Photography by Luke Hayes, courtesy of Mike Tuck Studio, except where noted.
A while back Julie and I were struck by a kitchen by a young architect in London, with a springy palette of pale pinks and greens, painted white brick, and wall of steel-framed windows opening onto a terrace garden.
As it turned out, the kitchen (and the rest of the house, all recently remodeled) read like a greatest hits album of Remodelista favorites: Dinesen flooring and cladding, a Plain English kitchen, furniture from Another Country and Studioilse, and lighting from Workstead.
The kitchen, with steel-framed doors that lead directly into the terrace garden on the same level.
That’s just too good not to miss out on.” (The green garden gate at the back of the terrace opens directly onto Wells Street Common, which itself leads into Victoria Park.).
But the house needed work by the time the Nygaards found it Unfortunately once all the wonderfully weird interiors had gone we were left with a shell that was...
...practically falling apart and in very poor condition Toke says including a toilet in the middle of the downstairs and a very strong and peculiar smell coming from the basement
A view into the kitchen from the garden.
However, we realized you can’t really reach far with it and needed a more flexible one to clean the sink, hence the more industrial one which is called Abode Stalto Professional,” Toke says.
The kitchen and the terrace garden beyond, not yet completed at the time these photos were taken.
In the meantime, they say, they’re “going for a Brazilian beach hotel vibe in the kitchen” with houseplants.
The view from the kitchen into the adjacent family-friendly dining area, with a beadboard-back bench custom-made by the couple’s contractor, Lionhead Construction, and painted in Little Greene’s Pink Slip.
“It started to get a little overwhelming so we cut away the planned pendants over the kitchen island.” Brass Orbit Sconces by Workstead from Another Country, Louis Poulson PH5 Pendant Lamps in pink, and black Navire Sconces from Atelier de Troupe (over the kitchen counter) made the final cut.
The centerpiece of the kitchen: a new, custom brick fireplace.
By all accounts, the fireplace buildout was the most difficult part of the project: “It was a beast to build,” Toke says.
More evidence of the couple’s predilection for wood-burning stoves.
A bathroom is small but luxe with a marble counter.
While the couple splurged on the kitchen and Dinesen flooring, they saved money where they could, like painting what Toke calls the upstairs “original wonky old pine flooring” white.
Upstairs, more Dinesen, including the stair surround.
An upstairs bedroom/sitting room with another woodstove (note the black metal cladding that continues under the eaves).
An upstairs window with a generous sill for plants.
The terrace garden, now completed for spring and inspired by the Pacific Northwest (where Catherine is from originally) mixed with an English garden, with the Wells Street Common beyond. For more projects with Dinesen floors, see.
Photograph courtesy of Toke and Catherine Nygaard.