I’ve been kinda quiet on the blog lately because I’ve been working away behind the scenes planning a makeover that I couldn’t be more excited about – a renovation of our kitchen! Can you believe I’ve never had a chance to design my own kitchen before? My only kitchen design experience is the quickie remodel we did in our second house when we decided to stop renting it and sell it (you can check out that budget kitchen remodel {here}) and all of the decisions were made with resale and budget in mind. I also got to select the cabinets, countertops, etc. that went into the kitchen of our very first house but that was 15+ years ago when we were just starting out so those choices were basically made based on the design center’s answer to our recurring question of “Which one is the cheapest?” :).
While I don’t have any of my kitchen design plans set in stone yet, I’ve definitely figured out certain elements that I’d like to incorporate into our kitchen and thought it’d be fun to share those with you guys today. Luckily I have blogging friends with some seriously gorgeous kitchens to draw inspiration from – I’ve included links to their full kitchen tours so when you see one that inspires you, hop over and take a peek around their entire space. Let’s get rolling with my kitchen makeover must-haves starting with…
Open Kitchen Shelving
I know this is a kinda controversial one – you either love open shelving or you can’t imagine having it in your kitchen. While I definitely want some closed cabinetry storage, I’d love to have open shelving for the dishes and glasses that we use every day so they can easily be both grabbed and put away. And as a bonus, shelving is a great place to add some personality to your kitchen with things like art or beautiful serving pieces. Kristin’s kitchen on Bliss at Home is the perfect example of an open shelving look that I love:
I know that some people don’t like open shelving because you can’t hide your uglies like plastic cups since everything is essentially on display but seeing that my husband works for a dinnerware and glassware company, not having pretty kitchenware is one problem we don’t have in our house!
Kitchen Barstools
You guys, I miss the kitchen barstools from our old house soooo much! While we always sit around the table for dinner, I loved having barstools for quick breakfasts and lunches, especially in the mornings when it’s always a rush to get the kids off to school. And clean-up is also so easy when it’s only a few feet from where you eat to the dishwasher. My thoughts are to have three or four counter height barstools along the long end of our kitchen island like Shauna of The House of Silver Lining does in her beautiful kitchen (tour the rest of Shauna’s beautiful kitchen {here}):
White Cabinets with a Different Colored Island
It’s probably no surprise to you that I’m planning to go with white cabinetry for most of our kitchen. It’s a classic, timeless look that fits with the style of the rest of our home. But I’m toying with the idea of doing something different with the island. One option I’m thinking about is painting it a different color like the gray island in the gorgeous kitchen of my friend Erin of Sunny Side Up (you can tour her amazing kitchen {here}):
I’ve also thought of going with a natural wood finish for the kitchen island since that would fit in so well with the character of my home and I love the warmth that wood brings to a space. What do you guys think on this one?
A Sink in Our Kitchen Island
Right now, my view when I’m doing dishes at our kitchen sink is of a wall. Seriously… doing dishes is so not fun to begin with but adding the fact that you have to stare at a wall while you’re doing it is adding insult to injury. I’d love to be able to look out a window but I don’t think I’m going to be able to swing that with my kitchen layout so I’ll likely go with the next best thing and put our sink in the island. I’m not sure what type of sink I’ll chose but I’m insanely in love with the sink in Brittany of Addison’s Wonderland’s new kitchen (tour her brand new space {here}):
Isn’t it just unbelievably amazing? They had it made out of remnants from their countertop slab and I have to say that I’m pretty sure I could do dishes with a big fat smile on my face if I was doing them in that baby!
