We moved into a new house a few months ago, and as we were building, the number one question people asked was, “What’s your kitchen going to look like??” That was a good question, and I never really had an answer. We actually didn’t plan on building a house; we were about to purchase a different house nearby, and due to some random, serendipitous events, we suddenly found ourselves starting a new build. We actually put our house together rather quickly. In a way, it was a good thing; we didn’t stress over decisions- we just sort of picked things we knew we liked and it all came together. In the end, the kitchen is one of my favorite places in our house. It’s definitely the heart of our home; where meals happen, where homework happens, where life happens. So here’s a little peek into our home. This post is crazy long as is, so I’m going to do a part 2 to tell you about the appliances I chose- because that’s the second most common question! (–> Click Here for Part 2 <–)
Picking cabinets was fairly easy; for photography purposes I knew I wanted white so it would be light and bright. I also knew I wanted a gigantic island; this one is about 9 feet long by 5 1/2 feet wide with a granite top.
I also wanted a great spot surrounded by windows to snap pics of all the food we make around here.
We picked a soft gray for the walls (Sherwin Williams ‘Sensible Hue’); it’s actually one shade darker than the gray we painted the rest of the house.
The floors are an engineered hard wood. Yes, the dark wood shows crumbs and dust much more than a lighter wood, but on the flip side, that actually makes me keep my floors clean and sweep more than once a week like at my old house. Seriously. I love the warmth the dark floors bring to the house. They also have a hand-scraped texture that adds character and makes me not care about any dings since it’s blends right in.
The cabinets are painted Sherwin Williams ‘Snow Bound’ and glazed in ‘Van Dyke’ stain for that dark highlight. I went back and forth and back and forth on whether I wanted them glazed and I’m really glad my husband, builder, and cabinet guy talked me into glazing; I love the dimension it adds and the detail it highlights. I also love the white cabinets and haven’t had any issues with them being hard to keep clean (like some people warned me about). Sometimes the cupboards we use the very most get finger prints on them, but all it takes is a quick wipe to clean them right up. I’m glad I went with white.
For contrast, we painted the island black. All of the appliances on the back-side have panel fronts on them so they look like cabinets. Hiding right there in the cabinet next to the pull-out garbage is my most favorite appliance, ever. You’re going to have to wait to see it!
When it comes to home decor I employ the same tactics as my wardrobe. Splurge on some nice expensive things, and balance out with some bargains! For example, we splurged on a granite upgrade that I loved, but found this great glass and marble backsplash tile at Costco for a fraction of what similar styles cost. I love that the clear glass has a blueish tint that goes well with all of the blue/turquoise accents in my kitchen. And the rest of my house. And my wardrobe. I have an obsession.
One thing I knew I wanted from the beginning was some metal tile. I’ve always loved it, but didn’t want to overdo it with an entire backsplash or ceiling. So I used a simple section above my stove and I love how it blends with all of the stainless steel appliances in the kitchen.
I also had the idea to do a recessed panel centered above the island. This is one of my favorite parts- and I feel cool and designer-ish for thinking of it myself, designing it out, and seeing it happen!
Metal tiles can be crazy expensive, but I special ordered these from Home Depot for about $35 per 2’x4′ panel. They have faux plastic ones for almost that much, so I think the metal is quite a steal.
Those mini chandeliers hanging over the island are from the Camilla line at Pottery Barn (which I got at a bargain during their annual lighting event). We have the large version in our entry way, and the globe light (seen later in this post) over our dining table. LOVE them.
This is me saying, “Hi everyone!” Obviously.
A lot of people in the comments have been asking to see better photos of the twig-like things sitting above my cabinets. It’s just something I picked up at Gordman’s. They’re real branches, nailed to a board and white washed. It would probably be pretty easy to make for you crafty peeps out there:
I have a few single ones as well; I just thought they were cool. I honestly stuck them up there temporarily because I wasn’t sure where I was going to put them and wanted them out of the way, and they’ve just stayed!
Back to the kitchen…
I almost did an apron front sink but decided I just wanted a nice big under-mount basin with no dividers. I love having one big, deep spot to pile in dishes and large pots and pans.
The island has chunky legs (resisting so many puns right now…) and those stools are from Ikea. We actually bought the super high ones on accident. We got them on a trip to Utah, so there was no exchanging happening.
However as it turns out they are the perfect height for the little people around here. It turned out to be such a happy accident. And adults can fit comfortably on them too, even though they feel higher than normal. We eat a lot of our meals at the island so it’s perfect.
Another thing I made sure to do was take advantage of every space available. I wanted nothing wasted. So there are big giant cabinets under the island for stowing away things I don’t access very often.
And nice deep shelves for my appliance addiction.
Even little spaces like the molding flanking the stove got put to good use
They’re hidden panels I can grab with my foot and fit about 4792 spice bottles.
Having all of the spices in there frees up tons of space in the upper cabinets.
Speaking of storage, people tend to assume I have a massive pantry, but it’s totally average-sized. I found with a large pantry at my previous house that it just got used up with storage, and I’d much rather have that space used outside the pantry. So I have a huge separate storage room nearby and tons of shelves in the garage where I can store big stuff. One thing I did do however, was make some extra tall shelves with electric outlets to keep the appliances I use regularly (like my toaster and my blender.) I have this thing with cluttered counter tops and I hate having appliances sit out. I also hate pulling things out over and over again. This has seriously been the most convenient thing. This pantry shelf (and the rest of it that you can’t see in this photo) become an extension of the kitchen that we use all the time.
