Category: Kitchen
Design: Beebe Skidmore Architects
Location: Seattle
Goal: Recent transplants from Cambridge, Massachusetts, the smart
and creative owners of this vintage Capitol Hill home (she's an artist, he's a
professor/inventor) needed to completely overhaul their run-down and outdated
kitchen. The pair hired Beebe Skidmore Architects to design a well-thought-out
new space that would accommodate the needs of all members of the family,
including the couple's two teenage daughters.
"Maggie wanted her daughters to be able to do their
homework or read in the kitchen while she was cooking—but also for everyone to
be able to cook together," says architect Heidi Beebe. To fulfill the
family’s requests, the firm designed a multi-level custom island for the space,
combining a counter-height multi-functional workspace with a family-sized
dining table that seats five.
Inspiration: The couple's largest inspiration came from a kitchen in one
of their favorite films, Kiki's Delivery
Service. The Japanese animation illustrates whimsical interpretations of
European and Japanese residential design.
Breakdown: Expanding the kitchen to take over part of a covered porch
was the first task on the team's design agenda. After the architects achieved a
larger footprint, they moved on to the selection of materials, which helped guide
the rest of the design. The striking blue tile backsplash is reclaimed French
cement bistro tile; its abstract flower motif in turn inspired the cabinet cutouts.
"As an artist and a painter, Maggie is very attuned to the differences in
color and material properties," explains Beebe. "We looked at lots of
options for every material and debated the pros and cons and effects of every
choice." They also sweated the details, resulting in a highly customized
interior. The maple butcher block on the kitchen island has CNC-cut knife slots
in the surface for the avid cooks, and every drawer and cupboard was thoughtfully
planned out to maximize storage space.
Get the Look: "Mix and match contemporary and antique materials
without trying to overly feature any one material," Beebe advises. “Try to
use integral materials to create dimensions instead of just applying them to
surfaces."
Images courtesy of Beebe Skidmore Architects.
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