WAS [the newsletter] #42

Kate's Kitchen Refresh

Maren Loveland
September 06, 2024

#42

I’m Paige Wassel. WAS the Newsletter is your weekly dose of design inspiration, where a change of scenery is always refreshing.

Sometimes, even though the status quo is fine, you find yourself wanting a change. Flip a new page, learn some new things, and upgrade.

For me, I recently upgraded all of my recording equipment. For Kate, it was bringing in an incredible new Louis Poulsen light fixture that she’s going to have for the rest of her life. Turns out, it’s impossible to hang a fixture like that without wanting to improve everything around it, so that’s what we did in her kitchen nook. Today, lemme take you through our process.

BEFORE

Here’s the beginning of the beginning when we had a blank slate, baby.

Now, here’s the state of the kitchen nook once we got our hands on it initially.

The original paint color was PPG Sunbeam, eggshell finish. The chairs are from Herbert Design, which is located in the Arts District. I really loved the blue table top, probably because it had a past. It came from an old hookah lounge and Kate bought it from @roleplay.la on IG.

Here we are talking through the process. If you watched the video a couple of weeks ago, you’d hear my VO instead of our conversation because I didn’t have the audio right. It happens, NBD.

PROCESS

First up, pick a color.

The winning color is… Benjamin Moore Gingersnaps, eggshell finish. The winning vibe is… teamwork.

Now for the money shot.

The fixture is the PH5 Mini from Louis Poulsen in the color monochrome dusty indigo. So love at first sight is possible.

Not pictured, our friend Chuy from Joybird doing the actual install.

We played around with table choices, but ultimately found this wooden piece on FBMP.

At certain times of day, the sun shines into this nook like God’s flashlight, so Kate has an ingenious solution. She keeps two magnet clips on the metal door and can swap in pieces of fabric depending on what look she wants. Also, all these fabrics are from DTLA.

AFTER

As always, the big reveal.

Most of the art is thrifted and I am wild about a lot of the mat choices. Also, set decorators gonna set decorate. And if you’re curious, the plant is a pruned money tree.