Reinvent It: Street Signs Become a Lively Kitchen Backsplash
City surplus as unique decor? A Seattle family said sure, and now it's the star of their remodeled kitchen
When a Washington state family was reconfiguring their small kitchen and entrance, a little news story gave the design team a big idea.
"The design team was inspired by an image we saw of someone who had used signage to side cabinets," says architect Stephanie Ingram of Fivedot Design Build. "We also heard that Seattle was replacing their street signs and that the old ones were for sale, so we had the idea to do some kind of project with them." They thought the backsplash was just the spot, and the homeowners agreed.
They headed down to City of Seattle Surplus, where the owners selected signs with tree names from their neighborhood. The designers also expanded the kitchen and the entry onto a small back porch, reconfigured the space to make it much more efficient and added new windows.
Project at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and their 2 kids and 1 dog
Location: Greenlake neighborhood of Seattle
Size: About 165 square feet, including an entrance nook from the rear yard
"The design team was inspired by an image we saw of someone who had used signage to side cabinets," says architect Stephanie Ingram of Fivedot Design Build. "We also heard that Seattle was replacing their street signs and that the old ones were for sale, so we had the idea to do some kind of project with them." They thought the backsplash was just the spot, and the homeowners agreed.
They headed down to City of Seattle Surplus, where the owners selected signs with tree names from their neighborhood. The designers also expanded the kitchen and the entry onto a small back porch, reconfigured the space to make it much more efficient and added new windows.
Project at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and their 2 kids and 1 dog
Location: Greenlake neighborhood of Seattle
Size: About 165 square feet, including an entrance nook from the rear yard
The team cut the signs into tiles with a metal saw, cleaned them, affixed them to the wall and sprayed them with an acrylic clear coat to seal them.
Although the layout looks like a random arrangement, it was planned out beforehand.
In addition to the new windows, white cabinets plus recessed, overhead and undercabinet lighting keep the space light and bright.
"Using reused/recycled materials is a goal of all of our work as part of our commitment to sustainability," says Fivedot founder Geoff Piper. The black countertops are PaperStone sealed with mineral oil.
Learn more about countertops made from recycled paper
Learn more about countertops made from recycled paper
The flooring is marmoleum, another sustainable product.
A red drum pendant light gives just a hint of a stop sign or traffic light, for a bold streetscape color palette.
A red drum pendant light gives just a hint of a stop sign or traffic light, for a bold streetscape color palette.
AFTER: This is the view from the living room into the newly expanded kitchen. A bamboo end-grain countertop doubles as a long cutting board, with bookshelves underneath on the living room side.
AFTER: The entrance is transformed; a small overhang protects anyone fumbling for keys on rainy Seattle days. "It is much better looking and works as a transition into the house," architect Ingram says.
In this transition space from outside to in, there is room for everyone in the family to wipe their feet, take off their shoes and organize belongings in the storage bench, in cubbies and on the hooks. Coats, shoes, hats, mittens, leashes and other items don't make it any farther than this vestibule, keeping the house clean and organized. A glass door and two windows let more light into the kitchen.
BEFORE: The plan before the remodel.
AFTER: As you can see when comparing this latest plan to the previous one, the updated kitchen moved into the old porch, and the architects added a new porch for the new entry area.
The old kitchen "still stands as our 'kitchen most in need of a remodel,'" Ingram says. "It turned into a lovely, light kitchen with some fun touches that work well in this traditional Seattle bungalow."
The old kitchen "still stands as our 'kitchen most in need of a remodel,'" Ingram says. "It turned into a lovely, light kitchen with some fun touches that work well in this traditional Seattle bungalow."