My Houzz: Olivia Munn Thanks Mum With the Kitchen of Her Dreams
If you observe actor Olivia Munn (X-Men: Apocalypse, Iron Man 2) and her mum, Kim Schmid, for even a moment, you’ll see they have a special bond. They joke often and laugh easily. “My mother and all of her uniqueness has definitely shaped who I am today,” Munn says.
Much of their bond developed over home-cooked meals made by Schmid, a refugee from the Vietnam War. Recently, Munn surprised her 5ft 1in mum with a renovation of her Oklahoma City kitchen to make it easier for her to use. Now she can cook large family meals without the need for a step stool.
Keep Watching:
I love the kitchen. I'm 1/8'' away from being 5' tall so I would absolutely appreciate a kitchen similar to this one! I think the decor and entire design is probably my favorite so far.
Love!
Wow!!! What a transformation. What an AMAZING gift to her mother. Very heartwarming.
Such a beautiful space for an a charming lady. Good job Olivia and team. So sweet.
Incredible work Travis the renovation is beautiful!!
What a fun, sweet bunch of people! Great job Travis! That's what it's all about:)
I wonder if that Green Bay Packers clock on the wall next to the front door will stay . . .
Super sweet Dad and so nice of OM to show her Mom the love!
Love Olivia!!!
Gorgeous kitchen and beautiful family. Loved Olivia in the Newsroom.
Ms Olivia is quite a character, just like her mom. :) Travis did such fantastic designs and incorporation amazing ideas for Mrs. Kim. Mrs. Kim needs some more pull-downs for the pantry and not just the kitch! :) I enjoyed watching the cultures from 'Nam/Asian to American intermix. Congratulations to Houzz on another nice redo and to Ashton Kutcher for directing and producing this series. What work!
Beautiful and functional.
Funniest My Houzz yet!
They did a good job of refinishing the table
Where can I get that pull-down shelving system in her kitchen cabinets ? I'm only 4'11" and have lots of wasted space in my cabinets because I don't use the upper shelves. I just don't want to be climbing constantly to reach things, so I only use the shelves I can reach. With a small kitchen, that's a problem. Would love to find out more about that system, and where I can get it. Thanks !!
@AnnMarieDemers This is the pull-down system Olivia got for her mom: https://www.houzz.com/product/38097943-pull-down-shelf-chrome-2175-traditional-pantry-and-cabinet-organizers
Ann Marie,
Check Rev-A-Shelve for the pull down shelves.
BRILLIANT!!!!
Loved watching this video !!
This is a beautiful remodel; the entire space is bright but at the same time a soft light. Great flooring and a terrific range hood, too.
Ms. Schmid's petite stature reminds me of a decade ago when I was a personal chef. A client, who was 4'11", had a beautiful, fully loaded kitchen that had custom everything, including countertops made for her height. I am 5'11" and clearly recall kneeling on the floor to wash pots and pans in the sink. The nanny and housekeeper thought this was the funniest thing in the world, and I went home with a raging backache. However, when I had remodeled my own kitchen a few years earlier, I had the counters raised 3" above standard size, so I could fully relate to how much a difference it makes!
@Mitchell Parker -- Thanks so much for that link. That's VERY helpful !! I'm going to look into that more, mainly to figure out if they'll fit in my cabinets, since they're pretty narrow, but I absolutely LOVE this idea !! I didn't know anything like this existed. It's a revelation ! lol
@ myosotis Thanks for that, I'll will definitely look into this more. As you can see by my reply above to Mitchell Parker, I think this is just awesome. I had no idea anything like that was available. I'm drooling over these ! lol
The whole concept was so well thought out - spacious and light. I loved the raised ceiling, and the way they used the dead space in the living room to create a pantry. Though I did think the pantry space was a bit cramped and didn't look very finished - bare chipboard shelves by the looks. The warm and expressive people in this story made it really special!
Does anyone have information on the flooring? Type/colour etc? Thanks!
What a lovely thought, to make your Mum’s favorite place to be beautiful! There is such joy in giving! It looks gorgeous!
Even as a 'tall' person I appreciate the design elements and what makes this kitchen so beautiful. People put a lot of thought into practicality and customisation, those are very important. I wasn 't worried about the walk-in pantry being small as it still offered plenty of space, but the raw particle board shelves? That is not what I wd choose for food storage.
Curious if the refrigerator sits behind the island, if so how much distance between the stool & fridge doors?
You're an awesome daughter I love the new look it came out just like you wanted.
