Mid Mod Kitchen, Bar and Mud Room

What’s one part Modern, one part mid century and one part pretty cool?  Our kitchen, with a separate wet bar and mud room. This whole house was totally different than anything we have ever done before, and it was a challenge - but we're pretty thrilled with the results!

So where did we start?  This kitchen is a great example of what was considered a new mid-century trend - making the kitchen the center of family life (historically, kitchens were small rooms - dedicated to the cook and not very family friendly). It has lots of room for the whole family to come together for cooking, meals and entertaining.

It has big, high ceilings and tons of space - but also a few challenges, like lots of doorways and walkways - not to mention it overlooks the sunken living room.

One of the biggest challenges we faced was how dark it was - despite having a giant skylight in the next room.  Here's a great illustration of the difference between before and after.  See the new window in the kitchen?  My husband says this is his single favorite change in the whole house.  While the old ribbon window was very cool, it didn't really let a lot of light in the room.  And once we installed the new window, we realized there is a beautiful view out to the courtyard. An added bonus is the light coming in the tall window makes the room seem taller as well.

We loved the idea of a center island and wanted to expand on that, with even more space for family and friends to gather around. Now we have seating for 6, as well as lots of workspace so everyone can lend the chef (that would be Richard!) a hand!

Kitchen looking towards bar and dining room - Before

Kitchen After

The other big changes?  Opening up the doorway to the stairwell. The stairwell is such a dramatic space with the giant skylight above it and a great, retro staircase.  By making the doorway from the kitchen taller and wider, it brings more sunlight into the kitchen and you get the bonus of seeing more of that great space!

If you've been reading the blog for awhile, you've realized I'm  a bit obsessed with tile. So I wanted to make sure we had something really special in our own home.  When I saw this pattern, I couldn't say no.  You see, it's called Stardust - after David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust album, which was published in 1972 - the same year the house was built!!  Kismet!!

Before

And then there is the bar!!!!  The bar is such a key element of the living space, we wanted to do it right.  The original, vintage wallpaper cleaned up beautifully and still graces the entire wall.

We updated the shelving with large glass doors, to display bottles, decanters and such.

Before

We also kept the original sink, with its uber cool bottle holders.  But we removed the mirror and opened up the back wall, so you can see out to the living room and people can 'belly up to the bar'!!

We opened up the doorways on either end of the bar.  Now it's a bright, open space that links to every other room.

And then we have a mudroom!  I can't tell you how excited I am about having a dedicated mudroom - especially as we hit a particularly messy mud season hear in Maine.  We installed a hard working porcelain tile that can take any abuse that comes its way.  We replaced the original cobalt blue pantries with white ones that are a bit deeper, to provide even more storage.


But it's the details that make it such a great room.  The Bubble pendant, the wood coat rack and the very mid-mod wallpaper, really make the space!

Petey's getting the hang of being a dog model!

We've been living in the house for a couple of months now and are really enjoying the kitchen layout.  And while I'm wild about the mudroom, Richard is happiest mixing up fancy new cocktails!  Cheers!

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