My Kitchen Inspiration–all of the details!

In case this is your first time here, let me catch you up a little bit.  We are working hard at renovating a 1902 Victorian home before we move in April.  When you have an 18 month old (and are almost 7 months pregnant) this is no small feat!  We’ve finally made it past (most of) the demolition phase, and are now getting into the really fun and exciting parts – making this house a home!  (Follow me on Instagram for all of the progress pictures – look up #FixingUp1902 to see how far we’ve come!)

While we will be renovating a lot of the house over time, we are gutting the existing kitchen and building our dream farmhouse kitchen.  Since we JUST did a kitchen renovation last year, we’re pretty familiar with this process, but this time we’re starting from scratch.

It’s been SO much fun picking out some amazing pieces for our kitchen, and I wanted to share all of my ideas and inspiration with you!  Since we’re planning on being in this house for a very long time (if not forever!) we wanted to save money where we could, but also invest in some pieces that would last for many years to come  I didn’t want to make it too trendy, but tried to stick with a design that I knew I could love for many many years.

First up – our design plan for the main part of the kitchen:

1. Large Central Island.  We are having an Amish cabinet maker build our cabinets.  I’m SO excited to see how they turn out!  We ended up getting a great price on them, and they’re a much higher quality than what we could get at a big box store.  We will be having a big rustic wood island with a black countertop in the middle of our kitchen.  This will account for most of the storage space in our kitchen, since we will not be having upper cabinetry. 

2. Open Shelving!  Yes, we loved it in our last kitchen, and we will install it again in this kitchen.  I know it’s controversial (see my input on it in this Good Housekeeping article) but we personally love it.

3. Lighting over the island. I ordered three of these Minimalist Copper Cage Pendants from Barn Light Electric to go over our island, and I am *dying* to see them hung up!  They’re going to look amazing, and since this is such a central part of our kitchen, I knew I wanted some beautiful lighting above the island.  These are perfect for the space!

4. Copper Sink.  I told you about how I had fallen in love with copper sinks, and I took the plunge and bought one for our kitchen.  It got shipped to our cabinet maker, so I haven’t been able to see it yet, but I can’t wait!!  Since we’re doing white cabinetry up against the wall, I love that this sink will really stand out.  Here’s the one I ended up buying.

5. Island Seating.  I’m a lover of X-back chairs, and I fell in love with these Ellendale Swivel Counter Stools from Raymour & Flanigan the minute I saw them.  The white is going to pop against the rustic wood island and dark countertop!  These will be right in the middle of our kitchen, so I knew I wanted something that was going to look beautiful and function well for our family.  My husband specifically told me that he “needed” stools that had a back – so these were perfect!

6. DIY Sliding Pantry Door. I haven’t begun to work on this yet, but it’s my goal to DIY a sliding door over our current pantry opening.  There was a space that originally housed the hearth that heated the home before there was electricity, and it will make the perfect pantry!  The whole pantry will be a DIY project in itself, and I know that adding a sliding barn door will add so much personality and character into this kitchen.

7. Retro modern fridge & appliances. I can’t tell you how excited I am about these appliances.  I wasn’t crazy about the idea of stainless appliances in a farmhouse kitchen, but I wasn’t sure what else to do.  One of the salesmen at a store told me that stainless could potentially look like a fad in 15 years, and I agree with him.  He also said that white is never truly in style, but it’s never really out of style either.  Then, one day, I was looking at The Nester’s kitchen and I fell in LOVE with her retro modern appliances.  I looked them up (worrying about a crazy price tag) and was so excited to see that they were so well priced!  We will be having the refrigerator and dishwasher from the GE Artistry series in our kitchen, and as much as I would have loved to have the adorable range & microwave, they won’t work with our kitchen design.  Our range will also be from GE, but it is a slide-in range that will go in our island.  Here’s all of the appliances in the series:

GE Artistry Series

8. Lighting Above the Sink.  This lighting was a big deal for me – we have a window above the sink, and I knew that whatever light I had in the space needed to be a knockout.  I knew I wanted something that would fit with our farmhouse design, and when I saw this Brisbane Stem Mount Pendant from Barn Light Electric I knew it was the one!  The awesome thing is, they’re completely customizable (seriously – every part of the light!) so I could make it exactly the way I wanted it to be!  The one I designed looks really similar to this picture, but has a few slight variations.  I can’t wait to see it hung above our sink!

 

On the other side of the kitchen, we will have our dining area.  I am in love with mixing new purchases with DIY pieces and antique finds.  This gives a kitchen such a collected feel, and this is exactly what I’m going for in this farmhouse kitchen:

 

1. Head chairs. I wanted stately upholstered chairs for the head of our kitchen table, and as soon as I saw these Fair Harbour Dining Chairs from Raymour & Flanigan I knew they would be perfect!  The light upholstery + wood legs + nailhead trim are just perfect!

2. Wall Clock. This is one of the decorative accents that I’m most excited about!  This large wall clock from Raymour & Flanigan is FOUR FEET in diameter, so you know it’ll have a huge impact in this kitchen!  It’ll be hung near the kitchen table, and will be able to be seen from two other rooms in the house.  I love décor that’s functional and so impactful at the same time.

3. Lighting above the table. I bought this World Market light for above the kitchen table, and I’m excited about the clean lines and classic design.  I needed something that I could swag from the existing hardwires, and this one should do that well. 

4. Farmhouse Table.  We couldn’t have a farmhouse kitchen without a big farmhouse table!  We recently bought a miter saw so we could make our first big piece of furniture!  I’m debating between two different table tutorials from Shanty 2 Chic, and we will start building soon!

5. Dining Chairs. These Jessica dining chairs from Raymour & Flanigan will be on one side of our kitchen table (I ordered 3 of them).  I love that they echo the x-backs of the counter stools we will have at the bar, but won’t actually match them.  I think these will be the seats that will be used the most at our kitchen table!

6. Vintage Pew. Help!  I am searching high and low for a vintage/antique pew to put on the other end of our table, but I’m not having any luck.  I’m not giving up…but I’m getting nervous I’m not going to find one!  I think this antique element will really tie our collected feel together.

 

Our kitchen is a total disaster right now (see this post if you don’t believe me!) but dreaming of our beautiful finished farmhouse kitchen is keeping me going!

Make sure you’re following my Pinterest board with all of my inspiration for this space – Raymour & Flanigan, Barn Light Electric and GE Appliances are all collaborating with me in adding to this board, and it’s full of great ideas!

 

 

I can’t wait to share this space with you as it transforms into our dream farmhouse kitchen!

 

A HUGE thank you to Raymour & Flanigan, GE Appliances and Barn Light Electric for contributing to this kitchen makeover.  I will be receiving products from these three companies for this project.  I genuinely love all of these companies, and can recommend the products to you with 110% confidence that you will love them too!

 

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