Penelope and her husband Nathan transformed a bare bones, down–on–its–luck home in North East Portland into a vintage style palace to showcase their miraculous second–hand treasures. The crown jewel of this special home is their savvy kitchen, wherein Nathan traded contracting for poured concrete counters and Penelope sourced major appliances via Craigslist. This space is an inspiring example of creative, purposeful design and a whole lot of imagination.
Penelope spends quite a bit of time in her open kitchen, with one eye on her 20-month–old daughter Bell, who is just starting to explore every nook and cranny of the adjacent living room and sun room. She is an accomplished, free-styling cook too, and I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon exploring the space while she busily chopped ingredients for a hearty stew.
Penelope's travels abroad inform her fresh ingredient approach to cooking and she takes pleasure in multiple farmers' market trips every week, one of which occurs about two blocks from her home. She prefers to let the organic produce shine with simple preparation instead of in complex, fussy recipes.
The pieces which stand out most in this darling kitchen are the vintage white stove (works perfectly!) and farmhouse sink, installed beneath a lovely stained glass window. These vintage staples add a lived-in feel even though they were renovating this very space (from an extremely dilapidated state) only two years ago. Penelope managed to keep the kitchen graceful and cozy. The mix of disparate elements come together beautifully. Never before have I seen Mexican (very folk) style tile co-exist with tall, wooden cabinets (very regular), poured concrete counters (very industrial) and a white stove.
Somehow, these features complement each other, creating a hearth that is greater than the sum of its parts. My favorite detail is the compost hole and hidden bin Penelope designed when their friend was creating the counters — no mess!
• Visit Penelope's vintage shop and professional organizing site
10 Questions for Penelope (and Her Kitchen)
1. What inspires your kitchen and your cooking?
The weather... When it is grey and cozy here in Portland I love chopping and prepping in the morning and throwing it into a pot all day. When it is bright and sunny I love sipping Prosecco and making fish and salad. Always with NPR on in the background!
2. What is your favorite kitchen tool or element?
The compost hole on the countertop. So easy to chop and throw in bits and pieces. As well as my champion juicer which is a family heirloom as my mom bought it in 1970 and used it until her and my dad turned orange.
3. What's the most memorable meal you've ever cooked in this kitchen?
In all honesty it was made for me by my midwife and I am prepared for the reaction it might incite. It was my placenta with onions and garlic and lightly salted. And it tasted just like liver and I was a happy camper and felt quite good about the whole process.
4. The biggest challenge in your kitchen:
The sink drain. Love the actual sink but the drain is a pain to empty as it takes a few times each time we do dishes.
5. Is there anything you wish you had done differently?
Bigger dishwasher, heated floors, and in my fantasy kitchen a fireplace.
6. Biggest indulgence or splurge in the kitchen:
Every week it is an ongoing splurge as I buy the best groceries and love to shop at the local farmers markets and our fabulous New Seasons here in Portland.
7. Is there anything you hope to add or improve in your kitchen?
More pantry space in the basement door entrance.
8. How would you describe your cooking style?
Resourceful. I came from a long line of no recipe cooking.
9. Best cooking advice or tip you ever received:
To take the skin off of garlic you smash it with the butt of a knife. Voila! As well as having fresh flowers always in the kitchen.
10. What are you cooking this week?
Lentil and potato stew, chicken fried rice, flank steak with soba noodles over salad, tofu scramble.
Resources
• Oven: Okeefe and Merit, found on Craigslist
• Counters: poured concrete
• Sink: cast iron country kitchen sink, found on Craigslist
• Fridge: Amana bottom freezer
We're always looking for real kitchens from real cooks.
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Concrete countertops are great. Nice color and details on yours.
LOVE your most memorable meal!!! It gave your daughter life. Beautiful kitchen.
PS I SOOOOO want a fireplace in my kitchen. However, I live in Austin, TX. I'd have to turn the A/C up on full blast to ever justify a fireplace.
Agreed Betty14. Loved it until I read that and now I can't stop fighting back the urge to gag. Sorry, to each their own of course. But eeeeeeeeeiw. I need to get it out of my head.
Loved the memorable meal. I had a midwife for my second child and we planted the placenta and put a rose over it. But the frozen chicken pieces that was used to freeze the area where I tore was cooked later and enjoyed.
I love the concrete countertops! I live in Portland as well - any way you could share the information on the contractor?
just starting to plan a kitchen reno in my circa 1920's Seattle home and this is very inspirational as I have my heart set on a vintage O'Keefe + Merritt or Wedgewood stove.
