After living in the small kitchen space of her Victorian row house with her growing family and saving enough money to renovate, Natalie Hodgins (a senior designer at Sarah Richardson Design) also had a huge list of wants and needs for the 10' x 10' room. Sarah and Natalie resolved to think outside the box and create a custom-look kitchen by "twisting stock cabinetry on its ear," she says. "With a little imagination and planning, you can take a big-box kitchen from IKEA and make it completely custom and unique."


Smart solutions
Designer Natalie Hodgins made the most of her tiny kitchen with a light, neutral colour scheme, cheap and cheerful accessories, and practical built-ins like a quartz-composite peninsula table. She and her carpenter get extra points for creating storage-savvy bench seating out of stock IKEA kitchen cabinetry. "We added a kickplate, put flat stock on the top and 'MacGyvered' our own banquette," she says.

Contractor, carpenter pegreno.com. Paint Quiet Hideaway 81YY 81/016 (walls), Natural White 50YY 83/029 (trim), cil.ca. Countertop HanStone in Aurora Snow. Roman shade fabric Majken cotton, Bar stool Glenn, ikea.ca. Peninsula base havaseat.com. Pendant lights greatlighting.com. TV sonystyle.ca.

 

Marble tones The IKEA cabinetry, spray-painted grey and white, takes its lead from the classic Carrara marble flooring. The upper cabinets extend to the 10' ceiling to maximize every inch of the small space, as does the wine rack, made from one and a half stock IKEA units, stacked.

Cabinets Akurum/Askome (discontinued), wine rack Perfekt, oven Mumsig built-in, range hood Luftig Hoo C50, tea towel: ikea.ca. Paint Silver Lined Cloud P5211-62 (lower cabinets), para.com; Natural White 50YY 83/029 (upper cabinets), cil.ca. Spray-painting (cabinets) Benjamen Furniture Refinishing, 416-745-2559. Flooring saltillo-tiles.com.

 

Multifunctional marvel The new peninsula has many talents, serving as a family dining table, a food prep area, and a wine bar when Natalie and her husband entertain. The Carrara marble mosaic backsplash adds understated elegance and texture to the room.

Backsplash saltilotiles.com. Faucet Alsvik, ikea.ca. Sink Franke, tapsbath.com. Microwave homedepot.ca.

 

Orange crush Instead of investing in costly upholstery fabric, Natalie covered the banquette seat with sewn-together striped rugs from IKEA -- a steal at just $10 each. She can easily swap out the vividly coloured cushions for a completely different look down the road.

Banquette cushion fabric Sveje flatweave cotton rugs, cushions Minna (discontinued), ikea.ca. Upholstery Silva Custom Furniture, through designers, 416-638-9595.