Kitchen Design: Part 1

Welcome to part 1 of a 2-part series on the design of my kitchen. I have some important information I want to share so I have divided it into two parts. A kitchen design is a major investment of time, money, and sanity! I hope this helps you in our own research to build your perfect kitchen.

Our journey for a new kitchen has been a long one. Like many of you, the kitchen has been on our to-do lists for many years. Ten in fact. As life takes it’s turns, there is always something coming up and the kitchen takes a back seat. When we first moved into this home 11 years ago, we weren’t actually looking for a new home. In my obsession with houses and interior design, I always browsed the current real estate sites in my area. I came upon our current home by chance, and we decided to go take a look without any intention on buying. Funny how life happens!

Upon first entry into our home, this is where you see the 1930s influence in the moldings and layout of the rooms. There is a fireplace that is not quite where I would put it if I were designing this home. But there was an immediate sense of connection and appreciation for the space. As you step further into the home, you are met with the kitchen.  Our kitchen truly is the center of our home. No pun intended. The original house ends in the kitchen, and the newer addition begins here.

The kitchen is such an important part of the home. I wanted to make sure it was a special place where we could share meals and memories. My husband is a custom builder and owner of Thorsen Construction , so all of the vendor coordination, demolition, trim work, cabinet installation, painting, plumbing, and electrics were done by his company. The kitchen design though was our own.

We are lucky in that my husband works with the best kitchen designers in the country, such as Jim Dove Design and Christopher Peacock, so he gets to see first hand what these industry trend-setters are doing.  We designed our space with inspiration from these world-class designers, but in our own unique way. Here is what we did.

Kitchen Design Inspiration

Inspiration is key to everything. Not only in our design choices in the home and in fashion, but in our career choices, our choices on where to live and how to act as a human.

One thing I cannot stress enough for kitchen design is to research, research, research! What I mean by this is, go to your sources for inspiration such as Pinterest, instagram, magazines, and save your favorites. The best way to do this is to dedicate a folder if you are using magazines, or what I do is to create a Pinterest board reserved for your inspiring photos. Save everything you love about a room. It doesn’t have to be a kitchen. It can be any room. You are going to go back through your favorites and look for trends. What colors are you drawn to? Do you love fabrics or do you prefer minimal aesthetics? Do you love color or natural wood?

Finding Your Style

Once you have gathered a good amount of inspiration photos, sit down and really look at what you have collected. Does it tell a story? Are your photos bold and full of color, or are they muted? I can tell you that I tend to like both bold and muted, bright spaces. I contradict myself. But think about how you will use the space. The kitchen is the most used room of the home. How do you want to feel there? Warm and cozy? Relaxed and upbeat? When you are drawn to only one style, the choices can be easier. But if you are like me and love a variety of spaces with different styles, you will either have to choose which you want to represent in the kitchen design, or create your own unique mix taking the parts you love most and marrying them together.

I went with a soft gray kitchen in the end. I love the lightness and serene feel it leaves me with. Plus the light gray is neutral enough to mix in any accent color. Having a neutral base allows for more fun and flexibility in your decor!

Choosing a Cabinet Style

Once you have an idea of your taste preferences, start to look at the details. These are so important for bringing your inspirations to life! Look at the the cabinets. Do you tend to like inset or overlay? If you prefer overlay, how much detail are you looking for?

Inset is definitely the trend of the moment while overlay is more traditional. However, you can take an inset style and make the room classic. I chose inset style cabinets because my inspiration board contained mostly inset kitchens. It is a style that I am most drawn to. I think my overall style however is still very much classic.

In addition to cabinets, you will have to choose your trim. This can be confusing since it’s hard to picture what the trim and the cabinets will look like together. They are sold separately. But again, refer back to your inspiration photos. Do you tend to be drawn to a simple trim? Or a more detailed trim? I chose a simple trim since ours blends up into the moulding which is more decorative.

Countertops

When it comes to countertops, I know that I am drawn towards marble. There really is nothing like the look and texture of true marble. But living with young kids, and cooking a lot, doesn’t warrant marble countertops. They are too easily stained and I’ve come to learn that I prefer ease over beauty.

Knowing that we couldn’t live in fear of marble, we decided to go with Quartz. And I have absolutely no regrets at all! Quartz is very resilient and comes as close as you can get to real looking marble. It is not prone to staining although you do need to take care when putting down hot dishes. Unlike with granite, you cannot just take a pot from the stove and place it on quartz. You will need to use a hot plate or something underneath. Countertops are by far the most important feature of a kitchen design. They can transform the mood just by the color, texture, or finish chosen.

I love this bright white quartz against my gray kitchen. The cool gray veins swirled in is a perfect match to the mood I wanted to create. Calm, quiet, and happy.

Hardware and Mixing Metals

Mixing hardware metals is a trend that I am definitely on board with. Too much of one metal can become overdone and actually stand out. Mixing metals however is easier on the eye and adds a sense of comfort. I knew I wanted to go with brass as my main hardware. I love the contrast of the warm brass with the cooler gray tone of the cabinets. A gray kitchen with warm hardware was a consistent theme I pulled from my inspiration photos.

And unless you are buying a La Cornu stove in a striking color, stainless is likely going to be in your kitchen. So my second choice in metals was already decided for me with my Viking Range.

Cabinet Hardware

Our cabinet hardware is from the Top Knobs and is in the beautiful shade of Honey bronze. We did a mix of latches, knobs, and pulls. I love the eclectic look of mixing not only metals, but knob/pull shape as well. It gives the kitchen a more nostalgic feel of a settled home. I mixed knobs with latches, pulls, and cup pulls for an eclectic yet chic look.

In addition to cabinet hardware, the others areas of metals to consider is your lighting, door hardware, and hood. We went with this beautiful mixed metal hood from CopperSmith. We couldn’t be happier with how it turned out. It is the perfect blend of our 2 metal colors. And it’s our statement piece for sure.

Door Knobs

Our door hardware takes reference to the age of our home. The glass knobs give a new kitchen an old feeling. As if it’s a part of the original house. The collection we chose is from Baldwin. The quality is amazing! In fact, we added these to our entire downstairs to keep the vintage vibe going throughout.

Faucet Hardware

For the sinks I have polished chrome faucets from Kohler. It has the slightest brass tint to it. Our main farmhouse sink is at the island, and our prep sink is under a bright window. Do we really need two sinks? It actually comes in handy as this second sink is where we have our nespresso machine. But if I’m being honest, I really just wanted the opportunity to use this cute bar faucet with the top handle. How adorable is this?

Lighting

Since we have recess lighting throughout the kitchen and connecting family room, we really only needed lighting over our second sink. As our main sink sits in the island, this lighting is more for decoration than function. This beautiful pendant was a custom make from Rejuvenation (similar lighting option). As you can see, the effect is so charming!

This concludes the first part of my kitchen design series. Stay tuned for my next post where I will focus on more of the decorative accessories that make the space truly personal. Hope you find this helpful! Just remember to keep true to yourself and what you love. That will ensure a kitchen that you are happy with for many years to come!

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