Kitchen of the Week: A Vipp Aluminum Island in a Young Couple’s 1928 Fixer-Upper

To spot Jens and Eva’s 1928 house, look for the brick Art Deco entry. They describe their place as having “a warmth and soul that you just can’t replicate.” But what made them buy it was its future potential: “We could imagine the possibilities of mixing the old with the new to create a house that feels both timeless and contemporary.”

The couple live in Volksdorf, a suburb of Hamburg, Germany, and spent a lot of time perusing Instagram and dreaming about new kitchen possibilities: the existing setup had been installed in the 1990s and looked worse for wear. As fans of Vipp’s household designs, including its iconic 1939 metal pedal bin, Jens and Eva made a pilgrimage to Vipp’s flagship showroom in Copenhagen to see the brand’s modular kitchens firsthand.

That’s where they fell in love with the V3, Vipp’s newest model, faced in fluted aluminum. “There’s something about the subtle movement in the panels—it’s sleek but not too cold or industrial,” says Eva. “It’s a beautiful combination of functionality and artistry.”

Working directly with Vipp and Danish brand Reform, which supplied the built-in cabinets, Eva and Jens created a cookspace that’s both interesting and at home in their historic house. Join us for a look.

Photography courtesy of Vipp.

Above: Eva and Jens bought their house in 2012. “We fell in love the moment we walked in. It has beautiful, old wooden floors, original doors, and hidden cabinets.” Above: The Vipp V3 island serves as a nearly all-in-one kitchen, containing an integrated sink, cooktop, dishwasher, and a lot of storage.

Vipp is a third-generation-owned Danish company and all of its designs share the same industrial-chic DNA as its original product: the metal Pedal Bin (shown here in stainless steel). Vipp kitchens are designed as customizable modules that can be combined in myriad ways and an in-house team handles installations.

The floor is Tintoretto, a terrazzo-style porcelain stoneware slab, from Ariostea Accademia.

Above: The wall of built-ins, which includes the fridge and Gaggenau wall oven, are from Reform: they’re part of the brand’s Inga Sempé Column Collection and are oak to echo the original flooring in the dining room.

To see more of the line, go to Kitchen of the Week: A Sensuous Collection for Reform By French Designer Inga Sempé.

Above: The faucet is a Quooker Flex Tap: “cold, hot, and boiling water from one tap.”

The couple say the anodized aluminum grooves are easy to keep clean: “Vipp takes a lot of inspiration from the way restaurant kitchens are designed, for maximum functionality and ease of use— very much for people like us, who love to cook. We have found that a damp cloth takes care of day to day cleanup; a cloth with warm water and a drop of mild detergent or a soft brush works very well when we need a deeper clean.”

Above: The deep windows were existing but given gently curved frames that match silhouettes elsewhere in the house. The room is north-facing, and no shades are needed for privacy or as sun screens. Finishing touch: That’s Vipp’s marble Sculpture Table Lamp with a glass shade on the island.

More Vipp and Reform kitchens:

• For Aesthetes and Surfers: A New Vipp Guest House in Denmark’s “Cold Hawaii”
• Head for the Hills: Two NYC Architects Design Their Own Passive House, Vipp Kitchen Included
• Kitchen of the Week: Base Cabinets by Ikea, Chic and Colorful Doors By Reform
• Everything is Illuminated in a Light-Flooded Reform Kitchen in Copenhagen