These 7 Renovated Kitchens Prove Mix and Match Cabinets Add Flair

Florida firm Traction Architecture was tasked with an extensive renovation of a classic 1905 Colonial Foursquare home, in Brookline, Massachusetts. The clients, a family of five with a laid-back vibe and a love of vintage midcentury style, purchased the home for its solid structure and great neighborhood, but looked to the Traction team for a bright, colorful update.

The project began by rethinking the existing kitchen, part of which had formerly been a porch that was enclosed in a previous renovation. “To make the kitchen feel bigger, we actually made it smaller, restoring the original porch and incorporating large, sliding glass doors to wash the space in light and reconnect it to the backyard,” says Jody Beck, founder of Traction.

“No matter how cloudy or cold or gray it is outside, when you step into the house, the combination of light and color lifts your mood,” Jody says. “I love that when you stand in the kitchen, you can now see across the house and out to both the front and backyards.” —Zoë Sessums

For a decade, Zed Gant postponed a much-needed renovation of her London kitchen because, technically, it’s not hers. The art therapist, along with her husband and two sons, live in the first-floor flat of a 1930s house owned by a family member. Though they expect to inhabit the Wandsworth apartment for the foreseeable future, they don’t intend to live there forever. Zed simply couldn’t justify investing in an impermanent residence, but with a bit of research, they discovered a solution to their conundrum that had been available all along: a modular cabinetry system that could be transferred to and reconfigured in their next place. “Now that I realize it’s possible, we should have done this years ago,” Zed reflects.