House & Home’s New Office Kitchen — Elevating Ikea’s Essential Components In High Style

Learn Gillian Atkins’ best tips for using Ikea components to get this great look.

When we moved our office to Toronto’s Designer’s Walk we needed to build a new kitchen. The style vision was industrial workroom meets cool design office. Our friends at Ikea were happy to help get us started. We chose Askerund cabinets in blond faux wood grain, made from a durable melamine veneer that would stand up to heavy use and would be easy to clean. The cabinets make a strong statement so we used an off-white Kasker quartz composite stone for the counter top and back splash. To frame the sink wall, we created two almost symmetrical columns, one for the fridge and the other for a bank of microwaves and dish storage drawers and cupboards.

When our microwave trim kits were back-orderd, our carpenters created a custom surround from leftover cabinet panels. They also built us the chunky long floating shelves above the sink. Panelled dishwashers felt like too much wood laminate — so we opted for Ikea’s stainless Essentiell built-in dishwasher to balance the stainless fridge. We needed two — The HH team use a lot of coffee mugs!

When we were finished construction, something was still missing. Lynda Reeves took one look at the work in progress and without hesitation said it needed statement wallpaper. She was right. The hunt began for the perfect paper, punchy, graphic and the right scale. The monochrome Tapestry (in Zuni) paper from Cavern Home was perfect.

Our Interiors Editor, Stacy Begg, was recruited to style the space. No small feat, given we’d handed her a pretty bossy backdrop. After some trial and error, she opted for bold artisanal style pots and jugs in matte black, terracotta and shades of stone. The black Smeg toaster and kettle fit perfectly, as do accents like the Tamarack cutting board from Hopson Grace and a fringed Ambrose runner from Socco Living. Stacy even raided Lynda’s personal stash of objects for a small portrait pencil drawing in a strong ebony frame. It’s unexpected, so it works.

The results are perfect for us and the team is happy to have a stylish place to prep lunch and hold informal meetings. Finally, it is camera ready. Thank you Ikea!