Mid Century Modern Kitchen Remodel

We recently had the pleasure of remodeling a kitchen in a mid century modern house here in Seattle. Sometimes we work on a whole house remodel but partial remodels are more common (although occasionally these end up as whole house jobs anyway). Usually the task is to bring the kitchen or baths up to date with modern appliances, fixtures and layout.

The challenge is how do you update the functionality of a part without compromising the aesthetic of the whole and at the same time, avoid historical pastiche? The mid century modern movement was about moving away from historical imitation and exploring a new design language. This language talked about clean lines, expressed structure and materiality.  If we attempt to copy the style of the time exactly, we will be undermining the idea that gave birth to it. With that in mind, we embraced the ideals of the period without clinging to the ‘visual trappings’ of the style. 

In this particular case, we were working from a concept sketch generated by the talented folks at Shed architecture. We came into the project and worked with the clients to develop what you see below. Thanks to Nathan at Kerf Design (who made the awesome cabinets) for the pictures of the completed projects.

But first; the before. Below is a link to a photosynth of the kicthen in its 'before' state..... Functional but cut off from the main living area and badly in need of some appliance updates.

http://tinyurl.com/7mf9j8o

And after: