here at d*s i think it’s safe to say we’re all huge fans of lisa congdon (even ac). over the past year it’s been so great to share a sneak peek into her san francisco apartment, and even a peek into what she cooks while she’s in her home kitchen. but we’ve yet to get a good look at what her newly rearranged and restyled kitchen looks like- so anne and i thought it would be great to get a little update to see what’s new around lisa’s colorful home. thankfully she was kind enough to share her kitchen updates with us here today so our first sneak peek today is a focused look at lisa’s kitchen! i hope you’ll enjoy it as much as we did. stay tuned for another sneak peek today at 12pm. as always, you can click here for additional, full-sized images of lisa’s updated kitchen.
“I am really lucky to have such a large kitchen for an 900 square foot San Francisco apartment. Recently I decided to give my kitchen a make over. Eventually I’d like to gut the place and start from scratch (my kitchen is not well designed for function and storage—especially given its size), but I don’t have that kind of money right now so I decided to make some simpler changes. The inspiration for the changes I made was my collections: I collect mid-century kitchen ware, mostly Japanese and Scandinavian with a smattering of American kitsch. I decided that my collectibles—all of which are brightly colored—were not standing out against the formerly orange walls. I wanted to make them the focal point of the room. I painted the walls white and it’s made all the difference. I also installed some glass shelves near a window for some of my collection (thank you, Ikea!), hung a plate wall (which you can read more about here), and added some other bursts of color around the room.
I also decided instead of curtains I needed to let in as much light as possible (my apartment is really dark overall) and so I frosted the windows instead. Another element I really like is the small chalkboard wall I added with a few coats of chalkboard paint. It’s a place for me to keep track of what I need to remember. I used a small Ikea shelf as the chalk and eraser tray right at the bottom. I recovered my 1970’s Danish chairs and stools in bright upholstery fabric to add even more color. Incidentally, my one-of-a-kind kitchen table is by furniture designer Rosie Hanna. The plates above my refrigerator were a gift from (and made especially for me by) Diana Fayt. My kitchen is now my new favorite room in my house. I love it so much I actually do the dishes and scrub down the counters everyday. I hope you have enjoyed your peek.
[custom diana fayt plates]
