This Is What a $100,000 Kitchen Renovation Looks Like
Faced with uncertainty, some people watch for a sign and wait. Kate Arends makes moves. Seeing markets falter at the start of the pandemic, she and her husband swiftly closed the event-slash-office space they were leasing for their St. Paul, Minnesota–based lifestyle brand, Wit & Delight, and bought a new house for their family that could double as a workspace. "It had been on the market for a long time," Arends says of the 1956 rambler. "It was quirky, weird, colorful... But they felt like our quirks, you know? Something that we could live in. It cracked something open in me."
The kitchen, in particular, charmed its new owners. Horizontal paneling realized in gorgeous 3/4-inch white oak and a big picture windows were in sound condition, and held architectural significance, being inspired by the former owners' travels. "It felt almost Japanese when you were in there, with the low ceilings, the clean lines, and the finish of the wood," Arends explains. Despite the sorry 90s appliances ("I couldn't cook a salmon all the way through," she recalls laughingly) the family held out renovating this room for a full year, says Arends, "just for the sake of figuring out what this house needed or what we needed from this house."
Ultimately, the couple decided to keep the original L-shaped floor plan with only one significant structural change: A bulky central island that extended to the ceiling was removed to improve flow and allow for a larger dining table around the corner. Arends relegated cooking was relegated to one end of the space, overlooking the garden, and invested in quality new appliances and all new cabinetry and counters. The wood paneling, however, stayed put.
"It just brings so much warmth, especially in a Minnesota winter!" she says. "That was really the big design element that we began with, that golden white oak."
Before
While the rest of the house has definitely formality to it—think crown molding upon tall ceilings, and more than one crystal chandelier—Arends deliberately kept the kitchen casual. "I leaned towards materials and colors that brought in that very clean, modern wood, that felt like a deliberate juxtaposition in a more traditional home," she explains. A tumbled marble floor hides scuffs and felt appropriate for a mid-century room, but the marble backsplash and countertop was a bigger decision. "I picked up the marble before I had finished designing the kitchen," laughs Arends, "and I built the budget around that."
Originally, Arends hoped to transform the space on a $75,000 budget. She was able to secure discounts on various appliances in exchange for coverage with Wit & Delight, and went with a then brand-new readymade cabinetry line, Boxi by Semihandmade—in Farrow & Ball's Sulking Room Pink—instead of custom millwork that would have cost a small fortune. "I was thinking about the story we were gonna tell [on the blog,] and most people my age can't afford custom cabinets," she says. "Sometimes on the internet, you're like, how in the world do people do that?"
Off-the-shelf cabinetry made some room in the budget for a splurge or two: "For me, it was the touchable, tangible elements that I could feel every day, and that meant a great slab that was going to be a design element, and great fixture that was really the jewelry of the space," Arends explains. She selected a sculptural, oversized felt pendant to hover over the dining table (which is actually built in at cabinet height, so it can double as an extended prep space).
It all went according to plan...until they discovered that the flooring wasn't level. "We made the decision to rip out more flooring, and then we had to do new subfloor and pour everything in," Arends recalls, bumping their total costs up $20,000. "We were able to make it work, thanks to the wiggle room with the affordable tile and Boxi, which was maybe a third of what custom would have been."
With two small children, aged four and five, as well as two yellow labs, the kitchen is always buzzing with activity. But that year of careful plotting was worth it for a kitchen that will last their whole lives: "For the first time in my life, I feel like I'm running like an efficient kitchen for someone who loves to cook," says Arends. "You have to be willing to take the time to plan."
Credits:
Cabinet Hardware: D. Lawless Hardware. Faucet: Deck-Mount Bridge Kitchen Faucet, Lever Handles from One™ by Kallista. Countertops: Calacatta Viola Marble from Artistic Tile. Cabinets: Paintable Cabinet Fronts from BOXI by Semihandmade. Cabinet Paint Colors: Sulking Room Pink and Hague Blue, Farrow & Ball. Sink: Whitehaven® Undermount Single-Bowl Farmhouse Kitchen Sink from Kohler. Brass Shelving: DIY project using BOXI by Semihandmade Shelves and IKEA Brass Panels. Sconces Next to the Range: Regina Andrew Fishbone Sconce from Lulu and Georgia. Sconce Above Bar: Pogo Brass and Cane Sconce from CB2.
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