Project Details
This West Seattle kitchen is built on IKEA’s SEKTION cabinet system, and it’s a good example of what that system can do when it’s installed and detailed with care. We handled the work that turns a flat-pack kitchen into a finished room — the kind of IKEA kitchen remodel we take on across the Seattle area.
The kitchen opens right into the dining room, and that connection is what makes the layout work. The wall between the two rooms was removed so the kitchen could gain a generous peninsula with bar seating. Opening up a floor plan like this is the kind of work we do all the time. Because it was a structural wall, it couldn’t simply come out; it had to be replaced with a new glulam beam to carry the load, and the client chose to leave that beam exposed as an architectural feature rather than hide it in the ceiling.
The detail that makes this kitchen read as custom is up at the ceiling. IKEA upper cabinets come in fixed heights that rarely meet the ceiling line, and the leftover gap tends to collect dust and grease. Rather than leave it open, we carried the cabinets all the way up with extra-tall cover panels and finished the top edge with a slim, mitered crown cut from IKEA deco strips. It’s a small move that makes an IKEA kitchen look built-in instead of assembled.
We also handled the systems behind the finished look: the electrical, the interior and under-cabinet lighting, and a range hood vented through a new roof penetration. But it’s the smaller details that give this kitchen its character. The white tile is set in a herringbone pattern, which takes considerably more time and care to lay out than a standard straight run, and the payoff shows in the finished backsplash. The brass cup pulls and knobs really pop against the gray-green AXSTAD doors and drawer fronts. It’s also worth noting the mix of metals at work here: brass on the hardware, copper on the wall sconce over the sink, and polished nickel on the faucet. A lot of people are afraid to mix metals in a kitchen like this, but it’s one of a designer’s favorite tricks. It adds depth and dimension and keeps the space from looking too homogeneous and sterile. Those are the touches that take an IKEA kitchen from off the shelf to one of a kind.
Read the full story behind this West Seattle IKEA kitchen on our blog →
