Recipes for Success: Three Families Tell Us How They Created a Perfect Kitchen
Check out these varying approaches—from a London kitchen’s pitched-timber ceiling to an all-in-one island tucked neatly into a Chilean A-frame.
Check out these varying approaches—from a London kitchen’s pitched-timber ceiling to an all-in-one island tucked neatly into a Chilean A-frame.
Everyone has their own idea of what makes a great kitchen. Read about the solutions of three families from Montréal, London, and El Buchén, Chile.
1. The Newly Minted Interior
Two- and three-story apartment buildings, known as plexes, with one or two units per floor, each stretching from the street to the back, have defined housing in Montréal for more than a century. With their exterior staircases, stained glass, wood floors, and moldings, plexes offer plenty of charm, but their lineup of small rooms sometimes feels incompatible with contemporary life and taste.
When Michèle Beaudin decided to transform the 1,500-square-foot ground-floor apartment of a 1920s fiveplex she owns, she tasked local architect Stéphane Rasselet and his team at Naturehumaine with a delicate mission: Update the space without erasing its original character.
Michèle Beaudin’s fiveplex in Montréal is 100 years old. She tasked architect Stéphane Rasselet with renovating the ground floor apartment occupied by her daughter, Mariflore Véronneau, who was also keen on retaining the building’s character while breathing new life into what was previously a dim interior.
Photo: Thomas Bouquin
"Everything we did was based on this duality," says Rasselet. The redesign takes cues from existing elements. The green color bedecking most of the cabinetry was inspired by the tiles in the vestibule as well as the botanical motif of the original stained-glass panels in the apartment’s doors.
The curved row of vertical slats that replaces the wall separating the kitchen and living spaces echoes the fluted columns and arch at the dining room’s entrance while also allowing more natural light to reach the apartment’s core.
A wall separating the kitchen from the front rooms was removed. Now, Mariflore says, visitors are wowed by Rasselet’s slatted partition. A fixture by Lambert & Fils hangs over the dining table and chairs by EQ3, while a newly electrified radiator provides warmth.
Photo: Thomas Bouquin
Designed for Michèle’s daughter, Mariflore Véronneau, a mother of two, the kitchen is, of course, the home’s busy hub, requiring it to be as orderly and spacious as possible. Rounded cabinets and an island add much needed, concealed storage and create a sense of movement toward the back windows.
In preliminary conversations with Rasselet about the redesign of her busy family kitchen, Mariflore asked for plenty of hidden storage and smooth surfaces that wouldn’t trap dust or grime.
Photo: Thomas Bouquin
See the full story on Dwell.com: Recipes for Success: Three Families Tell Us How They Created a Perfect Kitchen
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