4 min readDive into the most spectacular kitchens from the past pages of House Beautiful, and you’ll quickly realize that none of today’s top kitchen trends are truly new. Dreaming of a butter-yellow kitchen? Look to 1951 or 1995 for inspiration. Craving a rustic, Cotswolds-style farmhouse kitchen that feels just as at home in a city apartment or suburban house? There are plenty to choose from, but Linda Di Martino’s 1989 kitchen is a great place to start.
Smart, functional galleys, gleaming white kitchens that are anything but boring, even IKEA hacks—it’s all here for the taking. In honor of our 130th anniversary, read on to see the 18 most iconic kitchens in our archive.
The Tiny Kitchen That Could Prep a Meal for 60 (1949)
Modeled after a dining car galley, this 20th Century Limited kitchen was meticulously planned to hold 3,273 specific cooking items. “Roller-bearing drawers bring most everything into view and easy reach,” our editors explained. “The [owners] analyzed all their cooking habits and planned every detail.”
The Statement-Making Tile That Survived a Renovation (1951)
Rather than demo’ing their old kitchen, the owners had new appliances—a Thermador range, two wall ovens, and a counter-height refrigerator—built right into their tile-topped cabinets.
The Back-of-House Kitchen With Main Character Energy (1967)
That cabinet at the far end of this galley kitchen? It’s actually a scene painted directly onto the door, giving what’s essentially a glorified hallway—with counters lining either side—the illusion of a complete room.
The Hexagonal Kitchen With a Skylight (1969)
Architect Raymond D. Reed, a Harvard grad known for his energy-efficient homes and love of the outdoors, designed this hexagonal kitchen as part of his family home. While not large, the creatively shaped space allows multiple people to comfortably mingle and cook—an essential for Reed, as he and his wife had four small kids when they moved in.
The Treehouse With a Fully Functioning Kitchen (1974)
Architect David Kenneth Specter, tasked with emphasizing the “relationship between indoors and out,” outfitted this sloping kitchen ceiling with skylights so that the trees would show through and lend it the feeling of a treehouse.
The Tiled Kitchen That Turned Out Restaurant-Worthy Meals (1980)
For his home kitchen, restaurateur John Lamprecht went all out. A large Garland range is topped with a high-heat broiler called a salamander, and the heft of a Traulsen refrigerator-freezer unit is offset by hand-painted Portuguese tiles.
The Burgundy Bar Hidden in Plain Sight (1981)
A pastel-colored sitting room by Vincent Wolf got a hit of drama from a central burgundy bar unit. Once opened up, its brass, stainless steel, and mirrored surfaces shine.
The Three Rooms That Combined Into One Kitchen (1981)
Here, leaded-glass windows stretch up to a 16-foot ceiling in this kitchen, which was originally a 1930s breakfast room, butler’s pantry, and “warming oven area” before the owners combined them.
The Shape-Shifting Cook Space From Marimekko’s Designer (1984)
The chief designer of Marimekko, Ristomatti Ratia, designed this kitchen for flexibility. A dining table on wheels can be positioned by the banquette for four-person family meals, in the center of the room to fit six smaller chairs, or closer to the fireplace when it’s roaring.
The Suburban Kitchen Made to Look Like the English Countryside (1989)
Trading out her dark cupboards for painted blue cabinets she found in England, Linda Di Martino was able to salvage her old appliances for a whole new look.
The Dilapidated Cottage Turned Weekend House (1992)
What was once the breakfast room in a 1950s cottage in Harbor Country, Michigan, was converted into a weekend home kitchen with a big bay window by architect Evan LeDuc. “It was the only charming room in the old house,” the owner explained.
The Barefoot Contessa’s Hamptons Kitchen (1994)
With its simple checkered floor, glass-pane cabinets, and wallpapered backsplash, the kitchen where Ina Garten cooked and hosted countless guests in the ‘90s is all at once elegant and effortless—just like her.
The Grocery Counter That Got a New Life (1995)
When turning a downtown Manhattan loft into a country house—at least in terms of energy—Peri Wolfman and Charley Gold paired a commercial range with beadboard walls and an old grocery counter, given new life as a kitchen island.
The Brand-New Range Disguised as an Old Stove (1995)
On the day it was completed, this Aspen kitchen looked like it had been there forever. Architect William Lipsey used Harlequin tilework in an old-fashioned color scheme, antiqued painted cabinets, and highlighted the exhaust stacks over the Viking range as a nod to old stove chimneys.
The White-Oak Kitchen Where It Was Always Summer (2019)
Molly Britt and her architect, Eric Olsen, designed this kitchen that’s filled with California sunshine by combining white oak open shelving with Calacatta Gold marble. “There is lots of cooking going on, lots of activity, lots of kids,” says Britt, whose four kids take over the room at times. “We live in it—there’s nothing contrived or done just for a look.”
The Pattern-Drenched Space With Incognito IKEA Cabinets (2019)
One of HB’s most memorable Kitchens of the Year was actually four rooms spread across the sprawling Dallas warehouse home of designer Michelle Nussbaumer. The art-studio-meets-kitchen, an ode to Paris, featured IKEA cabinets wrapped in a custom vinyl printed with Nussbaumer’s own ikat pattern.
The Kitchen That Spurred Infinite TikTok Storage Solutions (2022)
Cutting board drawers, a decluttering sink, and even a hidden pot-filler for the pet bowls—this kitchen (and others) by Sarah Robertson of Studio Dearborn launched kitchen storage solutions into the spotlight on social media.
The Family Kitchen Adapted for Empty Nesters (2022)
By swapping in cerused, quarter-sawn white oak fronts for the cabinets and a big, glass-door pantry where there used to be a reading nook, Caren Rideau of Kitchen Design Group successfully transformed a family kitchen into one that just the adults would enjoy.
