KEEP IT CLEAN: Loving the clean look of the two window walls, the design team decided to eschew upper cabinetry. “But they have a full wall of cabinetry opposite the windows so they’re equipped with plenty of storage,” Weatherill says. Photo by Meagan Larsen Photography.Mid-century homes are stylish and cool, but 70 years later, not all parts of them work well for modern inhabitants. Such was the case with the kitchen of this 1951 charmer located in Denver’s Hale neighborhood. The owners asked the team at Ashleigh Weatherill Interior Design (AWID) to freshen up their kitchen—while keeping the current layout—and convert an unused room into a coffee bar.
“Since the home and many of the existing furnishings are decidedly and firmly in the mid-century style, many of the decisions were easy to make,” Weatherill says. Some of those existing pieces, such as the Wolf range, Artemide Castore pendants above the island, and chrome-and-leather barstools, made for a stylish starting point.
FUNCTIONAL ART: “It was a lot of fun deciding on how to treat the peninsula that divides the kitchen from the dining room,” Weatherill says. The mid-century “pill” pattern of the suspended wine cabinet was inspired by a door the clients had previously added to the home. Photo by Meagan Larsen Photography.Adding to the home’s innate glamour and retro charm, the design team gave the existing cabinetry a facelift with walnut drawers, topped with honed Colorado Yule marble countertops and backsplash. To get a clear division between the kitchen and dining room without adding a wall that would close in the space, AWID designed the metal wine cabinet suspended over the peninsula. “With most houses of a particular age, nothing is square,” Weatherill says, “so getting the wine storage piece to both look square and level when it’s really not was definitely one of the biggest challenges.”
With challenges met, the AWID team was able to deliver a sleek, functional kitchen that maintains the character and integrity of the home while balancing classic architecture with modern living.