Smart Kitchen Storage
Our kitchen is a nice size but it has a few issues that make it difficult/impossible to get as much cabinet and storage space in it as we would like. First off, it’s long and narrow so we can’t have full depth cabinetry on both sides – there just isn’t enough space for that plus an island. And there are an obscene number of doorways coming off this room that also limit the wall space for cabinets – there are doors to the dining room, hall, basement, garage, laundry room, and outside! It’s the wackiness that comes when you have an old house that’s been added onto piecemeal over time. Since we’re limited in the amount of cabinet and pantry space we’ll have, smart kitchen storage is going to be key! I love this dish pantry from Heather Bullard’s amazing kitchen (you can see more details of her dish pantry {here}):
I’m considering something very similar to it with pullout shelves for our food pantry – it would make everything in the back that normally gets buried be so much more accessible. And there are all sorts of amazing cabinet designs out there now that seriously make my organization-loving heart sing! I mean seriously you guys, I get way more excited over these things than any normal person should. But tell me that you wouldn’t love to have a little nook like this for your paper towel roll?! You can get it so that the bottom door is tall and hides your paper towel roll when shut or have a shorter door like this so your roll is more easily accessible:
And oh how I’d love to have more organized kitchen utensils! Right now we have our most-used ones in a small drawer and our less-often used ones in a large drawer that is a complete dumping ground and makes it virtually impossible to find anything without several minutes of searching. This pull-out beauty is my kitchen nirvana!
I’m still not sure about the placement of our microwave in our new kitchen (right now it’s on the end of our island) but if it’s in a different spot in our new kitchen, I’d love to have this hidden message center on the end. With this sucker I think there’s an actual chance that my island wouldn’t be littered with papers on a daily basis!
You can check out more kitchen organizational eye candy {here} and {here}.
Open Kitchen Island Pendants
Right now all of the lighting in our kitchen is can lighting and I’d definitely like to change that by adding two or three pendants over our kitchen island. I love the look of cone pendants (see my inspiration and favorite cone pendants {here}) but since our kitchen has low 7 1/2 foot ceilings, I’ve decided that I need to go with lighting that’s more open and airy like these simple brass beauties in a kitchen designed by Studio McGee (see the full portfolio for this room {here}):
And by the way, that simple hood is pretty cool too – especially for a kitchen like mine with low ceilings!
A Fireplace??
This is a tough one that I’ve gone back and forth on a zillion times. We have a fireplace in our kitchen that I love – it’s super cute and quaint and a unique detail that most other kitchens don’t have:
I would never have dreamed of ripping it out until I started to work on designing our kitchen layout and realized how difficult the placement of this fireplace is for creating the best layout/design. If we remove it, we could wrap our cabinets all the way around the front end of our kitchen and have a ton more cabinet space plus we’d be able to place the sink in front of our large kitchen window and have a beautiful view to look out at. My decision on whether the fireplace will stay or go still changes on an almost daily basis but overall I’m leaning towards keeping it and just doing my best with the remaining space that I have. One of my inspirations for keeping it is Joan from The Love of a House’s kitchen (see more of this classic space {here}):
She did such a beautiful job mixing white cabinets and marble countertops with her brick fireplace – she did her kitchen years ago but it’s so timeless and classic that it could have just as easily been done a few weeks ago.
So now that you guys have seen my kitchen inspiration and thoughts, I’d love your input! What am I missing?! I’d love to know the things that you have in your kitchen that you couldn’t live without or things that are on your kitchen wish list. And what would you do about the fireplace? Would you ditch it in favor of a better kitchen design and layout or work around it? If there’s any kitchen advice you have to spill, spill away because the planning is in full swing and I want to do this baby right!
Great ideas. We just redid our kitchen from top to bottom and it is my dream. I hope you get yours too.
Marty I LOVE what you did with your kitchen – it’s pretty much unrecognizable from the “before”! I’m so glad it turned out exactly like you wanted it too!
You mentioned that you weren’t sure about how you’ll finish your island. Whether it will be painted or stained. If you have your sink in the island, may I suggest a stained wood finish? My cabinets are painted. And the only place the paint is chipping is on the cabinet door beneath the sink. It’s where I keep the dish soap & the garbage can. So it sees the most abuse. If I had to do it over again, I would have stained cabinets near the sink.
That’s such valuable advice – thanks for sharing Mary!
Hi! We just renovated our entire house and I had to design my kitchen from the ground up. Some of the things I love
1. Custom cabinets by a local fabricator weren’t as expensive as I thought they would be, and we were able to customize every inch.
2. I hid my coffee maker, toaster, & microwave in cabinets that sit on the counter. I love the look less stuff on the counters!
3. I did all the lowers in f&b lichen & the uppers and hood surround in wimbourne white. Very happy with both. Almost chickened out on the lichen, but I’m happy I went for it 🙂
4. I love my hood liner…ventahood w the magic lung
5.i chose the Koehler artifacts faucet. The pull down feature is really nice and has a power setting & a berry setting. I read some meh reviews on bridge faucets, so I decided function over form.
