A shopkeeper’s artisan-filled Mexico City apartment. A secluded indoor/outdoor tiny house (available for rent). A 300-year-old (formerly roofless) casita.
The projects we’ve visited in Mexico over the years run the gamut from urban to off-grid, polished to ad-hoc—but they all share a sense of creativity, a reverence for place and nature, and a certain rule-breaking artfulness. Here are seven favorite kitchens from our archives:
The Perforated Kitchen
Above: Mexico City apartment of entrepreneur and shopkeeper Laura Aviva is set apart by a graphic mesquite screen carved by third-generation woodworker Isaac Castañeda. See more in The Artisanal Apartment: Laura Aviva Creates a Mexico City Showcase for Her Design Collection; photograph by Fabian Martinez.
The Aesthete’s Kitchen
Above: An all-time favorite: flowy curtains and a simple dining setup in A Soulful Casita in Todos Santos, Mexico, for a French Aesthete. Photograph by Laure Joliet.
The Indoor/Outdoor Kitchen
Above: At the secluded Casa Tiny, a Walden-Inspired Getaway in Mexico, the kitchen opens entirely to the outdoors (hammock included). Photograph by Camila Cossio, courtesy of Casa Tiny (available to rent on Airbnb).
The Salvage Kitchen
Above: In the kitchen of her approximately 300-year-old casa in the center of Pozos, Mexico, Patricia Larsen stripped the walls to the original plaster and added a stainless restaurant sink (later replaced by a large copper pot found on the roadside, fitted with a drain and taps). See more in Artist Residence: Patricia Larsen Used Salvaged Materials to Reinvent Her Mexican Casa. Photograph by Patricia Larsen and Janaki Larsen.
The Bright Kitchen
Above: On the top floor of a 1950s building in Mexico City’s Colonia Roma Sur, Libia Moreno and Enrique Arellano–the shopkeepers behind Remodelista favorite Utilitario Mexicano—opted for an open living area and powder-coated steel cabinets by local co. Rallé, See more of the apartment in Kitchen of the Week: A Mexico City Makeover in Apple Green. Photograph by Enrique Arellano.
The Brutalist Kitchen
Above: An oldie but a goodie: Tough Love: A Creative Couple’s Brutalist House in Mexico City, with all-concrete shelves and appliance niches. (“It’s a little like living in a factory, but also a playground, too,” the homeowner told Freunde von Freunden.) Photography by Ana Hop for Freunde von Freunden.
The Considered Addition
Above: In an airy and considered new addition to a formerly derelict 100-year-old building, this Mérida-based couple added new floors of polished white cement with locally made yellow pasta tiles that match the original floors throughout. The doors open right onto the patio–and pool. Take a full tour in Casa Cool: A Couple’s Secret Sanctuary in Mexico’s Colonial City of Mérida. Photograph by Apertura Arquitectónica, courtesy of Taller Estilo Arquitectura, unless otherwise noted.
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