“It’s important to make a space reflect the people who inhabit it,” designer Amy Kwok says. It’s a philosophy she brings to her work on small interior architecture projects, and a way of life in the home she shares with her husband Wei Lai and their twins, Oliver and Chloe, in San Francisco’s Noe Valley.

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To take in the atmosphere of their kitchen, which blends effortlessly into a dining and living space, is to glimpse the couple’s inspirations and experiences. There’s the pendant light they discovered as newlyweds in Paris, and an island inspired by artist Donald Judd after a trip to Marfa, Texas. Wide cabinets are practical for storage, and open up the space for toddlers to run around. It all tells their personal story as a young family, from where they’ve been to where they choose to be.

“We wanted the home to be a zen haven from the hustle and bustle,” she continues. When the couple decided to move into this stucco-and-wood-frame home originally built in the 1950s, they saw it as a happy reunion. They had been living just over the Bay Bridge in Oakland—a move they made after the twins were first born—but Amy and Wei missed the distinct personality of San Francisco. Noe Valley was in the midst of it all, but also had the nickname of “Stroller Valley.” The property had the location—it just needed a few strategic upgrades.

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“This home was a quarter of the size of our home in Oakland,” Amy remembers, at 1,050 square feet. “We knew we were giving up a lot of space, so we needed the rooms to be flexible and serve multiple functions.”

The kitchen had been renovated in the 1990s, and while Amy appreciated its sense of space, she determined that it lacked a certain warmth and efficiency. The kitchen she envisioned for her family’s everyday lives had to be place to cook, gather, and discreetly store things like toys and supplies. It also needed to open to a dining and living area, too.

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“We wanted the living and dining space to be flexible so that we could rearrange the furniture and switch up their functions if need be,” Amy adds. “But mostly, we needed every inch to be usable—there was no space to waste.”

She ripped out the cheap laminate flooring and decided that the subway tiling and frosted glass cabinets had to go, too. A mix of open shelving and horizontal cabinets were brought in instead, and they were paired with a clean slab backsplash. The result is much more streamlined, even if there’s a mess behind the closed doors.

"There was something that was pretty appealing about the cabinet doors to us,” she says. “They have integrated handles with clean-able linoleum fronts, and if we really wanted to change things up, we could switch out the panels for different ones. The mix of open shelving and enclosed cabinets provides adequate storage and allows us to display ceramics that we like.”

The island has a similar effect. On the one hand, it’s a place for food prep, conversation, and perhaps eventual homework. But then again, the island is also an architectural beauty that happens to contain and showcase appliances, serving ware, and cookbooks. “Donald Judd’s library table was the inspiration,” she says. “We wanted something simple, solid, and durable for family use, and something that would have a nice patina through the passage of time.”

Alongside the balance of style and function, there’s also a unity between Amy and Wei’s Asian and American cultures. The pendant lamp from Paris was found in a shop holding an exhibit on Asia, and the fixture resembles a paper lantern. The sliding doors behind the couch were inspired by Japanese shoji screens, but their solid wood frames give enough privacy to the bedroom on the opposing side.

“The lamp was the impetus for the design, and tells the story of us living with a mix of Asian and American cultures,” she says. “The sliding doors are a quieter way of dividing spaces in the interior. They are large panels, and we wanted the look of them to also be functional—the design of the slats removes the need for any extra hardware.”

Amy mentions that their home always feels peaceful now, given that it has a neutral palette that invites the outdoor views in. But it’s also serene because it’s exactly what her family wanted: a place to be together in their beloved San Francisco. “We loved our move back into this city, and it was important for us to have a sanctuary,” she says.

More Before & After:

A Thorough Renovation Primes a Portland Home for Aging in Place

A Vibrant Remodel Tunes Up an Australian Bungalow for a Family and Their Pets

An Eco-Friendly Family’s 400-Square-Foot Cottage Teems With Plant Life

Project Credits:

Builder: Faherty Construction

Interior Design: Amy Kwok Design

Cabinetry Design: Josh Tomlinson

Other: Josh Podoll

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Before & After: A Designer Mixes Asian and American Influences in Her Family’s San Francisco Kitchen