You guys enjoy and make everyday count!
Such a sweet video. And how awesome to see the prints of "Pinkie" and "Blue Boy" in the entryway (8 minutes in)! I grew up loving them during frequent visits to my Aunt and Uncle's home. Great job Olivia. You're a very special daughter!
To be honest, even the before would be my dream kitchen...
Wonderful Story! I love my mom too and a kitchen remodel is an amazing gift/dream. So many wonderful ideas to make the kitchen more functional. I am definitely going to look for the cabinet pull downs. Thanks for sharing this lovely story.
Beautiful design! Could you please share the spec information on the built-in rice cooker? Love it!
What a wonderful transformation! Nice to see how they incorporated her personal items into the new space.
Amazing transformation, beautifully well done.
How sweet! Family is everything!!!!!
@Phuong Riedy, I thought that was a showstopper, too. I would like to hear from someone who has a built-in steamer like that. How’s the functionality? Are they easy to clean? What about generating all that steam with no vent to capture it? That would be a problem in my kitchen.
How beautiful. How I would love to do something like this for my Mom. God bless Olivia for doing this.
I love this make-over. It's so thoughtful and practical, as well as beautiful! Thanks for sharing.
Asian steams are becoming popular for those who don't want to go for the steamer oven route. You are getting into needing pounds of food to be steamed, not a cup or two.
Some of the brands available are:
Gaggeneau, Wolf and Miele as well as commercial brand varieties. They are generally around 12" - 15" built in steamer modules with roughly 2700 heating watts (electric). You will need a heavy duty ventilation system. Most are built in next to the cook top and/or grill sharing the overhead hood & vent system. Expect the one unit to set you back around $2500 on up.
They can be used for rice as well as fish and veggies or anything you want to steam as a built-in. More popular is the combi steam/convection ovens which have more uses and are popular in commercial food services. These are replacing the pressure steamers of old.
If one doesn't want to go into the built-in route, you can always get a counter top version which is smaller which doesn't need poundage of foods to steam but smaller portions and are a lot less expensive as they are built for the homeowners.
One that is very popular today is called Instant Pot for about $100. It is a pressure cooker which is does steam cooking.
I loved this houzz story! You know its good when it makes you cry. Loved her in that movie with SJP and now again Olivia makes me laugh. She's magic. Her mom must be so happy! Thank You for making my day.
Very touching and beautiful story of a very down to earth daughter and her family. Olivia, her mom, and step-father are delightful.
Love the three art pieces hanging on the wall by the dining table. Would you share where I can purchase them?
Great story! Great make over! Lovely family! All that talk about food, now I’m hungry!
@marjas17 asked "Curious if the refrigerator sits behind the island, if so how much distance between the stool & fridge doors?"
There is approx 48" between the fridge and the stools. I would say that is a minimum and would have liked to have closer to 60" but it was determined that the space on the other side of the kitchen (between the island and the sink wall) would be a major kitchen traffic zone and needed to be 48" as well. Our general rule is 42"+ between cabinetry in a kitchen.
Thanks for the question!
@JodieCameron asked "Does anyone have information on the flooring? Type/colour etc? Thanks!"
This is Avant Garde Taupe from Classic Tile in OKC. It is a hardwood look porcelain tile.
@motocross1 asked where the pendant lights are from (link here: https://www.houzz.com/product/87506893-visual-comfort-lighting-thomas-obrien-gale-1-light-pendant-transitional-pendant-lighting)
Hope that helps! Thanks
@yaminidesigns, llc asked for specs on the rice cooker
You can find the steamer module from Wolf on their website. www.subzero-wolf.com
She is such a cack! I was laughing all the way through
An absolute treat for moms!
I can relate to this renovation since I'm short, too. I've seen those cabinets that pull down and they're the perfect solution for us height-challenged people! Good job, good daughter!
@qwellons Thank you!
love this
I am 5' 12'' but that renovation is really cool for someone shorter!
Nice job Travis!!
So lovely and insightful!
I LOVED this video. My mom passed last year but I would have enjoyed doing this for her. Cherish mom's no matter how far you've grown apart. Find them. Appreciate them. LOVE THEM! Great video.
beautiful
So sweet! I love the family love. This space turned out amazing! So well thought out and functional. I want this kitchen :)
Awesome family!
Wow, I love how the space was totally transformed into a beautiful kitchen, great room area that was tailored to Kim’s needs! Great design Travis!
love it,,,, so beautiful.
God bless you all.