Kitchen of the Week: Fresh Cabin Charm for a Minnesota Lake House
A designer helps a couple find compromises to suit her modern and his rustic tastes
This couple from the Twin Cities area in Minnesota started to think about their next phase of life about six years ago — what retirement would look like and whether their kids would still live nearby. So they purchased some property on the Gull chain of lakes in Minnesota, not knowing exactly what they’d do with it. Fast-forward to now, and their kids are grown, starting families of their own and establishing their lives in Minnesota. With this in mind, the couple began planning a new home on the property with help from design firm Tays & Co Design Studios and architect Collin Jacobs.
Designer Laura Tays helped the couple finish the home in a way that met both their style preferences. “She leans more modern and he likes really rustic,” Tays says. “It was about finding a design that made them both happy.” In the kitchen, this meant a mix of reclaimed wood, stone, handmade tile and living finishes that would change over time. These finishes lend a sense of age, while strong, straight lines and furnishings with more modern silhouettes give the home a fresh, updated look.
Designer Laura Tays helped the couple finish the home in a way that met both their style preferences. “She leans more modern and he likes really rustic,” Tays says. “It was about finding a design that made them both happy.” In the kitchen, this meant a mix of reclaimed wood, stone, handmade tile and living finishes that would change over time. These finishes lend a sense of age, while strong, straight lines and furnishings with more modern silhouettes give the home a fresh, updated look.
Also providing a nice view is a coffered ceiling crafted of reclaimed wood. “I liked the idea of using a grid and its straight lines,” Tays says. “It was tricky to get it lined up just right — where beams meet the walls and vent hood and centering them over the island. I played around with it a lot.” The gridded lines also bring a modern touch to the rustic ceiling, a nice compromise between the couple’s differing tastes.
At the edge of the kitchen, Tays designed a bar that’s convenient to the great room, the kitchen and the sun porch. This was part of a zoned layout strategy. “This kitchen looks a lot bigger than it is because of the 10-foot ceilings and the windows,” Tays says. “But I had to learn how they like to cook, what they like to cook and how they work in a kitchen to get the layout right for them.”
Reclaimed ceiling wood and beams: Manomin Resawn Timbers
Browse kitchen pendant lights in the Houzz Shop
At the edge of the kitchen, Tays designed a bar that’s convenient to the great room, the kitchen and the sun porch. This was part of a zoned layout strategy. “This kitchen looks a lot bigger than it is because of the 10-foot ceilings and the windows,” Tays says. “But I had to learn how they like to cook, what they like to cook and how they work in a kitchen to get the layout right for them.”
Reclaimed ceiling wood and beams: Manomin Resawn Timbers
Browse kitchen pendant lights in the Houzz Shop
The wall behind the bar is stone veneer, which helps it stand out and connects it to the sun porch beyond. “Stone veneer products offer a wide color selection, and I wanted to keep it light and creamy,” Tays says. “I also wanted to face the stone out and over-grout it for an old-world feel. The pantry behind it juts out into the kitchen, and the stone veneer makes it feel like an old stone cave-like room with a new house wrapped around it.”
The bar includes a sink, beverage fridge and ice maker. Overhead are floating shelves with black steel straps that hang from the ceiling. There’s a lot of load-bearing support from hidden brackets that fit into pegs installed in the wall.
All the cabinetry was custom crafted by Alpine Cabinetry. All the metalwork, including the straps on the floating shelves and the bronze on the vent hood, was crafted by Jeff Kreitz of Creative Steel Work.
The bar includes a sink, beverage fridge and ice maker. Overhead are floating shelves with black steel straps that hang from the ceiling. There’s a lot of load-bearing support from hidden brackets that fit into pegs installed in the wall.
All the cabinetry was custom crafted by Alpine Cabinetry. All the metalwork, including the straps on the floating shelves and the bronze on the vent hood, was crafted by Jeff Kreitz of Creative Steel Work.
The arched opening to the left of the bar leads to a 50-square-foot walk-in pantry. “This was a great spot for them to hide the appliances they didn’t want to look at every day,” Tays says.
She used a beautiful hand-painted terra-cotta tile from Tabarka Studio on the backsplash. “You can customize the colors of this tile. We matched it to the cabinet paint color,” Tays says. “The pantry was a great place to splurge on an expensive tile because I only needed a small amount of it.”
Cabinet paint color: Grays Harbor, Sherwin-Williams
She used a beautiful hand-painted terra-cotta tile from Tabarka Studio on the backsplash. “You can customize the colors of this tile. We matched it to the cabinet paint color,” Tays says. “The pantry was a great place to splurge on an expensive tile because I only needed a small amount of it.”
Cabinet paint color: Grays Harbor, Sherwin-Williams
Tays covered the walls in the rest of the kitchen with another handmade tile. “Because these are handmade, no two tiles are exactly alike,” she says. “It’s tricky to install and has varying grout lines because of this, but that was exactly what I wanted.” There’s not a square inch of drywall on the kitchen walls, which helps create the timeless lake cabin feel.
