Kitchen
A Mid-Century Modern kitchen with a creative storage solution
Image: Alex Lukey / Styling: Ann Marie Favot
Kitchen
A Mid-Century Modern kitchen with a creative storage solution
Sleek finishes, mixed woods, geometric lighting and ample storage make for a warm, contemporary kitchen.
Although this bright contemporary 300-square-foot kitchen is set in a 100-year-old Edwardian home, you wouldn’t know it by looking at it. The homeowners resided in this midtown Toronto house for five years before deciding their family needed more living space and a larger kitchen. So overhauling the abode included building an extension on the kitchen and rejigging its entire layout. Staying true to the home’s architecture was a priority, so designer Shirley Meisels either kept or matched the original features – mouldings, vaulted ceilings and dark hardwood floors – that inject the otherwise modern space with historical character. From there, incorporating sleek elements, a mix of natural materials and a few sculptural Mid-Century Modern finds established an aesthetic that’s clean-lined and contemporary with roots in the past.
Incorporating cabinetry into the space, which features the original vaulted ceilings, required a creative solution. “We wanted to get as much storage as we possibly could, but we couldn’t go up to the ceiling because we wanted to maintain that domed detail,” says designer Shirley Meisels. “So the question was: How do we finish off the top of the kitchen and still show off the arched ceilings?” The solution was to use Arabescato marble to frame a bank of cabinetry to create a “free-standing focal point,” she says. The Mid-Century Modern Cherner stools offset the kitchen’s clean lines, and the light fixture, made of powder-coated metal and vibrant gold leaf, lends interest with its modern artistic design.
The dark-stained wide-plank oak flooring matches the original floors in the rest of the house and adds another warm shade to the layers of wood. The built-in pantry, which also has a free-standing look, houses a panelled fridge, an appliance garage and food storage.
The white oak lower cabinetry, stained a light golden brown, reflects the homeowners’ love of wood and the warm atmosphere it creates. “But we felt doing the entire kitchen in oak would have been a little overwhelming,” says Shirley. Mixing it with the white-painted uppers creates a bright and balanced effect. Elements like the marble frame and backsplash, as well as the engineered quartz countertops, enhance the kitchen’s light sleek look.
A nook with a large bay window offers a bright spot for an eat-in area boasting Mid-Century-style simple-lined wood chairs and a streamlined pedestal table. “We were lucky enough to find a Saarinen-like table with the perfect proportions for this area: a very skinny oval,” says Shirley. The pendant light is a sculptural organic element that complements all the wood in the room.
Tulip table: This Mid-Century modern masterpiece suits any style, whether sleek, eclectic, casual or formal.
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A heavy dose of wood can make the sleekest and most minimalist spaces feel cozy and comfy.
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