Pine · Maple · Cherry · Alder
La Cocina de Yami
The Commission
A Kitchen Worth Cooking In
Yamile’s kitchen had good bones — an old Salt Lake bungalow with character in every corner. But the cabinets were tired, the doors were mismatched, and the pantry entrance was an afterthought. She didn’t want a renovation. She wanted a restoration — something that honored the house’s history while making the space feel intentionally hers.
The centerpiece was an old pine door, buried under decades of paint. It had been sitting in the garage, forgotten. Yami saw something in it. So did I. The plan: strip it down, frame it in maple, convert it to a sliding barn door for the pantry. Then build new cabinet doors in cherry to warm up the whole kitchen. And find handles that felt like they belonged in a place where someone actually cooks.
This wasn’t about making something new. It was about revealing what was already there.
La Puerta
Sixty Years of Paint
The door came into the workshop wearing six decades of paint — white, green, grey, each layer a generation’s attempt to make it “new.” Stripping it was an archaeology project. Chemical stripper first, then heat gun, then hand scraping. Slowly, the pine appeared — gorgeous old-growth grain with a warmth that no paint could improve on.
Once stripped, the wood told its own story. Knots, nail holes, saw marks from the original mill. I framed it in maple — a clean, light border that gives the old pine room to breathe without competing. The glass panels stayed. The original hardware holes became part of the character. A barn door track mounted on a reclaimed beam completed the conversion.
The Details
Handles, Doors & Hardware
The cabinet doors are cherry — chosen to complement the existing pine base cabinets while adding warmth to the upper kitchen. Raised panel construction, traditional joinery. The cherry will darken with age, getting richer every year until it matches the patina of the old house.
For the handles, Yami wanted something organic — not the brushed nickel rectangles from the hardware store. We found cast iron pulls shaped like leaves and branches. Bohemian, a little wild, exactly right. They feel like they grew there. Even the old tin panel on the lower cabinet kept its original handle — paint scars and all. Some things shouldn’t be replaced.
The Reveal
Yamile’s Kitchen
The barn door slides open and you see the pantry behind the glass. The cherry uppers catch the afternoon light. The old pine base cabinets — the ones that were already there — finally have company that makes sense. Cast iron handles catch shadow. A rooster stencil on the lower doors was Yami’s touch, not mine.
A kitchen should feel like the person who cooks in it. This one feels like Yamile — warm, layered, Colombian, a little bohemian, and deeply lived-in. Nothing here pretends to be something it isn’t.
Specifications
The Details
