Imagine going on vacation and coming home to a brand new kitchen. Designer Petra Boykoff was in for a challenge when she was tasked with just that, designing, ordering, and installing a brand new kitchen while her clients were on out of town.

The family of four had moved from an apartment in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood to a charming duplex down the road. “Park Slope is a really beautiful neighborhood,” remarks the designer. “[Their new home] is on a lovely block, in the center of everything, and well-zoned for schools. People really take care of their homes here and take pride in them,” she adds. 

Community Connections

Boyfoff met her clients through Park Slope Parents, an online resource that was founded in 2000. “It’s a great community resource and I’ve gotten a lot of clients,” She says. “Turns out we know a lot of the same people. We really hit it off.”

He’s in finance, she’s in the makeup industry, and they have two young children. They moved from a rental into a larger space, hoping to invest in something that would fit their family for years to come. While the rest of the home was airy, the kitchen needed an overhaul in both style and functionality. “Our biggest job was to get rid of the existing dark kitchen that ruined the flow and made the whole apartment feel cold and outdated,” she says. 

Clever Solutions

“It was dark grey, sad, and the thermofoil was popping off the panels,” she says. Plus, it had a weird layout, small island, and lacked storage. “They came to realize it was not the kitchen of their dreams. If they were going to do [a renovation], they would do it now.”

Unfortunately the designer didn’t have much time or money to get the kitchen completed, thus she reached out to BOXI for its quick-ship products and purchased cabinetry for just $10,000. The kitchen was delivered and installed in one month, something truly unheard of when it comes to kitchen renovations. 

“I had worked with Semihandmade and listened to a podcast where John, the founder of Semihandmade, talked about BOXI. Finding unique, inexpensive cabinets is the bain of my existence,” she says. 

Make Every Inch Count

“Space is truly at a premium in the city so storage, flow, and the use of space were top of mind for our design. We added a peninsula which greatly increased their overall storage and gave guests a spot to perch,” she says. Furthermore, the added storage allowed her to remove the built-in desk and replace it with a dining nook, which includes a custom-build Room & Board dining table and acrylic chairs. 

White Walker Zanger tile, a Silestone quartz countertop and Rejuvenation hardware complement the BOXI Mushroom Shaker cabinets to give a bright, clean look. 

Expect the Unexpected

When it comes to small spaces, Bryoff utilized unique storage tools to make the blind corners useful. “I had a hard time finding items that would fit,” she says. “It was quite the process.” She purchased long skinny bins that fit on a movable metal track. 

For the dinning room, it was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, the small space making a quaint gathering space for the family. While their entertainment space is limited, they are lucky to have a nice backyard with large table, plus a basement recreation room to accompany their upstairs formal living room. 

With each project, the designer learns more and more about utilizing budget-friendly hacks and hopes to work with BOXI again in the future.