Lake Nokomis Life
I know I’ve said this phrase many times, but every time we come to the end of a project, regardless of scale, I remind myself of a Nate Berkus quote “we are only as good as our last project”. We can never become complacent. We cannot rest on our laurels – certainly not for very long. This industry is growing, everyone is renovating with the current real estate market, and it’s competitive with resources such as instagram, pinterest, houzz, to name a few. I would go far as saying most design has already been done, so how can we be unique? Breath new life into old spaces, exceed customer expectations and deliver a project we truly wouldn’t change a thing on?
Well friends, we did just this in this quaint Lake Nokomis neighborhood kitchen and dining room renovation. We actually surprised ourselves on this one, which is hard to do. We took a less conventional route with lack of formal mood boards and design plan. Instead we chose specific known elements we had to have and continued to evolve the design process around each component. It was a lot of on the fly decision making, and pulling in a few extra resources to get the job done and delivered on time. In the end, we simply wouldn’t change a thing.
We were so lucky to partner with the talented Amanda Paa with Heartbeet Kitchen as she styled and photographed the space. All good projects end with a visual story, and she nailed it!
We also partnered with Jeffrey Court’s exclusive Home Depot division to source all of the tile in this space. You have to check out their online collection. There are so many affordable and beautiful options. The back splash we chose is the Allegro White Fan mosaic tile. This can actually be placed in either direction, we opted for the fan facing down, it felt a bit more fish scale and a little less cloud like. The floor tile is 12 x 12 Natural Stone Marble mosaic tile. We fell in love with the marble texture and the added detail for this space. We also love the large scale of this tile and overall durability as a floor tile, small scale tiles can make a space feel like a bathroom.
We used a white grout for the back splash, the tile is stunning all on it’s own. Easy pops of color by adding custom floating shelves from our cabinet shop and these adorable shelf brackets from Rejuvination. These were a splurge, but we went for it.
This was also our first ‘tiny kitchen’ renovation, we had to manage a small space update. The appliances were a key factor here. We convinced the home owner to re-locate her fridge to allow for more usable counter space. Additionally we sourced Beko appliances, Europe’s leading appliance brand conscious about energy efficient and health minded families.
The dishwasher might be my favorite appliance ever, it’s 18″, so S M A R T! Think about the efficiencies here when you aren’t cooking for a family of 5 like we do everyday. For a single household member or a party of 2, it takes less time to fill the dishwasher and less energy to run a smaller load. And more room for custom cabinetry, and we’re not mad about that! Energy Star most efficient 2018 list to boot.
We’re telling a story, right? Here are a few images of what we had to work with when we got started. And a few in progress images as well. The idea was to open the space up, take down the wall between the kitchen and the dining space while uncovering the natural brick chimney.
Our client is already dreaming of her next renovation! This has become her favorite place to spend her free time and who knows, she may start using her oven and cooking from time to time. Who could resist?
xo, katie + jesse
Sources:
Photography + Styling: Amanda Paa @heartbeetkitchen
Custom Cabinets, Design + Renovation: Jkath Design Build + Reinvent
Hardware + Brackets: Rejuvination
Appliances: Beko USA via Warners Stellian
Tile Back Splash + Flooring: Jeffrey Court
Countertops: Aurea Stone Paragon Quartz
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