This is my kitchen as it looks today. Well, not exactly today but this photo was taken a few months ago. Love my Dutch Door we put in a few years ago. Let's the cool breezes in on a hot California day and it comes in handy when I need to vent the kitchen when cooking so the fire alarm doesn't go off down the hall!
It needs work...a lot of work but I don't have a huge budget to make it my dream kitchen right now, I can etch and etch away at it until I feel it's decent. We are the 3rd owners of this home and the cabinets were redone, I do believe pretty recent. They are sturdy and in good shape but I was not a fan of their color, it's not a bad color just not for me. They needed some "jewelry" to fancy them up a bit, the hardware so to speak.
I got my Antique Wedgewood Stove a year or so ago which made me extremely happy! My parents had an antique stove and somewhere along the lines it disappeared so I've always wanted one. When we were looking at a house to buy, sometimes I wanted to put in a bid just because of the antique stove they had in their kitchen. We need a vent over it so I don't set off the fire alarm when I'm frying up something {that's the reason the Dutch door comes in handy}. We took out the microwave above the stove because it wouldn't fit with the Wedgewood Stove but it left some holes and the wood is rough above it. The floors are all messed up so look away. We had a leak under the sink awhile ago and they are laminate floors not real wood like we have in the rest of the house. Maybe we should consider tile down the way.
So let me get to the point of my post....my inspiration to refresh my kitchen. Like I said, inch by inch I work on my cozy little kitchen. Cozy is a nice word for small isn't it? I can Check Antique stove, check Dutch Door, check petite chandelier hung and I can now check cabinets painted white and new hardware, the jewelry. {Mr. Incredible just needs to install the hardware and hang the cabinet doors and I'll be ready to show you my freshly painted kitchen cabinets} It was a lot of work...no lie but I'm glad I did it. Here are some kitchens that have inspired me in the last several years and some recently. {like Anisa Darnell's kitchen}
I must say this kitchen from For the Love of a House has always been my inspiration. I love how Joan mixes hardware and different counters tops, marble and soapstone with lots of textures from the wood floors, cool marble and aged brick. Love, love her style!!! She also has a farmhouse sink with a linen curtain under it.
My cabinets are now this crisp white which I painted Benjamin Moore's Simply White and I went with an oil-rubbed, bronzed, bin-pulls and crystal knobs. {that I bought 3 years ago, they are almost out of date!!}
I just love how they pop off the bright white cabinetry. What I think makes this kitchen special is how the farmhouse sink is the focal point by jutting out like it is and the turned legs on the each side of the sink makes a statement. Such a pretty kitchen, only in my dreams.
At one point I thought about going with polished nickel hardware, it looks crisp and clean in this kitchen with the Carrera Marble, it looks very polished and shiny!
When I saw Monika Hibbs gorgeous white kitchen with the copper kitchen aid, oh my, oh my that I did a backflip, the copper with bright white looks so good. I also love how she mixes up materials, the wood table, bamboo chairs and she has a Dutch door too, but I bet she doesn't have to open it to vent her stove! I however would like a more rustic look to mine, yes...you might say that my kitchen looks rustic already just the way it is. Not that kind of rustic...a "refined rustic" look. Humor me...please.
After seeing the combination of copper or aged brass hardware against white cabinets and I started to change my mind. I was going to exchange the oil-rubbed bronze ones I bought 3 years ago but that seemed silly since the hinges on the cabinets were bronze, so Mr. Incredible said, " I was insane again!" Me? Insane?
I might be insane but when you see Anisa Darnell's kitchen with it's mixture of metals it's just perfection!! By the way her gorgeous kitchen is in Better, Homes and Garden's April issue, no wonder she is a fabulous designer and takes things normally out of date like a 70's stone fireplace and makes it chic, go check her out. I think if we do the new counters and sink {phase II} I'll put in an aged copper or brass faucet, but don't tell Mr. Incredible he already thinks I'm insane and might commit me to the asylum. He is funny because I'll say, "let's put in a nautical fan in the man cave". He says, "what! that won't look good". But then he always comes back with "your right it does look good, that was a good idea". After all these years of marriage {almost 20} you would think he would trust me more.
Here is another look at her sink!!! Love this! You have to check out this designer if you don't already do, you'll thank me later, promise. She also has a the cutest daughters and just had a baby. Is this pretty scary I know this? Cutest family ever!
Does this image convince aged brass would look awesome with a white farmhouse sink and white counters, well Melissa at the inspired room just redid her kitchen and she did just that. Another must follow designer. Another lover of blue Hydrangeas and Dutch doors and she had two of them, lucky girl. I was thinking I needed another Dutch door as the front door and now I think two is not too greedy at all.
Now what I loved about this white kitchen is the patina on the table and those crusty lights, looks like they came off a ship. I think mixing something new with something old gives it dimension and character. The wood also warms up the space.
That's why I've always loved Heather Chadduck's Alabama kitchen. The wood ceiling and the concrete counters. I'm pretty undecided on what counters I would like. I thought concrete would be cheap but it's not it's very labor intensive.
Jojo has brought concrete to the forefront but the first place I saw it was in Heather's kitchen. I love it's rustic feel that it has along with the metal scalloped vent hood. I've been trying to convince Mr. Incredible we need a vent hood like this but he is not quite on board. I think it would accent the Wedgewood Stove perfectly...
See......perfect!! Now keep going back and forth with the backsplash materials and I'm almost 99.8% sure I'd like to go with used brick.
I think this is the right amount of white and red in the brick. Looks great with butcher block if we end up going with that because it's the most economical but if we can afford it I think I would like to go with Carrera marble or the concrete. I doubt I need to make a decision soon since Phase II won't happen until at least next year.
By that time I'll probably change my mind and want to paint my cabinets two different colors, gray and white...
Or all gray and change out the hardware! Yes....I'm committing myself!
