Kitchen of the Week: Victorian Style the Nonconformist Way

There’s a uniquely creative spirit about so many of the projects I cover in Portland, Oregon, that I’ve often wondered what they are putting in the water in that city. “It’s the clients around here,” says Anne De Wolf, a principal at Arciform, a design-build firm. “They are creative, they’re fantastic, and they are nonconformists.”

In the case of this remodel of a young family’s Victorian home, which included an addition, the clients did not want their kitchen to look like everyone else’s. The new design keeps some 19th-century character without being too literal. Where the new construction meets the original house, the Victorian and newer elements merge in harmony.

Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with 2 daughters
Location: Portland, Oregon
Size: About 200 square feet (19 square meters), including the dining room and pantry

Photography by Photo Art Portraits

The family wanted room for hanging out and doing activities, while not being hemmed in by a lot of cabinetry. To get it, they consigned most of their storage needs to a large pantry.

The kitchen is cleverly tucked along the back wall, while a large island made of dark stained reclaimed alder provides a nice, clear workspace. The island is open on one side and conceals a microwave drawer on the other. The countertop is schist.

The backsplash is a handmade Moroccan ceramic tile with a slick glaze. Covering the entire wall, it defines the kitchen work area. “They have a wonderful uneven texture,” says De Wolf of the tiles. The vent hood was repurposed from the owners’ old kitchen; one of the clients hung the “Joy” sign that anchors it. Displayed on a wall, wooden cutting boards make handsome accessories.

“Joy” sign: Marquee Letter Lights


The new addition starts to the left of the refrigerator. The posts were a structural necessity, but De Wolf made them an asset, using them to define bays for the expansive pantry. The open shelves were inspired by ones seen in an old-fashioned small-town grocery store; they create a divider between the kitchen and the pantry. Clerestories maintain an open and light feeling.

A large piece of steel on the right ties in to the metal brackets and braces used throughout the remodeling project. The plate serves as a magnetic board for schedules and invitations, and the family can write on it.


The clients wanted to bring more of the Victorian era’s Gothic style into the new kitchen, so De Wolf installed this custom window, made by Versatile Wood Products. The smaller stained glass window is an antique that also nods to the Victorian era. In contrast, the stainless steel sink adds a modern touch.

Tip: When using an eclectic material palette, De Wolf recommends using each material more than once. “This keeps it from looking like a hodgepodge,” she explains. For instance, the stainless steel on the countertop is echoed in the nickel on the pendant lights, which looks similar. The backsplash has a bluish tint to it, which is picked up in the trim and a bit in the schist countertop. These moves seem minor, but they tie the room together.


When it comes to juxtaposing modern and traditional touches, De Wolf recommends adding elements that would have been seen during the time period or are inspired by it. The integrated sink is a modern update on a porcelain sink with a drainboard. The sconce is a reproduction that looks appropriate to the era.

Other details that come from the time the home was built (if not necessarily for a Victorian house in the city) include wide-plank chestnut floors and the tongue and groove ceiling.




The kitchen is wide open to the dining area. A vintage school map depicting the territories of Native American tribes serves as an eclectic window covering. The chandelier is an inexpensive brass fixture that the owners spray painted white.


The large pantry makes up for the lack of cabinetry and storage space in the kitchen. If you are not organizationally inclined, De Wolf advises having a personal organizer come over once a year to keep you in check.

To save space in the pantry, the homeowners keep the big items they use only a few times a year (Crock-Pots, bread maker etc.) in the basement.


The custom brackets and braces match the strapping and the galvanized steel plate, complete with brass tacks. There is a pirate ship theme going on in the upstairs part of the new addition, and these pieces create continuity throughout the house. They also add unique details to the kitchen.

De Wolf designed the templates for all of the pieces and then had them custom made by a steel fabricator.


The family can savor the “joy” of the kitchen from the living room, where more fun, vintage pieces enter the mix. The column on the left served as a movie prop in a past life.

The round dining table shown in an earlier photo has since been replaced by the long, rectangular wood table shown here.

More: Kitchen of the Week: More Light, Better Layout for a Canadian Victorian

URL: Kitchen of the Week: Victorian Style the Nonconformist Way http://www.decor-ideas.org/cases-view-id-23182.html