Cottage Style for a Kitchen

Nostalgic details belie the room’s efficiency and storage capacity.

- Steve Gross & Susan Daley

This post-millennium kitchen easily might have survived since the 1940s. Timeless and charming, it has good workspaces and efficient flow as well as vintage bits and period holdovers.

This iteration replaced the 1970s “avocado” remodeling in the 1890 Shingle-style cottage. With Susan Booth of Vintage Kitchens, in Concord, N.H., the homeowners decided to stay within the original footprint. The room is 12 x 12. A modern-day “gourmet kitchen” was out of the question, given the space and the character of the old house. So they made the most of the space, which offers plain cabinets, open shelves, a dishwasher, and a stove alcove. Two original pantries help with storage. The pantries also provided cues for the design of cabinets, moldings, and other architectural details.

The owner insisted on using the salvaged soapstone sink they’d found. Attic floorboards became one countertop. A small sideboard of the Victorian period was fitted with casters to become a movable island; its original marble top is good for pastry making. The lighting fixture overhead is retractable.