damage on the existing wall and ceiling.
Show us your kitchen! Do you have any handiwork you're especially proud of? Any fun, eco-friendly updates? Upload a photo in the comment section!
More ideas:
23 Inspiring Real-Life Kitchens
Design Greener: Using Reclaimed Wood
"As with most projects, a lot went into it before we got to do the fun stuff, like working on cabinets," Parker says. Updating the wiring was a huge challenge in this kitchen. Because Parker wanted to keep the plaster, he had to carefully pull the wiring out of the plaster to minimize the damage on the existing wall and ceiling.
Show us your kitchen! Do you have any handiwork you're especially proud of? Any fun, eco-friendly updates? Upload a photo in the comment section!
More ideas:
23 Inspiring Real-Life Kitchens
Design Greener: Using Reclaimed Wood
Ideabook updated on Aug. 14, 2011.
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www.endurawood.com
www.bearcreeklumber.com
www.pioneermillwork.com
www.urbanhardwoodrecovery.com
www.altruwood.com
http://seattlebackyardcottage.blogspot.com/
http://www.microhousenw.com
Seattle Resources for salvaged materials that we used.
http://www.re-store.org
http://www.seconduse.com/