Kitchen of the Week: Period Details and a Tranquil Blue Hue
A contemporary Colonial-style kitchen charms with a cozy booth, traditional touches and a walnut-and-watery-blue palette
When a Minnesota couple hired Jkath Design Build + Reinvent to update the kitchen in their 1922 Colonial, they asked for improved functionality. They also wanted to pay homage to the home’s architectural style, which a previous renovation had failed to do.
Lead designer Katie Wick took up the challenge, borrowing design details from older English and American kitchens while improving the room’s layout. (She refreshed the adjacent entry, mudroom and powder room too.) But just as important a goal as preserving historical integrity and work flow efficiency — perhaps even more important — was creating a homey atmosphere for the young family.
“Really lean into the charms,” Wick advises anyone seeking to do the same in their older home. “Integrate a little bit of quirk and moments of happiness.” Here’s how she achieved it all in about 400 square feet.
Lead designer Katie Wick took up the challenge, borrowing design details from older English and American kitchens while improving the room’s layout. (She refreshed the adjacent entry, mudroom and powder room too.) But just as important a goal as preserving historical integrity and work flow efficiency — perhaps even more important — was creating a homey atmosphere for the young family.
“Really lean into the charms,” Wick advises anyone seeking to do the same in their older home. “Integrate a little bit of quirk and moments of happiness.” Here’s how she achieved it all in about 400 square feet.
Before Photo
Before: Previously, the wall in the foreground of this photo divided the kitchen and dining room.
After: By taking down the wall and adding an island, Wick was able to relocate the range, sink and refrigerator (which is paneled and integrated with the cabinets to the left of the sink).
“When I go through the design process, the work triangle is really important to me as I’m figuring out exactly how this family is going to go from pulling out produce from the refrigerator, washing it in the sink, prepping it and getting it onto the stove to cook,” Wick says. “We played around with [the layout] — especially where the range went — and this was the most functional way to have every piece work together and create a natural flow from one workstation to the other.”
A discreet downdraft range hood in the island preserves both sight lines and the room’s period style.
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“When I go through the design process, the work triangle is really important to me as I’m figuring out exactly how this family is going to go from pulling out produce from the refrigerator, washing it in the sink, prepping it and getting it onto the stove to cook,” Wick says. “We played around with [the layout] — especially where the range went — and this was the most functional way to have every piece work together and create a natural flow from one workstation to the other.”
A discreet downdraft range hood in the island preserves both sight lines and the room’s period style.
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Before Photo
Before: Below the window, where the sink is now, is what appears to be a vintage vented sink cabinet that was topped with a granite counter during a previous renovation.
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After: The new kitchen cabinetry was custom-designed and built in the Jkath cabinet shop.
The five-piece ogee door fronts echo built-in cabinetry in the dining room. Wick added diamond-shaped vent holes — a sweet detail you’d commonly find in a traditional English kitchen’s larder cabinet.
The walnut island’s turned legs, meanwhile, take inspiration from the spindles of a nearby staircase.
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The five-piece ogee door fronts echo built-in cabinetry in the dining room. Wick added diamond-shaped vent holes — a sweet detail you’d commonly find in a traditional English kitchen’s larder cabinet.
The walnut island’s turned legs, meanwhile, take inspiration from the spindles of a nearby staircase.
20 Kitchens Straight Out of the English Countryside
A new apron-front sink takes its rightful place below the window, which Wick replaced with twin double-hung windows. The six-over-six sashes are more in keeping with Colonial-style architecture.
A HanStone quartz countertop continues up the wall beneath the upper cabinets.
Wick embraced the homeowner’s request for colored cabinetry and painted the perimeter cabinets in Benjamin Moore’s Woodlawn Blue, a delicate, watery blue-green from the company’s Historical Colors collection.
A HanStone quartz countertop continues up the wall beneath the upper cabinets.
Wick embraced the homeowner’s request for colored cabinetry and painted the perimeter cabinets in Benjamin Moore’s Woodlawn Blue, a delicate, watery blue-green from the company’s Historical Colors collection.
Before Photo
Before: Among the original kitchen’s most charming features was its walnut booth, but with seating for six, it intruded into the floor space.
After: Wick cut back the booth so it suits the family of four and is now flush with the left wall.
Above the booth hangs an acorn-shaped light with a schoolhouse feel. The homeowners found the circa 1920 fixture, as well as the flush-mount lights above the sink and island, at Architectural Antiques, a Minneapolis treasure trove of salvaged finds.
On the booth’s raised floor, Wick installed a period-appropriate mosaic glass tile floor for easy cleanup.
