Before & After – An Apartment Kitchen Remodeled With Dark Stained Oak Cabinets And Honed Marble Countertops

March 25, 2022
BEFORE & AFTER - A remodeled kitchen includes new dark wood cabinets and a large island.

Architecture and interior design firm Wittman Estes, has sent us photos of their recently completed project, the remodel of an apartment in Seattle, Washington, that was originally designed by John Graham and built in 1961 for the executive staff of the Century 21 World’s Fair.

A dated mid-century modern kitchen.

First, we’ll look at what it was like BEFORE the remodel.

The kitchen is where the most dramatic change occurred, with the original kitchen now looking a little dated.

BEFORE - A dated mid-century modern kitchen.
A dated kitchen, before it was transformed into a modern dark wood kitchen

Adjacent to the kitchen there was a mirrored wall that reflected the views and natural light from outside.

BEFORE PHOTO - A small dining area with a mirrored wall.

The mirrored area was replaced with the new kitchen, that spans the entire wall. The new dark wood kitchen includes solid panel rift sawn stained white oak panels with tactile finger pulls, giving a warm and tactile intimacy to the casework.

This modern dark wood kitchen includes solid panel rift sawn stained white oak panels with tactile finger pulls, giving a warm and tactile intimacy to the casework.

While cooking and preparing drinks, the cabinets have flip-up and nested doors that recede into niches and allow full open access to the cabinet interiors.

While cooking and preparing drinks, these dark wood cabinets have flip-up and nested doors that recede into niches and allow full open access to the cabinet interiors.

The closed state has flush doors with integral finger pulls that transform the casework into a quiet backdrop for the living room.

A modern kitchen with dark stained wood cabinets.

There are 3cm thick Luce di Luna, honed marble countertops, and backsplash, that evoke the surface of the nearby Lake Washington.

A modern dark wood kitchen with honed marble countertops.
Photography by Rafael Soldi | Architecture/Interiors: Wittman Estes | Builder: Sparrow Woodworks