URBAN
LEGENDS
The Junction
Article and photo credit by Designer
There's a famous phrase by William Morris, godfather of the Arts & Crafts movement in 1800's England, that goes:
Have nothing in your home that you don't know to be useful or believe to be beautiful
Nowhere is this saying more applicable than in tight Toronto homes.
Case in point - this west end home had charm and character but it came entirely from the young family that occupied it and almost none from the house itself. The layout was choppy, the lighting was dim and the finishes were Builder's Blah™.
And while our earliest discussions were about making the space more functional, when it came to the dozens of small choices involved in kitchen design the winning argument was often some variation of "because it's so pretty!"**
**Side note: if you're fighting for your vision don't let anyone tell you "because it's so pretty" is not a valid reason. When it comes to your home it's one of the best reasons of all!
The final space was a result of pairing of practical elements with just-for-the-fun-of-it design components. After all, does a kitchen really *need* a carefully restored vintage tin ceiling? Probably not...but it's so pretty!
One of the earliest, and easiest, decisions for this space was to open the kitchen completely to the adjacent dining/living room. Previous owners clearly had the same thought when they created the pass-through window but by taking it a step further and removing the wall entirely the whole space just breathes better.
Ribbed glass pendant lights pair nicely with the old-fashioned vibe of the tin ceiling
It's difficult to imagine who would have thought to cover a tin ceiling with tbar and a strip light but that's exactly what had been done in this kitchen.
With the removal of the dropped ceiling, as well as all the upper cabinets, the kitchen felt (and was) airy and larger. The decision to have no upper cabinets in the entire room was made possible due to the large amount of storage built around the fridge on the opposite side of the room.
We've all heard renovation horror stories before - the spiraling budget, the unexpected discovery of mold, the time a pipe burst and flooded the basement - but what about the stories with a happy twist?
During demo we made two very happy discoveries - a carefully preserved tin ceiling and an exposed brick wall buried under a single layer of drywall. That was the day we told the homeowners to buy some lottery tickets because they were clearly on a hot streak!
Opening up a small doorway between the stairwell and the living/dining room was a huge gamechanger for the main floor. What had been previously only circulation space at the base of the stairs is now an extension of the living/dining space.
Adding a curve to the new wall opening creates an elegant counterpoint to the rough texture of the exposed brick wall.
