My parents’ kitchen is by no means modern. The cabinets are original, the laminate flooring is trapping hundred-year-old asbestos, and the booths in the kitchen have started to lose their cushion buttons one scoot at a time… 

The truth is, lately I have been thinking about my parents’ kitchen quite a bit. Since the initial shelter in place back in March, I haven’t spent much of any time inside my parent’s house. Our gatherings have been limited to their backyard, and it’s been almost an entire year now since I had the chance to stand in my childhood kitchen and give my parents a hug. No mask, just me, my family, and some snacks. 

I find myself missing the days I would come home from school, dump my bag in the hallway and run to the fridge for something to munch on while I did my homework… The evenings my family would sit in the booth while my dad made eggplant parmesan… The months just after Daniel and I moved in together where I would stock up on my parents’ pile of pantry goods and extra napkins.. 

My parents had always planned on remodeling, but they, like many of our local clients, never had the chance. They have spent years fantasizing about new cabinets and quartz countertops… Having a dishwasher… a garbage disposal… But as outdated and dysfunctional as that kitchen may be, it was the heart of my home and a piece of me will be very sad when the day finally comes to tear it all apart. Daniel, on the other hand, will be waiting with a sledgehammer to the moment he can smash into those horrible tile countertops… 

At this point, you must be asking yourself why, as an interior designer, have you dedicated an entire post to a kitchen to a kitchen that is 100 years-old? It is because I want you to think of what makes you feel at home before you tear out your kitchen (or bathroom or windows or fireplace, etc.). I want you to imagine those moments you may have had growing up, and the moments you imagine sharing with your family once your remodel is complete. I want you to appreciate the character your home already has, and honor it as you think through the new design. 

A good design makes a space feel as if that was always how it was supposed to be and knowing how to do that means understanding what was there before.