Before & After: 3 Remodelled American Kitchens With a Vintage Vibe

A hand-painted hood, a brick fireplace and patterned porcelain tiles add classic charm to these renovated kitchens

Bryan Anthony 23 March 2021

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When remodelling a kitchen, it’s always nice to get the most updated appliances, materials and features. But that doesn’t mean the look of your newly renovated kitchen can’t be inspired by the past and show off some old-world charm. Check out the before-and-after photos of these three recent kitchen remodels with vintage vibes and let us know which one got the mix of retro and new right for you.

Before Photo

1. Beautiful Brick Fireplace

Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: Two professors and their daughter
Location: Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago
Size: 285 square feet (26 square meters)
Designer: Rebekah Zaveloff of KitchenLab Interiors

Before: Nothing about the previous kitchen made it feel like it was in a Victorian-era row house. And it wasn’t an inviting space to spend time in. The homeowners asked designer Rebekah Zaveloff to add new windows and a wood-burning fireplace and to select thoughtful details that make the space fit right in with the home’s history.

Find a kitchen designer on Houzz

KitchenLab Interiors

After: The scope of the remodel included taking the room down to the studs, opening it up to the dining room and adding the fireplace and expansive new windows that look onto the backyard. The goal was to create Victorian-era style while updating the space, giving the kitchen the appearance that it had gently evolved over time.

Along with the mix of cabinet finishes, an encaustic cement tile floor, walls covered in elongated subway tiles, painted brick, simple pendant lights and traditional hardware give the room a vintage look.

KitchenLab Interiors

“When my clients called me, the first thing they said was, ‘We want a fireplace or wood-burning stove in here and no one will do it,’ ” Zaveloff says. “We will take on any challenge as long as codes allow for it.” History provided an assist, as they found a hole and chase from an old chimney in the wall near this spot during demolition. Zaveloff was able to create a chimney with a new metal chase above the kitchen up to the roof.

See more of this kitchen remodel

Before Photo

2. Hand-Painted Hood

Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: Designer Tiffany Skilling, her husband and their two children
Location: Meridian-Kessler neighbourhood of Indianapolis
Size: 350 square feet (33 square meters)
Designer: Tiffany Skilling

Before: When designer Tiffany Skilling and her husband purchased their 1928 Tudor Revival home in Indianapolis, it had a 1960s kitchen that was dark, closed-off and not set up for the way their family lives. Also, the room was out of step with the home’s history and style.

Skilling saw an opportunity to open the kitchen to adjacent spaces and refresh it with new finishes that better fit the architecture of the home.

Tiffany Skilling Interiors

After: The remodelled kitchen took over space from the former den and now benefits from ample light from the windows. To orient yourself, notice the two windows above the kitchen sink, which are in the same location as the slatted windows shown in the “before” photo. Skilling used a clever trick to make these new windows look old: She added leaded glass tape in the same thickness and diamond pattern as the original windows.

The range hood is a custom piece. The hood took shape when Skilling found antique corbels and designed it around them. (The corbels are beneath the hood.) Skilling faux-painted the hood herself. “There are probably five different layers of paint,” she says.

Tiffany Skilling Interiors

The coffee bar and wine station holds the family’s glassware collection and coffee mugs, as well as an espresso machine that gets frequent use. “We really love coffee,” Skilling says. “We always get special espresso beans and I make a latte every morning.” The area also features a wine refrigerator.

The dining table previously belonged to Skilling’s mother-in-law, who did her homework on it as a child. “Those are special things that bring us a lot of joy in the space,” Skilling says.

See more of this kitchen remodel

Before Photo

TKS Design Group

3. Patterned Porcelain Tiles

Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: Phil and Karen Carroll and their teenage son
Location: Downers Grove, Illinois
Size: 204 square feet (19 square meters)
Designer: Susan Klimala of The Kitchen Studio of Glen Ellyn

Before: These Illinois homeowners discovered the work of designer Susan Klimala on Houzz and reached out to her for help in creating a light, airy and happy kitchen in their historic 1897 Victorian home.

The couple felt that the multiple soffits in the ceiling made the previous kitchen look busy and cramped. They also thought the ageing oak cabinets looked heavy and disliked how they crowded a slim window above the sink. The countertops were laminate and offered limited workspace around the range and sink.

Though they loved their vintage island with wood top, its small size no longer fit their needs.

TKS Design Group

After: Klimala stripped the kitchen down to the studs and removed the soffits. She also added new semicustom maple cabinets in a mushroom colour that complements the soft beige walls (Tapestry Beige by Benjamin Moore). Off-white trim (Decorator’s White by Benjamin Moore) coordinates with glazed white ceramic backsplash tile and marble-look quartz countertops for a fresh, inviting transitional style.

Floating wood shelves have black iron brackets that add a retro look, along with the classic white subway tiles that cover the backsplash.

TKS Design Group

The patterned encaustic-look porcelain tile behind the 36-inch dual-fuel range punches up the design and creates a focal point. The tile features a weathered finish that ups the vintage vibe.

See more of this kitchen remodel

Read more:
How to Convert a Conventional Kitchen Into a Semi-Modular Kitchen 10 Key Kitchen Dimensions You Need to Know

Tell us:
Which kitchen remodel did you like the best?

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Kathleen Marineau

I think many homes in pre-electric days had either a full size fireplace or a small one such as is shown here for cooking as well as heating. They were for making bread, pies and such.

One of my grandmothers insisted on a wood burning stove in her kitchen to make pies. She complained the gas stove didn't heat evenly and the bottom crust never came out right. If she couldn't have one in the kitchen Grandpa had to make a covered area out the back door and put one there.

Like 31 March 2021 at 3:26pm