Our Kitchen Design

I’m so excited to finally share the heart of our home with you all! The open concept kitchen and family room is where we plan to spend most of our time, and I am thrilled with how the design turned out. When I set out to design the kitchen, I wanted it to be equal parts functional and beautiful. I want the kitchen to feel current, but I was very intentional in making design decisions that leaned more classic, not trendy. The kitchen is a very expensive and frustrating room to remodel (we did a complete kitchen remodel in our last home), so I tried to make selections that would stand the test of time. I spent countless hours planning the space and overall flow; thinking about what items we would use in the kitchen, how we would store them and how to make it all pretty. It was important to me that this felt like a unique space – a little different than anything else I had seen on instagram. I wanted to incorporate various elements I had been inspired by, but also make it completely my own. Having previously worked in the design trade, the aesthetics were very important to me, but because we both like to cook in and use our kitchen daily…I spent just as much or more time planning functionality. Even though we had a general layout established during the architectural phase, I knew that I needed help with more detailed CAD drawings that could bring this vision to life. I worked with Christina Garcia of Layered Dimensions to design the cabinetry and solidify the overall layout and dimensions. Her early drawings served as a guide as we worked our way through the process.

I continued to play with the design and details and it wasn’t until just recently that I honed in on my final selections such as lighting, hardware and counters. This kitchen has definitely been a long time in the making, and it was so fun to see the final vision come to life through the work of my talented friend Jane Gianerelli who created this hand drawn rendering for me. When Jane creates a rendering, she consults the drawings and incorporates the actual selections and colors. She analyzes links to furniture, fixtures and more. I don’t know how she does it all so precisely – it’s actual magic! In the process of submitting everything to her, it forces me to make sure I have considered it all and I am confident in my decisions! The end result always takes my breath away.

For those of you interested in my process and more details on how I came to the final design…read on for a complete breakdown:

Space planning: We love to entertain and host holidays and parties for our family and friends. Chris and I also love food and enjoy cooking and baking delicious meals and desserts. When coming up with the design, we really thought through how we would use our kitchen on a daily basis and for special occasions. We have lived in a few different homes together, so there were things that we knew we liked and things on our wishlist. We started the process with the architect, and I had pictures that depicted the layout I wanted that helped take the initial guess work out of it. We chose 12 foot ceilings to create a really grand and spacious feel. It’s hard to tell in pictures, but the taller ceilings have a huge impact on the space and make it feel very large and open. Because of the ceiling height and space planning, I have a feeling that even when our kitchen is packed with guests it will never feel overcrowded.

From there, we discussed the other items on our wishlist and figured out how to make it all work. I dreamt of a large window over a farmhouse sink, flanked by two dishwashers. I did not want my main kitchen sink on the island (as I have previously had) but I wanted a true “prep island” with a smaller sink to wash veggies and use while cooking. I like keeping the main sink that you wash dishes in off to the side, next to the view outside the window. Having one oversized island is really popular, but I opted for two islands because I wanted to create separation from where the food prep is happening and where my guests congregate. We are often cooking holiday meals and I like to set out appetizers. I never liked that I was finishing the meal or washing dishes over the top of the food I was serving or right next to my guests as they sit at the counter. I like that the double island creates that buffer, and allows for a whole island that is not a wet surface and perfect for kids to do homework on. It also created an abundance of storage.

From a design perspective, having two islands allowed us to create two different looks on each island. On the prep island, the butcher block piece and X trim details are more classic, and the waterfall edge on the second island is more modern and sleek. The first island is also the “workhorse” of the kitchen and contains the trash pullout, pull-out cutting board and paper towel drawer. The second island is just pretty and full of drawers and a beautiful space for displaying decor items. Notice that my prep sink is all the way over to one side as opposed to the middle. I like this because it allows you to use the whole space instead of breaking up your island. In my opinion, one larger work surface is more functional than 2 smaller ones. Think rolling out Christmas cookies!

Design Selections: For the last several years, the all white kitchen has been everywhere. I really like classic white kitchens, but I wanted to bring in a little variation and warmth, hence the white oak accent cabinetry. I chose a soft white paint color for all the other cabinetry. Last minute the other day, I decided to paint the sweet little dutch door blue to tie in with the pantry cabinetry that will also be painted blue. I love the touch of color.

I created this design concept to help me visualize all the selections I was playing with in the space. Your design concept can be a live document that you tweak and try things in as you go throughout the process. If you are considering a few different light fixtures, pop them into your concept to see which you like more with the other selections.

My original inspiration called for a vent hood with brass strapping, but as my design evolved, I sought out something a little less “glam” and a little more French Provincial. I love that the marble band I designed for around the bottom of the hood is more subtle in a way but still an elevated and unique look.

We chose to take a chance on real marble counters and backsplash. I wanted authentic stone in my kitchen because it has a more French feel. If you know me, you know that I love Paris and consider it my home away from home. That quote by Gertrude Stein “America is my country and Paris is my hometown”..yeah that’s me in a nutshell. I wouldn’t call my home a French style by any means, but there are definitely French influences throughout. I wanted marble in my kitchen that reminded me of the Parisian cafe tabletops and old French Brasseries that Hemingway once sat in. Or the authentic kind of kitchen that Joanna Gaines cooks from. I am typically a type A personality and perfectionist that would be driven crazy by etching, but I do think that a little patina adds character and I am willing to overlook that in order to get the overall vibe I’m going for. I will delve into this topic fully when I discuss the countertop selection process in a future blog post.