Above the booth hangs an acorn-shaped light with a schoolhouse feel. The homeowners found the circa 1920 fixture, as well as the flush-mount lights above the sink and island, at Architectural Antiques, a Minneapolis treasure trove of salvaged finds.
On the booth’s raised floor, Wick installed a period-appropriate mosaic glass tile floor for easy cleanup.
The rest of the floor is original red oak with new planks spliced in.
Squirrel and Sunflower wallpaper adds a pop of pattern to the wall next to the booth.
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Squirrel and Sunflower wallpaper adds a pop of pattern to the wall next to the booth.
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Corbels on some of the upper cabinets and the vertical-panel backsplash on the buffet side of the kitchen (pictured here) are other details that add traditional charm and “special moments of craftsmanship,” Wick says.
The lower cabinet hardware is all polished nickel, and the island and upper cabinets have wood knobs that are consistent with Colonial style.
Your Guide to a Traditional-Style Kitchen
The lower cabinet hardware is all polished nickel, and the island and upper cabinets have wood knobs that are consistent with Colonial style.
Your Guide to a Traditional-Style Kitchen
Before Photo
Before: The refrigerator used to sit where the pantry wall is now — an awkward spot given that this is also the passageway to the rear entry and powder room.
After: Wick replaced the range and surrounding cabinetry with a buffet wall, which has an appliance garage and a microwave drawer.
She also integrated a handy old-school feature into the lower cabinets: a laundry chute that lets the owners send their soiled dish towels and linen napkins down into the lower-level laundry room.
Wick had hoped to make the hallway and kitchen ceilings flush, but the header in the entryway turned out to be unmovable. It was just one surprise that underscored the value of working with seasoned pros.
“In a home this age, there are always funny framing issues, or moments [when you wonder], ‘Why is there a pipe running right through the middle of the ceiling here?’ ” Wick says. “One of the best tools that we have in our toolbox is our owner, Jesse, who is a master problem solver and has seen everything when it comes to residential construction. He can use [his] abilities to solve on the fly.”
She also integrated a handy old-school feature into the lower cabinets: a laundry chute that lets the owners send their soiled dish towels and linen napkins down into the lower-level laundry room.
Wick had hoped to make the hallway and kitchen ceilings flush, but the header in the entryway turned out to be unmovable. It was just one surprise that underscored the value of working with seasoned pros.
“In a home this age, there are always funny framing issues, or moments [when you wonder], ‘Why is there a pipe running right through the middle of the ceiling here?’ ” Wick says. “One of the best tools that we have in our toolbox is our owner, Jesse, who is a master problem solver and has seen everything when it comes to residential construction. He can use [his] abilities to solve on the fly.”
A tighter shot offers a better look at the pantry wall, which has a smart drop zone beneath the open walnut shelves. Beyond it is a mudroom with a wooden peg hanging rail over custom V-groove paneling.
“It’s not a full mudroom like we like to have in Minnesota, but we did make it a little bit larger so we could fit in some storage for the family,” Wick says.
“It’s not a full mudroom like we like to have in Minnesota, but we did make it a little bit larger so we could fit in some storage for the family,” Wick says.
For good measure, here’s the view from the rear entry looking toward the pantry.
Before Photo
Before: Around the corner from the pantry is the powder room, which looked like this prior to the renovation.
After: To accommodate a cabinet in the mudroom, Wick borrowed from the bathroom. It’s now about 25 square feet, which, it turns out, is plenty of space to make a statement.
The homeowner loved this Underwater World wallpaper by Minnesota-based Hygge & West, which Wick paired with era-appropriate Grand Central Brooklyn Marquina marble mosaic tile by Jeffrey Court and a console sink with polished nickel finishes. The wallpaper’s modern print adds just the right amount of requisite quirk.
The homeowner loved this Underwater World wallpaper by Minnesota-based Hygge & West, which Wick paired with era-appropriate Grand Central Brooklyn Marquina marble mosaic tile by Jeffrey Court and a console sink with polished nickel finishes. The wallpaper’s modern print adds just the right amount of requisite quirk.
The renovated kitchen, bath and entry floor plan
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Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A young couple with two small children
Location: St. Paul, Minnesota
Size: About 400 square feet (37 square meters)
Designer: Katie Wick of Jkath Design Build + Reinvent
The kitchen is in the back of the house, with a dining nook looking out to the backyard. There’s an adjacent powder room, mudroom and rear entry, as well as a dining room (not pictured) that’s open to the kitchen.
First, take in the new kitchen, pictured here, to see how all of its elements work together to create a harmonious whole.
Now let’s take a closer look.
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