The kitchen of a semi-detached 90’s house had gone through a light remodel a few years back. Now the kitchen’s appearance wanted to be totally renewed, and the residents, Ilkka and Corry, decided to make the kitchen more spacious and comfortable for cooking together. For the kitchen design, they listed the help of interior designer Leena Carelse, who had previously designed other renovations in the apartment.
Corry had long been dreaming of creating an opening on the wall between the kitchen and the dining room. The design phase proved it impossible to get rid of the entire wall, so the opening created was the largest possible allowed by the structural designer. The renovators carried out big slabs of concrete weighing 50 kg, altogether 10 pieces. The end result made the effort worthwhile, since the light now flows directly through the entire house and makes the ground floor more open.
The concrete floors of the kitchen were actually created accidentally during a previous renovation when the renovators were asked to remove the old flooring and grind the concrete below. While the residents were out of town, the renovators did as told but maybe a bit too eagerly ground down the concrete too much.
I remember coming back from our trip in the middle of the night and seeing the floor for the first time. It wasn’t how we had envisioned it, but it did look very alive.
The industrial floors now suit the newly renovated kitchen and its stainless steel worktops perfectly.
The kitchen cabinets were bought from Ikea, where the placing and measurements of the cabinets were carefully gone through with an expert in kitchen sales. The cabinet insides were maximized with efficiency using interior fittings and drawers, for there is never too much storage space. The doors and fronts for Ikea’s Metod cabinets were then ordered from A.S. Helsingö to create the look in the kitchen design.
The lower cabinets have doors of oak and the upper cabinet doors are light grey. The doors and fronts have no handles to keep the kitchen looking minimalistic and streamlined.
We now even compete who gets to empty the dishwasher, laughs Ilkka and continues, All dishes now have their own dedicated space and they easily find their way back into the cabinet after use.
For the kitchen counters, Leena suggested Stala’s stainless steel worktops. As the kitchen is used everyday, the hygienic stainless steel is a good choice. The worktops were drawn and created using the Stala Tailor-Made design program to make them fit the kitchen perfectly by their measurements.
I was slightly scared when placing the order, since I am not so precise, Ilkka remembers. The end result was however a bullseye and the worktops fit perfectly.
The straightness of the wall created some trouble as the gap between the wall and the long worktop was almost a centimeter at its most. The problem was then decided to be covered by installing a stainless steel back panel, which also protects the wall from splashes of water.
The residents of the house are enthusiastic home cooks so the kitchen is used a lot, especially when entertaining guests. This is why they need two sinks, so choosing only one large sink was out of the question. Belgium born Corry can’t at all understand the Nordic trend for the past years of having one large sink.
The deep sinks are convenient for washing large pots and pans by hand, even if the majority of the dishes are washed in the dishwasher, she says.
At first we were worried if there would be too much stainless steel, but the Tailor-Made worktop has proven to be an excellent worktop, praises Ilkka.
The new way the sink and cooktop were placed in the kitchen created 4 places to cook in the kitchen, and they are all in use when the couple’s grown children come to visit together with their families.
During the renovation they bought a new cooktop, oven and kitchen hood. A Festivo refrigerator and freezer combination was already purchased ahead of the renovation, with the new floor plan in mind. Getting it installed into its place was however a tight squeeze, as the supporting structures of the wall with the opening made the wall thicker by as much as 8 mm. The fridge and freezer are very spacious and convenient for entertaining as well.
The Miele cooktop is installed into the stainless steel worktop, which can handle all the splatter made from cooking. The oven is installed under the cooktop into the row of cabinets. The Savo black kitchen hood is a decorational element on its own between the kitchen and dining area.
The renovation went smoothly, even though there were many laborious phases. Known and capable experts each did their part very well, thank Ilkka and Corry. Now it is time to enjoy the new look and functionality of the kitchen. The family’s dog Missi agrees.
Design: Leena Carelse
Cabinet frames and mechanisms: Ikea
Cabinet doors and fronts: A.S. Helsingö
Worktops and sinks: Stala Tailor-made
Refrigerator and freezer: Festivo
Tap: Tapwell
Kitchen hood: Savo
Cooktop and oven: Miele
Installation: Kokodiili
> Stainless steel care instructions - best practices
> A Family kitchen in the spirit of the 50's