Also, the slab backsplash was a must for me. Back to that whole “I don’t want to have to remodel my kitchen for a very long time” thing. I think that tile styles and trends change over the years. I may get tired of something I love right now and in my kitchen I wanted something simple, sleek and timeless for my backsplash. It’s unlikely that I will ever have the urge to rip out a marble slab because it’s outdated. And for my husband’s sake, let’s hope that’s true 🙂

We chose to go with 2 pendants over each of the islands. I initially liked another lantern style but I started to see it in different spaces on instagram, and I tend to burn out on something if I see it too much. Although I still love the light, I was afraid to commit to it X 4 for our pendants over the islands. I ended up putting it in our pantry over my mom desk area and went with something that I felt was a little more traditional and timeless. I love that the gold finish ties in with the brass on the French range. On the left is the original pendant that will hang in the pantry and on the right is the final choice for over the islands.

The La Cornue French range, although hard to see from the viewpoint in the rendering, it is the showpiece of the kitchen. It’s something I knew I wanted from the very beginning. I love that it has mixed metals on it and we were able to use that as a jumping off point to mix metals throughout the space. I think your range selection is one of the more important selections you will make in your kitchen. It truly sets the tone for the design.

Plumbing Fixtures and Hardware: This is often referred to as the jewelry of the kitchen. Deciding which type of fixtures you will use is a big component in your design. For me, the functionality of the fixtures played a big role in my decision because I wanted touch faucets. I know, I know, most designers care more about having beautiful, fancy fixtures with living finishes….but years ago I fell in love with having a touch faucet in my kitchen and my life was changed! Haha. It really was a total game changer for me, and even though my plumbing gal tried to talk me out of it for aesthetic reasons, I like the combination of the higher-end Brizo touch faucet’s look and its ease of use. For consistency, we put the larger version at the main sink and a smaller version of the same touch faucet at the prep sink. I love not having to turn on the faucet with our dirty hands. You can just touch it with the back of a hand or even your elbow! In fact I also put a touch faucet in the utility/craft room where we will be working on projects and might have paint on our hands. It saves a lot of water because it’s so easy to turn on and off. I find that while doing dishes, instead of letting the water run constantly we turned it off more in between. We got so used to having a touch faucet in our last home that for a while we went around tapping faucets everywhere expecting them to turn on! I chose polished nickel for the faucets and pot filler, but mixed in brass lighting and hardware.

This is going to sound a bit crazy but I actually have 6 different hardware styles throughout the kitchen and breakfast nook! Then I broke all the rules and did 2 different finishes. The gold hardware on the white cabinetry is unlacquered brass which patinas over time, and on the white oak cabinets I did polished nickel because I really liked the silver tone against the wood.

Appliances: Appliance selections are a big part of the kitchen and their placement determines the overall functionality of the space and how you will move and operate in your kitchen. A lot of people building homes or remodeling an entire kitchen, opt to buy what they call an “appliance package” through one main brand. For example, you might want the sub zero/wolf line and if you buy all your appliances from that one brand, you will get a package discount. Because we did the French range, we couldn’t do a package so we decided to cherry pick our favorite appliances from each category. Since we decided to panel our fridge and dishwashers anyway, it didn’t matter if they were the same brand across the board. I think it actually came out better for us choosing what we wanted and wasn’t any more expensive. Here’s what we chose:

Ovens/Microwave: As mentioned previously, we started with the La Cornue French range which is the centerpiece of the kitchen. It has a gas cooktop and a double oven. To be completely honest, I chose it for looks and I have never used a French oven before. I am excited about learning to cook with it (I’m sure over time I will love it), but I also wanted a more modern oven with all the tech savvy features for everyday use in the walk-in pantry. We purchased the Cafe appliance line for both the pantry oven and the “microwave” that can be used as a 5-in-one oven. I loved the look and all the features of these appliances. Therefore, we will have a total of 4 ovens (3 normal and one smaller) which will be wonderful when we cook large meals with lots of sides.

Refrigerator: Fisher and Paykal. I looked at all the built-in fridges there ever could be and kept coming back to this one. I love the way the inside looks and how sleek and completely integrated their flush built-in was. My personal opinion is that this is the best fridge brand. It’s also priced pretty well, so it was a win-win. We didn’t do a water feature in the fridge because we will have a reverse osmosis drinking water faucet at the sink and a separate ice maker in our bar. It’s one less thing to break in the fridge and gives it a sleeker look.

Dishwashers: We love the Kitchen-Aid brand for dishwashers specifically. Even the appliance expert told us it was his favorite over other higher-end brands like Bosch and Miele. I like the way the inside is laid out and they are known for how quiet they are.

Built-in Coffee Maker: This was a dream item and we decided to go for it since it needed to be hard plumbed and would be difficult to add later. This machine is basically like having a Starbucks in your home and grinds the coffee beans for you, steams the milk, etc. I don’t even really drink coffee, but Chris and everyone in my family loves it. I wanted to say good bye to buying pods for certain machines or cleaning up coffee stains on the counter. This is literally coffee making heaven. My motto is that if you use something everyday that makes your life easier, it’s worth the extra investment in the long run. I wanted this Miele coffee maker in white and I’m so in love with the look, so I didn’t want to hide it away. I also wanted it to be very accessible so that guests can make themselves a coffee to their liking. I put it in a spot that was the perfect height and easy to get to. I love the little storage cubby underneath for coffee essentials, cookbooks and decorative items.

Organization & Storage: I plan to do an entire video tour of all things cabinetry details and organization in our kitchen, but here are a few things we thought about and implemented into the design:

• A trash can pull-out on the prep island
• Pull-out cutting board and paper towel drawer next to prep sink
• Pull-out spice and utensil holders placed next to the stove.
• Appliance cabinets (the white oak cabinets) with outlets inside for things like an air fryer, toaster, blender.
• Built-in drawer dividers
• Tupperware Pullout Storage
• Outlets for charging drawers

Ok guys, that’s all for now! I’m sure I could go on and on but if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments!