When I first toured my home, I saw a lot of potential in the space due to its abundance of natural light, high ceilings and a friendly footprint to work with. I knew that with a little work, we could adjust the space to best fit our lifestyle.
The Renovation
Here is a photo of the original kitchen. As you can see it is a small, dark space with outdated cabinets, many different floor materials and outdated features.
I immediately knew I wanted to knock down the wall between the original kitchen and the dining room as these two spaces were both extra small. This would not only allow us to reconfigure the space to match the natural flow of the home but also allow light to flow through the kitchen.
The Design
When reconfiguring the kitchen, I knew I wanted were a large island to run parallel to the walls and minimal upper cabinets. We drew up the layout, keeping the sink in place and only needed to move the stove slightly down the wall. I decided to keep the pass-through wall that was in place in the original kitchen, in order to keep the sunlight and still create a partial divide to the new dining room. We also decided to close off an existing pantry closet and use this space as a coffee and wine bar.
Our home is surrounded by woods and nature so I loved the idea of bringing this natural feel inside when making color selections. We chose flat panel cabinets to keep a contemporary look and went with a slate stained maple for all the lowers. To create interest, and keep the room from feeling too dark, we added a second Antler color cabinet to the uppers at the coffee bar and the tall pantry cabinets. I was so happy how these colors coordinated together within the space.
For fixtures, I wanted to play off the black windows in our home and other black accents such as the black spiral staircase. So I went with black finger pulls on the lowers to keep in minimal against the maple cabinets. But I also wanted to add in stylish accent hardware so I chose long modern black and gold Amerock pulls to go on the extra large drawers that frame the oven. I carried these through with matching cabinet knobs on all the Antler cabinets so they really popped .
I loved the idea of using a veiny slab for backsplash to keep a clean simple look. This was a bit more than a typical tile backsplash but we decided to splurge there and save on the countertops by going with a coordinating flat white. In the end, I was happy with the way the backsplash stood out against the white.
For my sink, we wanted a farmhouse sink, but I also wanted to be sure it felt modern. I found this Miseno sink that has small-radius corners with a more modern feel than a traditional farmhouse sink. It's very large and fits nicely in the space.
My hood vent was custom made by my contractor and I am so happy with how it came out. We added open shelves to the left of the hood vent.
Our electrician did amazing work as well helping me with the placement of our light fixtures. I chose two pendants over the shelf and a modern statement fixture above the island. Needless to say we don't run out of light here but each serves its purpose! When I wake up early for morning coffee, I usually turn on the pendants which have a soft warm light.
The Result
The original floor plan had a formal living room, dining room, kitchen and family room. We combined the dining room and kitchen and now use the family room as our dining room, which leads to our back deck. What we love most is that each room is functional and we really use it space to the fullest. Most breakfasts are spent at the island, dinners at the dining table and evenings sitting by the fire in the living room.
You can view a reel of our transformation here.
