This Tucson Kitchen Is Eerily Soothing

When Krysta Jabczenski and Joel Leshefka purchased their Tucson, Arizona, house five years ago, the couple had a vision for what was once a cluttered moccasin workshop. Together they stripped the whole place down to the bare-bones minimum, tucking away pretty much everything except a few key statement pieces.

Their aim was to avoid the trap of mimicking the kitschy Southwest interiors of other Tucson homes, sticking to an open floor plan, choosing a select few fixtures, and emphasizing the home’s abundant natural light. It’s safe to say they did just that.

When we came across this particular House Tour on our sister website, Apartment Therapy, we just had to give you a peek into their super-stark kitchen that’s functional, minimal, and, dare we say, eerily soothing? Something about the space’s austerity is serene. Let’s check it out.

Doesn’t looking at this space just make you feel calm? Talk about not leaving things out on your countertops. And speaking of countertops, these are repurposed bowling alley lanes from local haunt Cactus Bowl and were custom built by Tucson-based Midtown Artisans. “The finished product was so worth it and way beyond the cookie-cutter stuff you get at most big-box stores in town,” Krysta says.

The kitchen is adjacent to the living room, which is separated by the original 1900 adobe walls, the couple’s favorite element of the house.

A bunch of the pieces they do have out (the ceramic spoon holder by Recreation Center and the Yield design French press) are from the couple’s shop, Prism, in Seattle.

The vintage range was rescued from a garage sale in Tucson, a nod to the couple’s passion for making the old new again.

The enamel kitchen sink (below the bright and airy window) was another salvaged piece which sits atop a cabinet built by, once gain, Midtown Artisans.

But where do they sit and eat, you ask? Across the way, in the living room, sits this dining area right next to their vinyl collection, which the couple breaks out while entertaining.

Here’s the very official floor plan, for all those budding architects out there! As you can see, while everything may be pretty close in proximity, if you have a ton of light and a selective design sensibility, your space can seem really, really big. And eerily soothing.

See the full tour: A Modern Adobe in Tucson at Apartment Therapy