Great contemporary kitchen. The only 'negative' comment is the lack of upper cabinets in favor of more windows.

Well, have to disagree here. As someone who has spent more hours in her kitchen than any other place in her home, I welcome the windows and space created by no upper cabinets. You can actually breathe and enjoy a view of something other than another damn kitchen cabinet door. Great job opening up a narrow kitchen space.

Great transformation!

Living in the Pacific Northwest (my son is in Portland), I know you have many dark days. I would add a wall paper like this to brighten the walls up.


This wallpaper even echos the design pattern put out by your light fixture. I have a wallpaper backsplash in my kitchen and it works fine.

Behind the stove I would add a simple sheet of stainless steel.

A nice warm rug under your sofa:

https://www.houzz.com/photos/937-vintage-mod-midcentury-living-room-portland-phvw-vp~1734979

Cheerful tulips for the dining table:

Love what you did here - lovely!

rwestlund, I wish I could 'like' your view more than just once! Absolutely beautiful!

Love the stair rail! What brand is it?

Wow that view! It looks like a painting! I agree... the upper cabinets were oppressive, and the view is worth every inch of window.

I have to agree with others, with that view why put upper cabinets! I can't tell but is there a backsplash?

Nice job for sure. What are the pendants in the kitchen? Those are nice.

I agree with the others...rug under the sofa...rug under the table too, perhaps.

I would do something behind the range on that wall there even if you don't do anything under the windows, though I assume you have something there...a couple inches of that white like the countertop?

I like pcmom's wallpaper though I think if you found a tile similar that would be better.

Nice job. You don't need much help actually.

The railing is actually a complete DIY. We used several Houzz photos for inspiration after finding the commercially available DIY packages even too expensive. We found prices of $75-100, we will have 50 ft of it, just inside. My husband can weld and has access to a sandblaster. The bottom mahogany rail was anchored to the floor. 1"x3" steel tubing (1/8 thickness) was used to make the 3' high posts, they were sandblasted and sealed, after the plate bases were welded on. The posts were anchored to the mahogany top and bottom rails. Galvanized cable (1/8") was ran through zinc screw eyes, at 3" intervals. Turn buckles were used on each end for tensioning. The cost was 15' per foot, plus some time, but not too much. The mahogany was also sealed. Thanks!

Clay-no backsplash yet, I am waffling between using a color or keeping it a textured white/neutral. Leaning towards a glass, granite horizontal tile, pictures attached. Then I also saw a glazed penny tile in navy blue I liked a lot. I like the ease of a stainless steel piece behind the stove, but feel like there is enough of it already. Also considered the back painted glass.

Jn3344, love these pendants, they are in short supply on Overstock, got one from Amazon also. Z-lite chrome wire ring shepherd light $155.

http://www.overstock.com/Home-Garden/Z-Lite-Chrome-Wire-Rings-1-light-Sphere-Pendant/8561843/customer-reviews.html

I love your first choice of tiles. Neutral but has interest in terms of shimmer. Reminds me of mother of pearl tiles. I agree metallic anything behind the hood fan would be much. It'll drown your pretty hood fan and stove instead of highlighting them.

Stunning reno! Yes, backsplash. Backsplashes add intimacy and can be a place to pull together all your colors.
It would be hot to use the varied pencil you suggested but make sure it has at least 2-3 colors from the room, ie, slate, white (quartz or carrera or ceramic), maybe a clear glass or red/orange stone. Add a special insert over the stove, repeating the pattern off "three" squares, like the windows and woodwork,something in a solid slate in the floor color. Hot focal point.
I love the shell tile but it's a bit boring on its own. It stands up well in a beachy/ chic scheme. Yours is a formal, contemporary, mod with a nod to colloquial trends. Keep it going. Pretty.

We can't see the cabinetry on the right . Are there upper cabinets?

Love what you've done with the house! The railing is my fave too :)

I like the 2nd backsplash you pictured above .... agree something linear, shades of blue and green

Thank you everyone for your thoughts! Here's more of the right side. The floor to ceiling pantry provides a ton of storage, I don't miss the uppers one bit.

great kitchen! enjoy!

Who'd want to leave the house with a breathtaking view like this.

Love that you chose the windows and natural light in favor of upper cabinets. Well done.

Lovely! Bright and open.

awesome, awesome, awesome!!! Thank you very much for the inspiration. So nice to see an update that honors the original 50s ranch style. We are doing a similar update to our ranch as well after a few bad remodels in the 70s-80s by the previous owners. Attached is a photo of our (almost) finished master bathroom

Mod fan, love the bathroom! See I am thinking penny tile might be good for my backsplash too. Or this one, does it have midcentury nods in it?

Penny tile, rwestlund, no doubt!!

What about these for accents - on some corner countertops, dining table and even a small one for the bathroom. These are not very costly and add so much to the decor. With that scenery you almost don't need anything beautiful inside! However, it's always important to have cheerful indoors too!

I supplied a wide variety because you can use different themes for each rooms - orchids/tulips/alliums. Wow your house is a true classic beauty!

Whoops I just realized the bathroom renovations was someone else! Oh well - they're still good suggestions!

Great fantastic kitchen and love the windows choice. For the backsplash, I like the pencil tile with the subtle colours you posted. Agree you should put the tiles as the backsplash for your stove, it will pull the space together. Have you thought of white or light grey/greige side panel drapes with grommets on wood or silver rod to frame your view and make it a clear focal point. panels would be mounted slightly outside your window frame so as to maximize your view, but still frame it. This would add a bit of "weight" to the window wall, balancing out your kitchen. Love the ideas others had for rugs in the LR and DR.

Love that railing!

@rwestlund, thanks for the kind words, sorry for not replying sooner! I like the look of penny round or linear glass for backsplashes myself, in hi-gloss for that updated MCM look. One great online source for modern tile is modwalls.com. I also like your painted glass idea as well. Some of our friends have it and I know they love how low maintenance it is (no grout to clean, etc.).

Also, another idea that looks cool and is just a bit different than the norm is placing linear glass tiles vertically on the wall instead of horizontal.

As a follow-up... We decided on Pental Satin Bianco wave 12x24" for the back splash. It adds texture without being busy or competing with the wood. It's easy to clean, doesn't need sealing, and reasonable priced.

Beautiful.

rwestlund - wonderful choice.

looks amazing =)

love the railing!