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Petite Patisserie
This St. Paul remodel transformed a cramped and drafty room into a Parisian-inspired work space
Eileen Troxel is a passionate cook. Her blog “Passions to Pastry” (featured on “Living Tastefully,” which she writes with her sister) shows off her abilities as a chef and pastry artist, not to mention photographer and food stylist. She waited 25 years for a new kitchen in her 1928 St. Paul house. Now, at long last, she labors in a space worthy of the delectable tarts, cakes, scones, and more that emerge from her oven.
The transformation from a room that was “awful” (her words)—it was so cold in the winter that melted chocolate immediately solidified in the 50-degree chill seeping in around leaky windows—to a highly efficient, marble-lined dream is remarkable. And a testament to what is possible with a productive collaboration that works within the existing footprint and a limited budget.
When Troxel decided she was ready to remodel her 172-square-foot kitchen, she brought in Kathryn Olmstead, an old friend who also happens to be an architect at Laurel Ulland Architecture in Minneapolis. Once the two began the planning process, says Olmstead, the design came together quickly.
Layout
In the old kitchen, Troxel worked her culinary magic with only the stainless table and a 24-inch countertop between the range and the sink. Thus, the top priority for the remodel was reorganizing the L-shaped layout to maximize counter space.
Olmstead moved the stove from the north to the west wall, gaining a stretch of statuary marble countertop and adding a black walnut table with a honed soapstone top above an existing radiator. She transformed Troxel’s 18-year-old stainless table into a multifunctional work surface by adding a thick butcher-block top to make it working height.
Look
A dedicated Francophile, Troxel yearned for a Parisian-inspired space. She wanted light and bright, with open shelves. Olmstead obliged by removing dark cherry cabinets, replacing the worn marmoleum floor with oak similar to the rest of the house, and—naturellement!—replacing and reframing those drafty old windows that had been poorly installed in a 1970s remodel.
Troxel, bargain hunter par excellence, searched out extraordinary deals on everything from the carrara marble tiles for the herringbone backsplash to the unfinished steel brackets for the open shelves (the marble shelves are leftovers from cutting the sink opening out of the countertop) to the cabinet hardware. In addition to revamping the stainless table, she also reused her 18-year-old Viking range, faucets (labeled “chaud” and “froid”), the light pendants over the sink, and microwave.
Photo by Susan Gilmore
Storage
Photo by Susan Gilmore
The remodeled room is no larger than the old kitchen yet incorporates everything Troxel needs. As she says, “My kitchen is proof that you don’t need a huge space to have a good, working kitchen. If the space is designed well, it will function well.”
She now has cunningly designed storage for specialty items (such as one drawer designed to hold tart pans and another for custard cups), platter racks, and spices. Open shelves display the copper pans, dishes, bowls, and cups she loves. “People say, ‘Oh, open shelves. Things get dirty.’ But I love my stuff,” she says. “These are the things I want to look at. It’s all beautiful, and I love it. And I use it.” The slate chalkboard features the menu when she’s entertaining or sometimes, when her artist side overtakes the chef, an imaginatively rendered cochon.
Chris Lee is editor of Midwest Home magazine.
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6 ISSUES (1 YEAR)
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Reader Comments:
This is truely an inspiration. I can't wait to look for a stainless prep table and build my kitchen around this one. I wish I could walk around it and savor it. Truly a masterpiece!