Kitchen Special: Bamboo Cabinetry

A modern kitchen in Edmonton goes from cramped quarters to room enough for everyone.

When Kate and her husband, Chris, spotted this ’70s-era home in Edmonton, they knew they’d found the right one. It wasn’t their dream home yet—that would take knocking down a few walls—but it had the right bones, and, more importantly, they wouldn’t be taking out anyone else’s bad renovations.The area that is now the kitchen was once a carved-up space: a formal dining room, carpeted and wallpapered, paired with a tiny, U-shaped kitchen (“just big enough for one little lady,” laughs Kate) and a family room. The couple worked with Habitat Studio and designer Melissa Hansen to make the space what they’d envisioned—a light and bright kitchen suitable for a young, busy family.Flooring and cabinets are made of the same rift-cut white oak; paired with Blizzard White counters, the result is a Scandinavian-inspired aesthetic that feels clean and airy. They brought in Mark Smithies of Peachwood Custom Cabinets to help with the cabinet design, which included one key feature: Smithies angled the tops of the drawers and doors by 30 degrees, allowing them to be pulled open easily without the need for handles.Overall, it’s a space that supports the family time Kate and Chris were looking for. “The kids are getting bigger, their friends are getting bigger,” says Kate, “and I wanted a place where the kids can come home after school, and I can line them all up on the island and give them a snack. There had to be room for everybody.”WL

Smart Tips

1. Look for underutilized areas to create great storage. Here, a rarely used hallway was perfect for boxing out into a pantry, reducing the number of cabinets the homeowners needed in the main room.2. Include a small workstation in the space. Paperless banking has reduced the need for storage, but a small computer station is perfect for kids to work on their homework or for Mom and Dad to tackle the bills while the kettle boils.3. Find a salvage specialist to reclaim your cabinets. If you’re renovating your space, your old cabinets can find new life in someone else’s basement, garage or workspace, thereby avoiding the landfill.4. Create plenty of purpose-built storage. A drawer beneath the cooktop designed just for pot lids quickly became Kate’s favourite.