6.I’m crazy abt my sink! It’s the Indio by Koehler. It has a cutting board, a colander, and the protective trays in the bottom. It’s sort of split in two, but one side is smaller and you can still get a giant pot on there. It’s in the island, & I got the one w 3 holes…faucet, soap, & aid button for the garbage disposal. The holes are also in the sink instead of cut into the stone, so you have very little water collecting on the stone (esp nice with the sink in the island).
7. I chose all drawers over cabinets for the lowers and it’s Great! So much storage!
8. I bought a five star brand range. Check them out…a little under the radar but mearly 1/2 the price of Viking. I saved $1500 by going w open burners, and I think it’s actually easier to clean this way. I got the white enamel finish w brass accents b/c I’m so tired of polishing stainless steel. It still has some ss but much less.
I did end up going with marble counters. They are beautiful, and I would do it over again, but I have to watch my husband as he isn’t the best at wiping up spills. I would seriously advise against a marble sink though. It’s going to stain quickly and won’t wear as well as the counters. Also, i had the marble honed, so I am not having to worry about etching. i like how it feels more casual as well.
Good luck with the planning! It’s so exciting planning a big project like this!
Ellen you are so awesome to take the time to share all of your kitchen favorites – this is priceless info! Thank you!
Hello! Love the article and these tips. As for the marble issue, I was also worried about maintenance when we were remodeling our kitchen so I ended up going with a quartz option- it’s perfect! I knew I wanted the marbled look and there are many options out there, so I went with Ceaserstone’s Statuario Maximus. It’s easy to clean with just soap and water so you don’t have to worry about your husband staining it!
I’m definitely looking to Caesarstone so I’m glad to have to name of the one you used and liked – there are so many options!!
I’m definitely looking into Caesarstone so I’m glad to have the name of the one you used and liked – there are so many options!!
Such a fun post Kris! And so sweet of you to use a pic of my kitchen in your round-up! I seriously CAN’T WAIT to see how your kitchen turns out! Man.. I can see why you are torn on the fireplace issue. I think I’d keep it! It really is so unique and charming. We need to chat on the phone before you finalize everything. I have so many cool organizational features in my kitchen (that I still need to blog about.. ha!). Maybe a few ideas for you to consider. I wish you could just come over! I also wish I would have done the paper towel thing! That just made my heart sing. 🙂 xo
Yes!!! I could definitely use the advice of my organizational guru before making any final decisions! I would be thrilled if my kitchen turned out half as beautiful as yours!
Oh my gosh Kris!!! So exciting!!!!! I have so many thoughts on this matter after having two nice kitchens and then redesigning my current kitchen in my head for 7 straight years 🙂 I agree with Mary on considering having your trash & sink in a cabinet that is stained and not painted. I have repainted the white cabinet under our sink that has the pull out trash so many times. The one thing I really miss and will do in my next kitchen is have a big, good quality stainless steel sink that can take a beating with pots and pans, can be scrubbed and is low maintenance. I love your seating area by the fireplace but I see your dilemma on keeping it – it offers such valuable real estate for storage! Are you keeping your floor? So many decisions to make! Can’t wait to watch it all unfold!
Lisa it’s so funny because my daughters have a stained bath vanity and it shows a lot of wear on the cabinet doors where you open them and I’ve been thinking how much better it would be if they were painted because it would be easy to touch up – the grass is always greener – ha! I’ve decided to replace my floors – I’m going with a classic white/marble (esque) look that just wont’ work with those orange floors and they’re in too bad of shape to mess with painting them. We’ll have to chat sometime about kitchens – when are you starting in on yours??
Keep the fireplace! Such a unique and inviting area for a kitchen.
Thanks Karen – I’m going to try! 🙂
What great news!!! I love your thoughts and inspiration for your kitchen renovation . The only two things that I could add and suggest are the soft close for drawers/doors and input soap. Those are very helpfull in my kitchen . Good luck ❤️
Thank you so much! I’ve never had soft close doors but my friends who have them love them!
