Minneapolis Kitchen

Project: Minneapolis Kitchen
Designer: Terry Saario, homeowner
Architect: Peter Kramer of Roark Kramer Kosowski Design

When Terry Saario and Lee Lynch remodeled their kitchen, their number one necessity was space that allowed them both to cook at the same time. In the existing kitchen, they were tripping over one another—two was too many cooks in the kitchen. With the remodel, the husband and wife demanded two sinks, two cutting areas, two dishwashers, two ovens, an open floor plan, and plenty of natural light.

Their first kitchen designer told them that executing their well-thought-out needs and desires was not possible, so they graciously bid him adieu. And when their second high-test kitchen designer told them that she wouldn’t remove the wall separating their kitchen and the attached greenhouse-like space, it was goodbye to her as well.

Saario, who had redesigned the rest of the home on Cedar Lake, took the project into her own hands. “Everybody told me I couldn’t do the kitchen by myself because of all the bells and whistles,” she says, “but after a year and a half of research and with our long list of things we wanted and needed, it really wasn’t that difficult.” Minneapolis architect Peter Kramer was enlisted to help with all the technical and safety code aspects of the remodel. Saario designed it—and Kramer made sure it all worked.

To utilize space that was already there—making no grand addition—the half wall between the kitchen and the breakfast nook was taken down, creating better circulation of light and air. So that both Saario and Lynch could cook at the same time, a curved island with His and Hers sides constructed to each of their preferences was placed in the middle of the space. For Lynch, who prefers to chop and prepare while seated, a trough sink and an in-counter circular receptacle were placed on his side. Saario brought in Ken Heise of Edina’s Woodshop on Avon to design space-maximizing cabinetry in bird’s-eye maple. To assure that his design would benefit the two-cook kitchen and optimize space, Heise consulted with Saario on every cabinet, drawer, nook, cranny, hinge, and handle. “Originally, one of our designers told us we ‘had to use cabinetry from Germany,’” Saario says. “I told her that times are rough; we are going through a recession; I want to use a local company.”

The open floor plan (one designer told them the feng shui would escape out the windows) works perfectly for the gathering of friends and family. The island seconds as a buffet, and the Ligne Roset table expands to seat ten. To add a pop of color to the mostly blond woods and soft greens, the couple commissioned an acrylic-on-canvas rug by Minnesota artist Mark Lawson.

In the warmer months, the kitchen becomes what Saario describes as “a little tree house.” The glass doors open, nature seeps in, and the family happily watches as the feng shui flies away.