A Leak Leads to a Dazzling Kitchen Overhaul in Los Angeles
Designer Ginny Macdonald’s renovation includes a new breakfast nook, laundry room, and a crisp white color scheme.
Designer Ginny Macdonald’s renovation includes a new breakfast nook, laundry room, and a crisp white color scheme.
By the time designer Ginny Macdonald was called, the damage had been done. An unforeseen leak concealed within a South Los Angeles kitchen had dripped its way into an irreparable mess, and owners Mara and David had no other options but to find a way to clean it up.
"This wasn't your typical ‘client would like help with upgrades to their outdated kitchen design so they hired a designer’ situation," Macdonald said. But just like how Macdonald’s entrance on to the scene wasn’t routine, neither was Mara and David’s response.
The wooden ceiling above the dining nook is one of the few remaining features from the home's midcentury past.
Photography by Jessica Alexander
Instead of lamenting the loss of what was, they looked at the wreck as a chance to create something better. "Since their insurance company was covering most of the renovation—or at least the damaged parts—they wanted to upgrade some of its cosmetic areas," she continues. "And the laundry room was something additional that they'd been meaning to do for a while, so they thought it was a good time for it since the contractors were already there."
Macdonald sourced the cabinet's pulls and knobs from Forge Hardware Studio on Etsy. The white quartz countertops were saved from the original kitchen.
Photography by Jessica Alexander
Although their home was built in 1955, it wasn't filled with the type of architectural details that make a midcentury property charming. Mara and David bought it after developers had upgraded certain details into the current decade, ultimately neutralizing its past in a palette of gray. "There were gray upper and lower cabinets, gray marble tiles, and an oversized chrome faucet," Macdonald remembers. "The wood flooring had a bit of a traditional farmhouse feel to it, so we wanted to make sure whatever we did worked with that."
The breakfast nook is a new addition, and takes the place of where a dining room once was. The bench storage "makes the kitchen feel much more organized now," Macdonald says.
Photography by Jessica Alexander
See the full story on Dwell.com: A Leak Leads to a Dazzling Kitchen Overhaul in Los Angeles
