The kitchen is one of our favourite parts of the house, and one of the most successful facets of Peter Rule’s design.

The overall design and layout of the kitchen was extremely effective for a number of reasons. The layout of the appliances and countertop was in a perfect triangle for maximum efficiency, and the kitchen also had a passthrough to the Dining Room which is a great feature. The other unique aspect of the kitchen was the placement of large windows in two sides, with the window above the sink facing out to the street, instead of the back of the house which is much more common. Also having two large windows and a door facing the back of the house, means you can keep an eye on anyone playing in the back yard as well as keep tabs on the neighbourhood in the front - it’s been a wonderful revelation being able to wave to neighbours as they pass by while you are cooking or cleaning dishes.

The kitchen also featured a unique appliance - a unit which combined 2 sinks with a garbage disposal together with a dishwasher, all in a single appliance. As cool as it was, unfortunately it wasn’t working so we decided to replace it. Overall, the renovations to the kitchen were keep to a minimum: the original plywood panelling and ceiling panels were kept intact, and we kept the same layout for the cabinetry, since it worked so well as it was.

Prior to getting anything installed, we decided to completely remove the floor as there were many layers of asbestos tile covering it, and we had the specialists removing the tiles from the wall of the furnace room at the same time.

Rather than get custom cabinetry made, we decided to install a kitchen from IKEA with a straight grained oak cabinet fronts. To give it a custom feel, we installed custom handles which we selected to match some of the details on our new appliances. To finish it off, we used plain white subway tiles for the backsplash and created a two inch thick laminate countertop.