After purchasing a classic 1940s bungalow stripped of its original charm, these Seattle parents of two young boys turned to interior designer Jessica Nelson to restore it. Their goal was to reintroduce character through architectural details while keeping the home modest and family-friendly. The warm, cozy interiors were inspired by the front porch entrance’s custom white-painted wood lattice trellis structure, joined at the top in an arch and with jasmine vines beginning to grow.
One of the primary objectives was establishing a kitchen that could transition effortlessly from busy school mornings to intimate dinner parties. At just 90 square feet, the original galley kitchen was cramped and inefficient. Nelson reimagined the floor plan, converting that space into a butler’s pantry and moving the kitchen to the back of the house to capture views of evergreen trees, Lake Washington and Husky Stadium.
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of four
Location: Seattle
Size: 134 square feet (12 square meters) plus a 90-square-foot (8.4-square-meter) butler’s pantry
Designer: Jessica Nelson Design
To take advantage of the views, Nelson placed the new kitchen where the family room had been. “We designed the kitchen to be large and open for hosting guests or helping kids with homework at the kitchen island,” she says, “while dirty dishes and bulk item storage could be tucked away in the butler’s pantry.”