fremont kitchen featured

Our fremont kitchen is the kitchen of the week on Houzz.com check it out.  The project embodies many of the philosophies that we at Microhouse incorporate into our small house designs.

kitchen of the week

Our goal with this project was to come up with a design that would bridge the gap between the needs of a contemporary living and our 1920’s craftsman house.  The commonality that served as a departure point for me was the utilitarian nature inherent in both craftsman kitchens and modern design. For this reason I designed cabinets that emphasized clean lines, simple detailing and richness of reclaimed old growth fir.  I found the kitchen cabinet designs of famed famous architects Green and Green inspirational.

It is hard to describe the quality of sunlight in the Pacific Northwest but it is often muted, filtered by layers of clouds, and always precious.  For this reason the quantity and placement of windows was crucial. We concentrated the windows to the east and north enabling us to capture morning light and open out onto our patio and garden.  The small size of our house made the connection to the outside that much more important giving our kitchen an added expanse.  Rather than using above counter cabinets that would have limited the amount of windows, we created a “pantry wall” on the interior West wall.  This efficiently provides storage for bulk goods/ books and dishes.  We created another small group of open shelves adjacent to the refrigerator and adjacent to the dining room for every day plates and dishes. 

Using reclaimed materials was really important to us for many reasons not the least of which was sustainability.  The timeless quality of the old growth fir we used is apparent in its rich color and slight imperfections.  For the window construction we again used reclaimed fir for its straightness and durability.  The top sashes were obtained from local architectural salvage store. The bottom sashes built from fir and we went to great lengths to use reclaimed wavy glass which is particularly nice on the interior cabinet doors.  We also used reclaimed top nail oak flooring which enabled us to seamlessly match the new flooring areas with those of the existing house.  Where we didn’t use reclaimed materials like the granite counter tops we opted for durability. 

The kitchen table was created from a ships hatch that my father found on the beach way back in the 1960’s. It was fun to be able to incorporate this family relic into the design. The table frame was made from the fir studs taken from the wall that separated the original kitchen from the kitchen dining area.

The table is the focus of the kitchen.  It is a great place to idle away a rainy weekend morning with a cup of coffee watching the raindrops travel down the rain-chain just outside. Well at least it would be if we ever had idle mornings.  We built it to cabinet height so that it readily becomes an extra work surface. The person cooking usually sits on the stove side where it is easy to swivel between the stove and table.