Kris, this is SO exciting! I love every single one of these inspiration photos and I know whatever you choose will be beautiful! Our perimeter cabinets are white and our island is wood tone which I am very happy about. The island gets the most use and I think the wood will hold up better. I had a hard time placing my microwave as well but I am glad we put it in a spot where there is counter space below it. It’s convenient for us to be able to take the plate out and place it right on the counter. I also went with two pull out garbage cans. One is in the island on the end closest to the kitchen table and the other is to the right of the sink. The sink one makes it so easy to clear plates right after dinner. We also have a recycling bin behind the main garbage. We also used two glass-less pendant lights over the island and I have been so happy with them! I took forever committing to the placement of things but overall I am happy.
Good luck with all of your decisions. Can’t wait to watch the progress!
Shelley
Shelley, thank you so much for comment! I never thought about placement of the garbage can but I can totally see how having it by the sink would be great! Love that input (and love your kitchen!!).
Hello,
I think you should keep the fireplace and maybe paint the bricks (with Chalk Paint)? (I’m a fan…) That’s what I did for the fireplace in my bedroom and it looks very good.
As for the floor covering, maybe it’s not the style for your kitchen, but I LOVE the cork floor we had installed 2 years ago in the kitchen of our house built in 1910.
It required some preparation work, for instance sanding a new subfloor until it was the smoothest and making sure it was perfectly levelled (which is tough in an old house). Then the contractor sanded it a little bit again just to make sure.
Even the 3 architects in our family were a little surprised by our choice, but liked the results. I think they thought cork was mostly for businesses.
The floor never looks dirty; it is comfy and is warm for bare feet, as compared to the terracotta tiles we had before.
Plus, it’s eco-friendly as the cork taken on trees is renewable and it always has been.
I can’t wait to see your new kitchen!
I had never thought of cork but I will definitely look into it hearing how much you love it – thank you!!
I love your ideas! I am also designing our new kitchen and share some of your same thoughts. I don’t know if you have a dedicated beverage area but I am putting a deeper top drawer in for coffee mugs and coffee pods etc. below the coffee maker. I’m also putting in pullout cubbies for liquor bottles so I too don’t need to dig to the back of a cabinet to mix my guests a drink. Lastly, you showed the pull out utensil holder. I’m going to do the same thing but on the other side of the stove I’m doing a pullout spice rack and the bottom is for taller bottles like olive oil, coconut oil etc. Hope this helps! Good luck on your dream kitchen.
Marianna those are all amazing ideas!! Especially the pull-out spice rack – finding the right spice in my kitchen is like a ten minute affair – they’re all crowded and stacked in the most unorganized of ways!!
Check out the Blanco Silgranite sinks. They resist staining chipping and scratching and they’re durable & fade resistant. We’ve had ours for 10 years and it take a beating and still looks great.
That’s great to know that you love your Blanco Silgranite sink – I actually saw those at a home show early last year and thought they were so cool!
Some great ideas that you’ve gathered. I would definitely keep your fireplace!
Thanks so much for your input Susan!
I think u should consider whether you use the fireplace and/or love it enough to keep it in place of more storage ( does anyone ever have enough?), and a better layout for your kitchen. Also, for resale value, I think the cabinets will sell better than an oddly placed fireplace.
I so appreciate your input Sherry – we only use it a few times a year so that’s one of the reasons I’m thinking about taking it out. Such a hard decision!
I think you’ve done homework for many of us. I especially love the pull out shelves and know that I will plan on that if we remodel. I’m really on the fence about open shelving..it can look so tempting when done right.
Good luck. It will be fun to follow along.
xo,
Karen
Thank you Karen! Considering how crammed full of stuff my cabinets are, having the pull out shelves seems pretty dreamy!
Find a way to keep the fireplace-it’s such a unique feature. I’m currently dreaming about remodeling the kitchen but realistically it will be a few years so I will eagerly be following your progress. Your description of all the doorways made me laugh. I have what I call the “let’s make a deal kitchen”. As a joke I was thinking I should stencil numbers on all the doors.
Oh my gosh Sue – that is hysterical! We have so many that the bulk of my storage is going to have to be in the island itself – so crazy!
I”ve never seen the paper towel/trash combo before- brilliant! Can’t wait to see your progress
Thanks Debra – I’m totally smitten by that feature too!
