Kitchen Tour Spectacular

Gigi Olive, ASID, CID
4305 Beard Ave. So., Minneapolis
Designer Gigi Olive’s home, a stately 1926 English Tudor in the Linden Hills neighborhood of Minneapolis, offers the convenience and character of city living. However, it also came with a small galley-style kitchen.

“Minneapolis homes don’t have first-floor family rooms attached to the kitchens like homes in the suburbs,” Olive says. “So we wanted to create a space where we could have friends and family gather while we were cooking.” Olive and her architect husband decided to add 220 square feet of kitchen space by extending the room into the yard. They had several design goals. They wanted to reuse whatever material they could, as well as retain the integrity of the home, both inside and out. “Everything had to have a purpose,” says Olive. She placed the wine cooler in the island and she added tray storage next to the workspace, a convenient tray specifically for spices, and trash and recycling bins in a hidden cabinet instead of under the sink.

A chandelier above the table, dimming lights, under-cabinet lighting, and plenty of windows that let natural light flood the room help create different moods in this Old World kitchen. Bead board—repeated on the built-in benches that surround two sides of the kitchen table, in the nearby powder room, and on the facing of the island—pulls the work and gathering spaces together. Distressed alder cabinetry with inset doors and a distressed, faux-painted island designed as a stand-alone piece of furniture help retain the integrity of the home by complimenting its architectural era.
Resources:
Appliances: GE refrigerator; Viking range; KitchenAid dishwasher
Cabinets: Crystal Cabinets
Countertops: Waterfall green granite from Stone Holdings
Flooring: Kate-Lo Tile & Stone
Lighting: Sayre-Strand

Emily Little, Allied Member ASID
15819 Elodie Lane, Minnetonka
The owners of this soft contemporary Minnetonka home wanted a livelier look than what they had in their off-white, neutral, and very linear former kitchen, so they went to Valcucine Minneapolis designer Emily Little with a color palette of red, blue, purple, and parchment. “The homeowners have great energy,” says Little. “The bold design of their new kitchen is much more suitable for them.” While working within the allotted space, the most dramatic changes Little made were to create an angular island that echoes the geometry of the living room and to convert the former eat-in area into a bar space. “The amazing thing about this project is how quickly it came together,” Little says. The homeowners, acting as the contractor, took care of the bulk of the construction details.

“It is so fun to be in this kitchen, now,” Little says. “I like the traffic flow a lot better.” The angled island opens the room giving it a much larger feel. A roll-top appliance garage, six in-counter storage containers in the bar area, jumbo drawers that replace hinged cabinets, three large pantries, and a corner cabinet with pull-out shelving all add to the sleek Italian look and feel of the room. “It’s very clean and contemporary,” says Little. The main features of this striking kitchen are its bright red island, sleek black granite counters, and spacious yet conveniently shallow refrigerator/freezer. “So as not to overloaded the senses,” she adds, “we kept the design very clean.”
Resources:
Appliances: Sub-Zero refrigerator and freezer; Miele double oven and dishwasher; Wolf downdraft hood and electric steam; Jenn-Air bar refrigerator and ice maker
Cabinets: Valcucine
Countertops: Premium Stoneworks granite
Lighting: Lappin, Louis Poulsen