Created in collaboration with Ingrid Pay, the Architect’s Retro Kitchen from Nordiska Kök has brought back so many happy memories for me because growing up my grandparents had a dark blue 1960s kitchen in their home too.
It was always special visiting my Nanna and Grandad as the house they lived in had been especially built for our family over a century before, and as a result this ordinary looking home was in fact a perfectly preserved time capsule of interior styles, filled over the years with much-loved pieces that had been passed on from generation to generation.
It was when replacing a 40-year-old kitchen in her villa in Oslo that Ingrid, an architect in Norway and her husband, turned to Nordiska Kök to design a space that would incorporate both their own personal preferences while staying true to the age and attributes of the building.
While the finished design may take its inspiration from the past, and also nod to Ingrid’s husbands desire for a traditional French countryside kitchen, thanks to Nordiska Kök’s custom-made carpentry, dedicated attention to detail and forward-thinking functionality the Architects’s Retro Kitchen is a timeless style that’s perfectly suited for modern-day life.
Made from oak, and with a beautiful quartz composite worktop, I personally love the old-meets-new aesthetic and how the warm, understated natural tones sit alongside the unexpected blue contrasts.
For me what would otherwise be a quintessential Nordic design has been given an elegant and exciting twist, and just like my grandparent’s old kitchen, this new design also has a welcoming family dining table at its heart, reeded glass detailing on the display cabinets and soft rounded corners on the larger floor to ceiling units.
I’d never thought of my Nanna and Grandad as Nordic design pioneers before but maybe there was more to their story than we ever knew.
Ingrid Pay currently works at Lund+Slaato Architects while developing and designing her own projects through Pay Hus.
The Architect’s Retro Kitchen is available now as part of Nordiska Kök’s range of kitchens. To find out more about this design as well as shipping throughout Europe and to the UK, visit their website.
All imagery shown is courtesy of Nordiska Kök’s, with photography by Dag Sandven and styling by Susanne Swegen.
Enjoyed reading this post? Then read more about Nordiska Kök from Creative Director and Co-Founder Johan Lundkvist.
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