Hans has worked as an interior stylist for more than eight years. Before becoming a stylist, he worked with IKEA for many years, including as an art director on projects like the catalogue. When our IDEAS team asked him to work with us on a kitchen, he jumped at the chance. He and his partner recently redid their Parisian kitchen, so he learned a thing or two!

“I was inspired by a modern wood-on-wood kitchen. But I also like a more relaxed, simple Shaker style that feels rustic. Why choose?” He wanted natural elements like wood, plants and linens mixed with sleek, straight lines and industrial-ish textures like concrete. Greys and blacks can be moody, but a front with a blonde ash effect will keep the room from being too dark. His dream is drawers, because he likes to easily reach everything he has. And he’d fill his storage with glass jars because food is beautiful as it is!

Next, Hans considered basic layouts—straight-line, galley, L-shape and U-shape. He chose a straight-line kitchen and opted not to add an island. Why? He wanted to leave room for non-culinary passions like a separate planting area and a dining table he could also use for work. He also chose not to maximise his space with wall cabinets. “I didn’t want to disturb the walls, because the colour and texture will add depth and movement. I don’t have lots of kitchen gadgets either, so tons of storage isn’t a must.”

Then Hans carefully measured his kitchen and noted every detail like distances to windows and doors, locations of utilities, dimensions of appliances, etc. He put the info into our online planner, started with what he knew—where fixtures like his sink, oven and fridge needed to go—and worked around those, trying different designs. The planner gave him good-to-knows like ideal distances between the worktop and the hob. A kitchen expert at the store reviewed his plan to ensure he thought of everything.

Dreaming about a kitchen? Check out the kitchen department of our full desktop website for a variety of inspirational images, planning guides, online planning tools and information about our services to help you along the way.

We love to see our customers get creative with our products. Go for it! But please note that altering or modifying IKEA products so they can no longer be re-sold or used for their original purpose, means the IKEA commercial guarantees and your right to return the products will be lost.

Check back next week to get a closer look at hans’ dream kitchen!

Made by

Interior designer: Hans Blomquist
Photographer: Andrea Papini
Writer: Marissa Frayer