When Henry and his wife Margaret turned to us for their Waterloo kitchen renovation, not only did it present the opportunity to expand our creative knowledge on a new project; it was a chance to learn more about a family, their history, and the home they cherish so very deeply.
It is clear, our clients love their homes. They come to us with a vision comprised of style, concept, finishes, and ambiance. At Menno S. Martin, we know that what our clients are actually describing is a lifestyle and we strive to translate that throughout the designs we build for them.
What made their renovation so unique was that the lifestyle was actually lived over a lifetime. From our initial consultation it was clear that this family has worked tirelessly to preserve the originality of their home built in 1979 and wanted to keep it that way.
Henry & Margaret’s home is a virtual time capsule of their family history and a preserved reflection of an era. Memories abound across every inch of the space and one can’t help but imagine the gatherings it has been utilized for throughout the years. It really has a feel of togetherness and pride.
The retro vibe is clean and flows through the home. It echoes styles made popular throughout the sixties and into the seventies. Preservation of these original style features were top on their list and providing them with the comfort and satisfaction of our understanding of that need, was top on ours.
This Waterloo kitchen renovation sought balance in incorporating the modern features of a new kitchen landscape to the original open-concept surrounding living and dining areas. Our team worked with Henry and Margaret to develop a design based on functionality. Paying much attention to their concerns about the integration of the pre-existing retro style.
Our installers took on unique little projects like incorporating new floor boards with the existing oak floor boards that carried through from the kitchen to the living areas (see photo below). They seamlessly matched wallpaper in doorways (Henry had been storing wrapped rolls of it for over 30 years) where usually they would perform a complete tear-down. But once completed, it appeared as if our team had never even been there.
As we delved deeper into this project, we delved deeper into a family. We learned about the trees in the backyard; when they were planted and why they loved them so much. We renovated the kitchen used for entertaining yet didn’t touch the smaller second kitchen used for family canning and baking.
A project with such richness brings many gifts to our business. It’s a somewhat new approach for us to put preservation, in this manner, at the forefront of a project. We learned that we are not just preserving a space, we are preserving a lifetime of memories. This is a valuable tool we will keep in our “mental-toolbox” as we approach future renovations and was a truly unique experience for our team.
For other kitchen photos, browse through our kitchen renovation photo gallery.