I also used the blanco silgranite sink when I redid our kitchen 1 1/2 years ago. Went with the large single sink and absolutely love it. The drain/disposal is on the right side and you can easily wash dishes and have plenty of room for pans, etc on the other side. I will never go back to a divided sink. It is so easy to keep clean. I can’t wait to see what you do to your kitchen.
Thanks so much for the input Laura! I had a few other people mention Blanco’s Silgranite sink too – I will definitely look into that! And I’m with you on the divided sink – I have a single basin in our current house and will never go back to a divided one again!
Where do you put your dishes to dry if you have one sink???
Chrissy I actually never air dry dishes – I always dry them off with a towel and put them away right after washing. I’m a little neurotic about having a clean, empty sink 🙂
They are all so good and how lucky are you that your hubby works for a dinnerware company. This is a dream kitchen in the making for sure
Thanks Julia! Yes, his current job definitely has more perks than some of his past ones – especially the one where he worked on Pepto Bismol – lol!
I have a pull out pantry and love It! It took up less room than a walk in but still holds a ton. Also my very favorite feature of my kitchen is the large pull out drawers underneath my island. It holds all my everyday dishes and is directly across from the dishwasher. So easy for setting tables and putting away clean dishes!
Thank you so much for sharing Debra – such great advice!!!
How exciting! Please post photos of your current kitchen. I don’t know where you are starting from. I recommend doing a thorough purge of your cabinet and drawer content now so you know what you really need for storage. Have fun planning!
A pre-renovation purge is a great idea! I’ll be posting pics of my current kitchen on the blog soon!
You should really think about doing the island in a natural wood. Yes, it does go with your house’s style and feel. Plus it just breaks up all of the painted surfaces in a kitchen. I remodeled my kitchen over a year ago and just love my white kitchen and dark stained island. I also did the surface of the island different from the rest of the kitchen counters.
I don’t have a blog, just design posts on instagram. Good luck! Love your blog.
Thank you so much for your input! I agree that a natural wood island would be beautiful and such a good point about breaking things up!
Hi Kris,
When planning our new kitchen I was convinced I wanted the big Thermador gas stove…at the ninth hour my husband convinced me to go with an induction cooktop and built-in oven. I’m so glad I did! I’m a bit of a clean freak and for me this was definitely a good way to go. It cleans up beautifully with very little effort and always looks brand new. Cooking with induction is amazing with so much heat control.
Just something else for you to ponder!
Joanie, I really needed to hear this – thank you! Induction is something I’ve been toying with because honestly I’m no gourmet cook and boil water for pasta more than anything else – lol! I’m glad to hear about the heat control being great too – that was one thing I was unsure about!
me too on the induction. glad to hear a testimonial in favor of it. I am in the process of a total house gut. oh my stars so many decisions. But i decided to do the induction. this is my forever home and i just don’t see myself hoisting those dirty grates out of there to clean when I’m 70…not that far away for me actually. love the look of the range top…when it’s brand new. not so much with years of use. I’m a clean freak as well. just want it to look clean and be easy to clean. My friend is a professional baker…go check out her AMAZING skills on insta at kakedbykatie. anyway…she only cooks with induction. and every appliance person i have spoken with swears by it. the control of gas with the clean of electric.
So great to know – thank you for commenting!!
Hi Kris,
Loving your blog. Are you keeping the fireplace? I definitely would… you’ll have a “hearth room” which is a classic farmhouse feature that will set your kitchen apart. You can always add or relocate a window if you require one above the sink, no? As for induction cooking… I have not one but two Viking gas ranges, big fan, have always loved them. But during a renov I was forced to “temporarily” use an inexpensive single induction burner, which worked beautifully with my All Clad cookware. I AM NOW HOOKED! As another reader commented, cleanup is effortless, heat control is amazing, and it is 100% consistent. You can find induction range and cooktop options at all price points, including high-end US and European brands. It’s easy to try out before you invest: a portable induction burner at Bed Bath Beyond is less than $90… and even if you decide against induction, it will be handy for parties and holidays when an extra burner is needed, or out on the deck to supplement the BBQ grill — just a suggestion:) Good luck! xx
Thanks so much for the info Dee – I still am going back and forth on the fireplace almost daily – such a hard decision! Thank you so so much for the info about induction cooktops – I had no idea that they have portable ones!!
Hey , as great as ur fireplace looks I think u should go along with the better layout .
