We live in an age of gigantic kitchens.
Double ovens, six-burner commercial ranges, speed-cook microwaves, auxiliary sinks and double refrigerators aren’t uncommon.
But for Mike and Wendy Blaisdell of Mukilteo, such amenities weren’t an option.
Their 1955 fixer-upper rambler offered a mere 1,800 square feet for their family of five.
It came with a 500-square-foot, stark-white kitchen and dining area, and there wasn’t much room or budget for expansion.
“We don’t want a big, fancy house,” Wendy Blaisdell said. “We’ve been trying to do more with less. We’re trying to set an example for the kids and take the emphasis off things.”
The Blaisdells, however, still coping with the addition of twin boys to their family, desperately needed more storage and an efficient, flowing kitchen hub.
They took their small-space needs to Tom Rochon with Designs Northwest Architects of Stanwood and Paul Van Slyck, a general contractor with Van Slyck Associates of Everett.
Ultimately, they left the kitchen roughly the same size, adding only a 3-foot-by-12-foot area near the kitchen sink, which kept the addition under the original roofline.
When it came to design, Wendy Blaisdell, who works for the Snohomish Health District, and Mike Blaisdell, who works for Safeco in Seattle, definitely wanted to break the cookie-cutter remodel mold.
They chose a brushed stainless steel laminate for the kitchen’s new breakfast bar, featuring exposed plywood edges. They selected sleek fir veneer cabinets with no raised panels or special accents, only modern IKEA door pulls.
“I wanted that sort of retro look,” Wendy Blaisdell said, “but updated.”
When it came to surfacing the rest of the kitchen countertops, it was hard to find just the right fit.
The Blaisdells were leaning toward natural stone to balance out the contemporary flavor of the stainless accents, but the popular granite options just didn’t feel right.
“That’s what everybody’s doing,” Wendy Blaisdell said. “We wanted something soft and warm and earthy.”
After searching for alternatives online, they finally settled on tumbled and glazed 1-inch slate tiles interspersed with dark grout, a good match for the oak flooring installed to match the original floors in the rest of the house.
Then Blaisdells moved on to their storage problem. There was no chance of a walk-in or butler’s pantry here.
Instead they added a “wall of wood,” four closets with double doors seamlessly lined up in a row with same clean, unimposing lines of the rest of the kitchen cabinets.
They folded the old closet into the scheme and it’s now home to their stacked washer and dryer.
Though Wendy Blaisdell had to prod her husband a bit to get him on board with a major remodel, he’s happy with the outcome – a much better setting in which to enjoy their prized views .
“My wife is happy,” he said with a grin. “We hang out in here a lot more than we used to. You can sit and watch the boats go by.”
Reporter Sarah Jackson: 425-339-3037 or sjackson@heraldnet.com.
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