Kitchen of the Week: A Stylist's $3,400 Kitchen Makeover, DIY Scandi Edition

Start typing to search...

Thanks to my Instagram habit, I’m stopped in my tracks daily by the sets and still lifes that Scandinavian stylists create for clients like Iitalla and Asun. So clean. So magically simple. So serene. How does this talent, I always wonder, translate at home? Not surprisingly, it translates exceptionally well. Here’s a perfect example: Star Finnish interiors and prop stylist Anna Pirkola (@annapirkola) moved with her family of four into a Helsinki duplex apartment with a kitchen she describes as “just horrible and dark brown.” Sticking to a budget of €3,000 (approximately $3,400), she and her musician/cultural manager husband entirely overhauled the kitchen themselves—with occasional help from Anna’s father and an electrician. Take a look at it now.

Photography by Anna Pirkola.

&#8\2\20;the fact that we were on a tight budget forced us to be more imagi 17 — Above: “The fact that we were on a tight budget forced us to be more imaginative and to think through every option,” says Anna. The approximately 12-square-meter (129-square-foot) space is open to the living room—”so I could see how ugly it was every time I sat on the sofa.”

The couple’s first move was attack the cabinets: They tore out the over-the-counter storage and left only the shell of the lower half. Then they applied birch plywood doors and counters to this frame, creating an entirely new look. (“Yes, we did it ourselves—my husband is quite handy,” says Anna.) Their sink and faucet came from Ikea, as did the circular lights and trio of cabinets that they staggered on the wall, supplying both storage and the display surfaces crucial to a stylist.

the metal tab hardware on the cabinets is also from ikea: &#8\2\20;we weren 18 — Above: The metal tab hardware on the cabinets is also from Ikea: “We weren’t sure if we wanted to have leather pulls or something else, so we bought these to use for the time being because they don’t leave any marks on the outside of the cabinets. And yes, they have been there quite a while.”

The ceramic coffee pot is Mette Duedahl’s Push design and the white ceramic teapot and sugar bowl are from Jonas Wagell’s Bulky Tea Collection, all from Muuto. The two-toned salt and pepper shakers are Norm Architects’ Bottle Grinder Mills for Menu—see them and more in Salt and Pepper Grinders from Around the World.