I also plan on utilizing the existing vintage (upper) cabinets and opening the kitchen into the dining room. I also INSIST that there be some sort of compost bin opening in the countertop - why don't we all have that!? Penelope: can you tell us how (or if) you deal with venting over the stove? For me past experience proves that stone kitchen floors are hard on my back, although I love the look and ease of cleaning. Considering cork.
My first impression of the favorite meal was that it is a little TMI, but then on 2nd thought, it concisely conveys alot of information about the person P is. Placenta...foie gras...blood sausage...to each her own.
I wish that the answer about most memorable meal was in white text so readers who WANTED to read that (you know, people who aren't eating lunch as they check out Kitchn) could read it but the rest of us (lunch eaters) could have skipped it. Please, consider the poor people who use their lunch hours to unwind online and EDIT the answers next time!
I love the schoolhouse pendant chaneliers in the kitchen. I so don't love the warehouse style pendants I've seen too much of recently (looking much like my failed tin can art in the 7th grade). Maybe we'll come back to attractive lighting fixtures in the near future... Lovely cabinetry, too.
I also wish that had been edited out,
it distracts too much from the kitchen tour.
Fava beans would be the perfect side dish.
In all seriousness, did someone really numb themselves with Chicken or was that a joke??? I’m thinking off all kinds of bacteria! Ice could have done the same job.
I feel calmer just looking at pictures of this kitchen. What a fabulous, functional, friendly light-drenched space!
I love the plants, the rugs, and the poured concrete countertops - or what I could see of them, anyway!
Editors, can you please check the ad situation in the slideshow? There's an ad for every slide, and one of the ads (for speakers or something) is often overlapping - ON TOP OF - the photo I want to look at. Super ugly and distracting.
Love the stove, the sink, the concrete counter tops and the floor. Could have done without the "favorite meal" comment, but am curious to know why someone would do that? What is the perceived benefit?
Just, no.
I'm in the planning stages of building my retirement house and am so gonna steal the to the ceiling cabinets, their hinges, the concrete counters and compost hole. Would love to know where the compost goes - do you have a bucket underneath?
Portland? I would have sworn that this kitchen takes place in Arizona. I love it!
Hi all.. This is quite the community! As for the stove venting question, is was not an issue for us as our ceilings are so high and we have never had a problem. You can do a down draft stove and still keep the space open if you are opting for no overhead fan.
The amazing contractor who did our countertops and many others around town is JRA green building and you can contact him at: james@jragbc.com
He is a top notch and has many talents.
I know the placenta answer is a bit distasteful for some but I am drawn to authentic answers and that is my truth.
The compost hole is such a time saver I highly recommend it. James formed it with a large plastic yogurt container. The food or what have you, does land in a bucket underneath where we also hideaway our recyclables.
Am I the only one not in love with this kitchen?
You aren't the only one. I don't think it's only the "favorite meal" that clouding my "vision"... The rug looks tired, the beams throw the space's proportion completely off and while I appreciate the Craftsman echo of the cabinet design the stain color is not even close to being right on. Does the scraps not smell that go through the cool compost hole?
Well, shoot. This IS a cooking blog, is it not? Every day we read posts that cover the preparation and eating of meat. From animals. Humans are animals. Ergo, our flesh is meat, too. Just ask a tiger.
Although it may seem a bit outre in the U.S., many cultures advocate new mothers eating their own placentas, for a variety of reasons. Toughen up, people.
Sorry, the kitchen is beautiful and I'm a big liver lover with a very tough stomach, but gagged repeatedly after reading #3! :(
I love this kitchen! The elements of old with new conveniences is lovely. I also love the fact that it looks like a real kitchen as opposed to an all white modern showroom. It seems silly for so many posters to get caught up on her most memorable meal, she was only being honest.
That is a lovely kitchen. Very warm and inviting and not it the least formal or intimidating. I love the wood beams and high ceilings as well, and the tile floors are lovely.
The memorable meal is really memorable so I think it ranks pretty high. I don't have to like it or want to try it, just recognize it's remarkableness.
Oh, nearly forgot, awesome stove.
some things are better kept private. that's so disgusting I'm leaving the site.
I can't help but wonder if having an open compost bin attracts flies. I know in the summer at my house, we have to take the trash out and empty the sink drain of gunk religiously so that we don't get fruit flies.