A Restorative Tudor Kitchen Remodel in Portland, Oregon

When an ER physician came to Jenna Degen Interiors after a major life transition, she was creating a home entirely on her own for the first time. Her professional life moved at full tilt—long days, high-stakes decisions, and the constant intensity of caring for others. JDI saw an opportunity for home to play a very different role.

The brief was distilled into a simple design intention: Shift the Rhythm. Four guiding principles—restorative, effortless, natural and warm—became the framework for the design, shaping a home that could offer a counterpoint to the intensity of her days: a place to exhale, cook for pleasure, gather easily, reconnect with nature, and spend time with the people she loves.

San Sebastián became a natural point of inspiration. The Basque city’s elemental relationship with land and sea, reverence for food, and culture of everyday gathering informed a palette of warm, grain-rich wood, honed stone, handmade tile, aged metals and earthy, mineral color. Materials and shapes were chosen for both their beauty and the experience of living with them—how their warmth, texture,s oftn and natural variation could create a sense of grounding and ease.

An intuitive layout brings that same thinking to the way the kitchen functions, making cooking and gathering feel easier and allowing the simple rituals of daily life to unfold at a different pace.

The result reflects a conviction at the heart of JDI’s work: where we live profoundly shapes how we experience our lives—and how we move through the world beyond home.

Collaborators
GC: A New Image Remodeling
Photography: Kaitlin Green
Styling: Kira Corbin