The vent hood is custom with a plaster finish. The metal detail is bronze, a living finish that will change over time. The cabinet hardware is also bronze. “It looks black now but the more they use it and touch it, it will have golden tones showing through,” Tays says. “We also used this finish on all the doorknobs in the house.” This was another way to lend a sense of age to the new home.
From their discussions, the designer gleaned that the homeowners are the types who like to leave the things they use all the time out on the counters. Cooking utensils live in pretty canisters, and they leave out the attractive wooden cutting boards they use daily. The drawers around the range are full of herbs and spices, but this is the kind of kitchen where they feel free to leave out the seasonings and oils they use often. They also opted for open shelves to store their everyday china and glassware.
Cabinet hardware: Ashley Norton
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The vent hood is custom with a plaster finish. The metal detail is bronze, a living finish that will change over time. The cabinet hardware is also bronze. “It looks black now but the more they use it and touch it, it will have golden tones showing through,” Tays says. “We also used this finish on all the doorknobs in the house.” This was another way to lend a sense of age to the new home.
From their discussions, the designer gleaned that the homeowners are the types who like to leave the things they use all the time out on the counters. Cooking utensils live in pretty canisters, and they leave out the attractive wooden cutting boards they use daily. The drawers around the range are full of herbs and spices, but this is the kind of kitchen where they feel free to leave out the seasonings and oils they use often. They also opted for open shelves to store their everyday china and glassware.
Cabinet hardware: Ashley Norton
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The island houses the kitchen sink. Across from the island are double ovens flanked by separate panel-front fridge and freezer units. The panels blend right in with the cabinetry, creating a prettier view from the great room into the kitchen.
Simple opal glass pendant light shades and leather counter stools add some modern touches to the kitchen. The simple silhouettes of the cabinet pulls are versatile in style, suiting both the husband and the wife.
Simple opal glass pendant light shades and leather counter stools add some modern touches to the kitchen. The simple silhouettes of the cabinet pulls are versatile in style, suiting both the husband and the wife.
Another zone in the layout is this coffee area, tucked under windows with a lake view. The homeowners liked Tays’ idea to keep their coffeemaker out and their mugs displayed on a cute wall rack. It makes it easy to get up and grab a cup first thing in the morning.
With white marble countertops around the perimeter of the kitchen, Tays added contrast by using soapstone on the island. “I love soapstone. You can oil it to make it more black or let it get more dry. It’s a type of living finish in that sense,” she says.
The faucets are aged brass and have classic traditional silhouettes.
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The faucets are aged brass and have classic traditional silhouettes.
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The bar’s stone wall wraps around the pantry and continues onto the sun porch. This serves as the only dining space in the home. By combining spaces like this, the team made the most of the home’s 3,000 total square feet. “This house feels a lot larger than that,” Tays says.
The sun porch also serves as a favorite reading room, thanks to two comfortable armchairs. “They love to have a cup of coffee here in the morning and they also love to read here,” Tays says. The chairs swivel to take in the views.
The sun porch also serves as a favorite reading room, thanks to two comfortable armchairs. “They love to have a cup of coffee here in the morning and they also love to read here,” Tays says. The chairs swivel to take in the views.
The sun porch is fully conditioned for year-round use. Tays designed a custom banquette to fit around a 60-inch-long dining table. She chose a light fixture that has elevated cabin-inspired style. “The outside of the shade is black wrought iron, but the inside is gold leaf and it’s just beautiful,” she says.
She covered the walls in whitewashed wood paneling with varied vertical grooves. “It’s hard to tell in the photo, but you can see the knots and character in the wood and some of the wood tones through the whitewash,” Tays says.
Windows: Marvin
She covered the walls in whitewashed wood paneling with varied vertical grooves. “It’s hard to tell in the photo, but you can see the knots and character in the wood and some of the wood tones through the whitewash,” Tays says.
Windows: Marvin
Tays designed an L-shaped built-in bench for two sides of the table. It has custom cushions with leather straps that attach to custom metal bars crafted by Kreitz.
Next on the couple’s list is remodeling the house next door for their growing expanded family and replacing a two-car garage across the street with a shared family bar.
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Next on the couple’s list is remodeling the house next door for their growing expanded family and replacing a two-car garage across the street with a shared family bar.
More on Houzz
Read more kitchen stories
Browse kitchen photos
Hire a kitchen remodeler
Shop for kitchen products
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: This is a couple’s second home
Location: Gull chain of lakes in the Brainerd area of Minnesota
Size: 298 square feet (28 square meters), plus a walk-in pantry
Designers: Tays & Co Design Studios (interior design) and Collin Jacobs of New Heritage (architecture)
Builder: Wes Hanson Builders
One major factor driving the kitchen’s design was that it was in full view of the great room. To create cohesion, Tays used Sherwin-Williams Shoji White on all the walls, cabinets and trim, in different sheens.
To provide a nice view into the kitchen, she added elements such as the glass-front drawers on the island. “I wanted the island to have a furniture look on this side. And at the same time, it provides storage and display space,” Tays says. The island is rough-sawn white oak with a soapstone counter.
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