Have u considered one of those electric fireplaces , clean and modern looking , Candice Olson uses them a lot in her makeover designing .You could place it almost anywhere else , this is just a thought as I live in beautiful sunny Jamaica (LOL)
Thank you for sharing such elegant images.
Thank you so much for your input and suggestion! Jamaica would be such an amazing place to live!
Awesome, You put the great ideas for my kitchen inspiration, “smart kitchen storage” i like it..
I love it and keep up sharing your great ideas.
I LOVE the counter height chairs in the picture of the island lighting and view of hood. What brand, style?
Karen, that’s not an image from my house so I don’t know the source. However, if you go over to The House of Silver lining (there’s a direct link there under the picture), I’m sure you could find sources!
I DID find the source, Ballard Designs, and am in love! Thank you so much for pointing me in the right direction. Love your Blog!
I just don’t understand why you would want to put your paper towels near your GARBAGE, even in the same cabinet as suggested here. How gross!
Great list! I definitely agree with white cabinets (and the vaulted ceiling in that picture is amazing). For me I would add a farmhouse sink and I may be weird but I like seeing the stove top built into the center island. Thanks for sharing!
I’m all about the farmhouse sinks too Marsha! Glad you enjoyed the post!
I just linked here from your current post but wanted to share a couple of things with you. We redid our kitchen a couple years back and I agree wholeheartedly with everyone that said to put drawers in your lower cabinets whereever you can. We put them in almost every cabinet, and they hold SO much more and you can see everything so well. We even went back a few months after completion and had our contractor change out our pantry and put two drawers in the bottom for all the kids’ snacks. Don’t do the paper towel thing – I’ve never seen it outside of pinterest and it wastes a whole drawer! And the one thing that I couldn’t live without in our kitchen is a seemingly silly little thing….but I love it. An instant hot water faucet at the sink. I use this thing ALL the time. It makes making hot tea and hot chocolate SO easy. And I even use it to fill pots for boiling pasta 🙂 Can’t wait to see your kitchen as you go through the reno! What fun!
Lisa that hot water faucet sounds amazing! And I’ve got lots of drawers – so excited about that and all of the additional storage space I’ll have! Thanks so much for sharing!!
Oh you hit home with the two drawer utensils! I have those as well. We bought our 1930 home almost a year ago now, took out a wall and redid all the floors. My husband just ripped out the cabinets and now I am trying to fig out what goes in what spot while trying to keep in mind renovations we plan on doing in the future. I currently have a small kitchen, L shape, that I may b adding an island to in the future , but, for now I’m sanding , priming and painting the current cabinets after hubby does some adjustments. I have hard wood everywhere and we r keeping most of it, but, my kitchen, my way!! Light grey cabinets on the wall with an open shelf on top all the way around the L, my floor I did a grey wash on it due to many issues, but love it, a royal type blue on the bottom cabinets, black iron fixtures, a black iron pendant light over my sink , and my black iron pot hanger from the ceiling. Wish I could put some pictures on and get some feedback on the ideas, doing this ourselves is nerve racking!! Our house is quirky in its salt box shape with three different additions from different years, but that was why we loved it! We could make it ours and doing it ourselves is the funnest with great bonding time for hubby and I.
Tracey, what a fun project! What you have planned sounds amazing and I absolutely love that you and your husband are having fun doing this project together!!
I see there hasn’t been a comment since 2017 and I stumbled on your blog as I’m googling “must haves” for new kitchens, kitchen organization, kitchen remodeling etc. I’m agreeing with almost all your ideas and seems we have such similar tastes in kitchen and design. I never write on blogs or comment but I am laughing because I took a screenshot of your fireplace in your kitchen you posted that you are torn with removing or not. I screenshot it because I now find myself wanting to add this fireplace to my kitchen!!! I’m thinking it’s a perfect unique character feature of your home but is also a perfect brick pizza oven for my home next to my cozy banquette seating! Haha. Being that this was last years blog I am very curious on what you have done with your fireplace and kitchen, for that matter, since we are in 2018. Or you may be like me and still trapped in the planning stages that seem to last forever!
I loved the look of the fireplace too but it was just too limiting for our kitchen design! You can check out the final kitchen reveal here: https://www.drivenbydecor.com/gray-white-kitchen-remodel/