Before & after: Kessler Park kitchen remodel

Before

Sara and Lucas Deppe Residence
Shady Lane
Built in: 1950
Remodeled in: 2013-2014

Then …

When Sara and Lucas Deppe moved to Dallas from Kansas City, Mo. for work about a year ago, they knew Oak Cliff was the place for them. So they chose a Kessler Park fixer-upper, which turned out to be a little more work than they expected. They had to replace all the boring stuff like electric wiring, plumbing and subflooring from where an indoor koi pond had leaked. But they kept the original floor plan pretty much intact.

Now!

After the Shady Lane kitchen: Photo by Jame Coreas

Bill Cates of Peters Cates Design + Studio helped the Deppes with the fun stuff like flooring, paint colors and this modern, functional kitchen. “My husband and I both had similar ideas about what we wanted in a kitchen,” Sara says. “So that was pretty easy.” She says they liked the flat-front cabinets because they’re easy to clean. A large center island with a farm sink made the space more functional. They eliminated recessed lighting and added industrial-style pendulum lamps to complete the modern look. Even though the owners had to eliminate the indoor koi pond, they are renovating an outdoor pond, since they had to leave behind a 10-year-old pet koi when they moved to Texas. The house took about a year to renovate and sits on a double lot, which is what sold them on it. Now they’re busy planning gardens and water features for the backyard.