The Insider: New Kitchen with Retro Vibe Enlivens Park Slope Condo for Family on a Budget
A local architect created a casual open kitchen with a ’50s diner feel where preteens can learn to cook.
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After two decades of living with the developer’s original kitchen in a loft-like condo conversion, the homeowners, a couple with preteen children, decided to invest in a kitchen they would actually enjoy.
“The kitchen wasn’t attractive or efficient,” said Sarah Jacoby of Long Island City-based Sarah Jacoby Architect. Her clients “wanted something with color that felt really personal and individual, and they also didn’t want to break the bank.”
Taking down a wall at one end of the existing kitchen to create more of an open plan, but keeping the same general footprint, Jacoby and her clients decided on a design that would be “fun and special and hold up to kids.”
“We decided the one really spectacular thing would be the backsplash,” said Jacoby. They selected hexagonal tile with a distinctive green glaze from the venerable Heath Ceramics in Sausalito, California.
That gave the space the beginnings of a 1950s diner feel, which they augmented with a black and white checkerboard floor that is “super-graphic without feeling too busy or overwhelming,” the architect said.
Black and white IKEA cabinetry, new stainless steel appliances and chrome accents, including a pot filler that was high on her client’s wish list, round out the project while furthering the “diner” theme.
Clean-lined upper cabinetry with integrated pulls from IKEA’s Voxtorp line nearly reaches the unit’s very high ceilings, providing an abundance of welcome storage.
The over-counter lights —Â Swell pendants by Pablo, with gold interiors — are Jacoby’s “go-to’s.”
Cement floor tile came from Cement Tile Shop, an online retailer.
Open bookshelves at the end of the bank of closed storage are backed with the green hex tile, left irregular at the top as a decorative detail.
Matte black lower cabinets, also from IKEA, were fitted with flecked Caesarstone countertops.
Round ’50s style cabinet pulls were sourced from Atlas Homewares, another online vendor.
[Photos Ty Cole]
The Insider is Brownstoner’s weekly in-depth look at a notable interior design/renovation project, by design journalist Cara Greenberg. Find it here every Thursday morning.
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