Kitchen of the Week: Walnut Cabinets Channel Midcentury Style
Warm wood cabinets complement a collection of midcentury modern furniture, while an airier layout celebrates leafy views
Mitchell Parker
August 16, 2019
Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative trends, breaking news, industry analysis and humor.
Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative... More
A love of midcentury modern furniture and art kicked off the renovation of this young professional couple’s kitchen in Minneapolis. Designer Kimberly Herrick pulled from wood tones found in her clients’ furniture collection in selecting beautiful walnut cabinetry that wraps the new layout. Meanwhile, windows and sliding glass doors bring in tons of natural light and open the house up to the leafy backyard.
Photos by Spacecrafting
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A young professional couple who both work as business consultants
Location: Minneapolis
Size: 200 square feet (19 square meters)
Designer: Kimberly Herrick of Herrick Design Group
Herrick ran the grain in the walnut cabinets horizontally and had all the grain patterns match up to minimize busyness. She also purposefully didn’t place a drawer above a cabinet door, to keep the visual clutter down. “When you minimize the number of lines, you create a less busy, peaceful sort of layout,” she says.
Find a kitchen designer near you
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A young professional couple who both work as business consultants
Location: Minneapolis
Size: 200 square feet (19 square meters)
Designer: Kimberly Herrick of Herrick Design Group
Herrick ran the grain in the walnut cabinets horizontally and had all the grain patterns match up to minimize busyness. She also purposefully didn’t place a drawer above a cabinet door, to keep the visual clutter down. “When you minimize the number of lines, you create a less busy, peaceful sort of layout,” she says.
Find a kitchen designer near you
Before Photo
Before. The homeowners disliked the previous kitchen’s basic cabinets. Plus, the refrigerator centered on the back wall and the range in the island seemed like odd choices for a kitchen layout.
After. Herrick took everything out of the old kitchen, including those half walls separating the dining area from the living room, and started fresh. She moved the refrigerator to a column on the right and the range to the back wall, which she kept open with floating shelves rather than cabinets for an airier feel.
The midcentury-style dining set here inspired the selection of walnut cabinets.
New windows that wrap around to the back wall and three new sliding glass doors flood the area with light and views.
A walk-in pantry is located between the fridge and wall ovens.
Shop for midcentury-style dining sets
The midcentury-style dining set here inspired the selection of walnut cabinets.
New windows that wrap around to the back wall and three new sliding glass doors flood the area with light and views.
A walk-in pantry is located between the fridge and wall ovens.
Shop for midcentury-style dining sets
Tapered blue-gray tile goes from countertop to ceiling on two walls. The tiles offer a bit of color that complements the warm wood tones, and their shape recalls that of leaves, which connects the kitchen to the backyard.
The White Macaubas quartzite countertop features a linear grain that works well with the patterns on the cabinets. The angled island top offers something different, in a shape befitting the midcentury era.
Orange cords on the pendant lights add a little burst of color.
The White Macaubas quartzite countertop features a linear grain that works well with the patterns on the cabinets. The angled island top offers something different, in a shape befitting the midcentury era.
Orange cords on the pendant lights add a little burst of color.
A key feature in this kitchen is a combined coffee and cocktail bar area. Pocket doors allow the couple to close off the coffee area.
Herrick measured the couple’s wine glasses to build the walnut racks that hold them. A deep drawer stores liquor bottles.
This floor plan shows the new kitchen layout, with the range located on the wall at right and the island in the center.
More on Houzz
Why We Love Midcentury Modern Design
Your Guide to Midcentury Style
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More on Houzz
Why We Love Midcentury Modern Design
Your Guide to Midcentury Style
Get more kitchen design ideas
Find design and remodeling professionals
Shop for kitchen products
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Hi Alex, Our cabinets look just like these, and they were made locally of birch plywood with double stained birch veneers. I'd encourage you to check out what your local cabinet makers can do for you. I like the clean, flat front look, with very little gap between drawers and doors, and I love the oil rubbed bronze hardware we chose. The cost is about the same as buying ready-made cabinets made of particle board and having them installed, but the solid wood ones are so much nicer, and you can choose the look you want. Let me know if it works for you. I'm interested. walebrenda@gmail.com in British Columbia, Canada
Who was the manufacturer for these cabinets?
Question! are most walnut cabinets made with plywood underneath?