1910s Kitchen Design Inspiration – Fine Homebuilding

The three-story American Foursquare was built in 1909. Although the back kitchen was a rare time capsule dating to the 1920s, it hadn’t functioned well for decades. One big room with neither cabinets nor built-ins for storage, it housed a 6 ½-foot-long sink that blocked the basement door.

Since the 1970s, the separate butler’s pantry, much remodeled, had served as the main kitchen. “We agonized over what to do for years,” says homeowner Jack. He and his wife, Sig, got help from restoration consultant Karla Pearlstein and designer Matthew Roman.

The consensus was to create a usable space that had the feeling of a 1910s kitchen. The main “stove room” would remain and so would the pantry. After removal of oak-veneer cabinets, a dropped ceiling, and fluorescent lighting, the butler’s pantry looks much as it would have originally.

Table of Contents Toggle 1.) Bungalow-Era Wall One wall originally held a dumbwaiter and closet but now has been built out with period-style cabinets floor to ceiling. The owner built the library ladder from a kit; it allows access to upper cabinets surrounding the built-in refrigerator. A vertical pull-out is included. 2.) Vintage Everywhere True vintage appliances are key to authenticity. A 1940s O’Keefe & Merritt ‘Aristocrat’ stove with two ovens anchors the rear kitchen or stove room. The vintage sink showed up on craigslist. 3.) Pantry Design The restored pantry creates an L-shape with the stove room in the rear. Building out the wood countertop and top row of drawers allowed foot room for anyone standing at the counter, making a modern toe-kick unnecessary.

For the main kitchen in the back (below and right), Roman designed a full wall of cabinets to hide a refrigerator and a pullout pantry. A restored antique stove, an old enamelware table, a porcelain sink on legs, and a new floorcloth patterned on vintage linoleum complete the period room.

Be Inspired… The solid-brass Newbury 4″ surface-mount kitchen light from Schoolhouse comes in four finishes including true black. It’s shown with the 10″-dia. Belt Shade in Opal; pinstriped shades and multiple shapes avail. $278 schoolhouse.com Familiar from the 1940s and ’50s, these counter-height step stools come in chrome with a padded vinyl seat and back. (The steps stow under the seat.) The chairs are 16″ wide x 35 1/2″ high. In black or red, they are $119.99. From Through the Country Door, (800) 341-9477, countrydoor.com The gooseneck bridge-style kitchen faucet with metal cross handles, made by Randolph Morris, is sold by Vintage Tub & Bath. This is the oil-rubbed bronze finish. Cross handles also in porcelain; metal lever handles are another option. Starting at $420. vintagetub.com Pacific Registers makes cast-aluminum HVAC grilles in historical patterns, sized 8 x 8 to 32 x 22 inches. Louvers and dampers sold separately may be added to control airflow. A 14 x 10 register in the Victorian pattern is $87. Also laser-cut wood vent covers, stone covers & more. pacificregister.com

Contractor Mike Edeen stripped the tall baseboards and repaired the old plaster. He refinished the fir floors found beneath layers of vinyl. Then he built the period-inspired cabinets.

— Photos by Blackstone Edge Studios.

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