I made sure to do a few cabinets with bubble glass fronts to let some of my pretties peek through- like my wedding china that finally got removed from their boxes after almost 9 years of marriage. Yes!
And my collection of blue glass.
Everything turned out as lovely as I imagined it, and for that I am happy.
Here’s the other Camilla light- the globe version. My favorite thing about this light, is that as the afternoon sun goes down and shines though the window, it casts sparkly little rainbows all over the house.
Watching my little kids chase those around is priceless.
I hope you all enjoyed the little peek into my home; I wish I could have you all sit down for dinner! Here’s a list of specs, if you have other questions, about anything, feel free to ask in the comment section!
Home Builder (In Boise, Idaho): Morgan Creek Homes
Wall Color: Sherwin Williams ‘Sensible Hue’
Cabinet Color: Sherwin Williams ‘Snow Bound’
Cabinet Glaze: Sherwin Williams ‘Van Dyke’
Granite: This same granite was called by different names in different places, but it’s most similar to “White Ice”
Metal Tile: Home Depot
Glass and Marble Backsplash: Costco find!
Flooring: Mohawk Flooring, Engineered Hardwood, Santa Ana Plank (Purchased through RC Willey)
Granite: I totally drew a blank, I’ll be back with the name of the granite!
Mini Chandeliers and Globe light: Pottery Barn, Camilla Line
Kitchen Table: World Market ‘Arcadia’
Appliances (Click Here for Details): Thermador from Orson Gygi
Lovely kitchen. I love that it feels warm and bright at the same time. I have the same blue platter you have displayed on top of your cabinets. Love it! Thanks for sharing.
What a beautiful kitchen, and such a blessing that you are young enough to really use it.
Wow! Love how big and light your kitchen is. We’re actually building a house right now and looking for backsplash for our kitchen. We loved yours! I know you said you got it at Costco, was that the one in Boise? And do you happen to have any more information on it–name? color? item #? Any other information you have would be super helpful, my Costco only has the brown tile right now 🙁 Thanks!
I’m actually pretty sure my builder bought everything they had, that’s probably why there’s none left! lol Yes, we bought it at the Boise store. It’s the exact same brand and everything as the brownish one (we actually used that one in our master bath). I don’t have any packaging or anything from it though, sorry!
I am totally obsessed with your kitchen. We are getting ready to do a remodel of ours and I’m thinking of totally copying almost everything. I was hoping to use more tan tones instead of gray. I saw the tan tiles at Costco and am so glad I read this comment because I’d love to see how they look in your bathroom. Would it be too much to ask to see a pic of the bathroom. Love everything about it. It is so funny because it is everything I never thought I’d want. I never thought I’d like white cabinets and wood floors, but I love it. Well Done!
Ashley, shoot me an email ([email protected]) and I’ll send you a pic of my bathroom 🙂
Love your ideas – especially the outlets in the pantry! Your kitchen looks beautiful!
I think you identified your second blog and book: Kitchen Design! Way to go.
This is my first time visiting your blog. Wow I have to say, I thought my kitchen was big but yours is huge and beautiful. How fun to be able to create in this environment. I love the ceilings and wish I had your slide out spice cabinets. We made the mistake of having the spices on the inside doors of our cabinets and eventually it ended up causing the doors to shift. So, I had to remove them and put the spices in a different cabinet. Very pretty and it looks qutie functional.
Dreamy! That’s all I can say. So very dreamy!!!
PLEASE do a tour of you entire home!! I’d love to see it
Oh, I was wondering how you like your Blendtec blender? And where you bought it? We haven’t put a blender on our registry yet and it seems like so many of them get that burnt smell.
I love my Blendtec. I bought mine through Bed Bath and Beyond because you can use their 20% coupon and get the best deal around.
LOVE it! I’m getting married soon, and my dream kitchen is about the same thing but I’d love to accent in pale yellows and make it all sunshine-y! My sister is throwing me a kitchen shower, and I’m really excited to get some (much) better cooking utensils and so forth. Beautiful kitchen, though, and I love the bench at your kitchen table!
So gorgeous Sara! It is such a reflection of your beauty, style and talent! The appliance pantry is genius. I feel the same way about stuff on my counters. I love everything about it 🙂
Love every bit of it. Wonderful job.
Love, Love, Love!!! I pinned it, so one day maybe I can do a kitchen just like it!!
I LOVE this! Thanks for taking us inside for the tour. I can’t wait for part 2!
Beautiful kitchen. I just bought a house and it is going to be a rental property eventually after we fix it up. I loved the color of your walls. I’ve actually been looking for a light grey to put on all our walls. You said you painted the rest of your house a lighter grey. What is the name of the lighter grey you picked?
Just one shade lighter on the same chip- the lighter shade is Sherwin Williams “Aloof”. It’s pretty light and I absolutely love it.
I LOVE it all! thanks for sharing!!!!
I can’t wait to hear about the fridge because we are in the market for a new one and we have space to get a bigger one—like yours—so please show us every detail of the inside of the fridge and tell us what you love/don’t love so far about it!!!!
Thank you!
Wow – this is simply beautiful!!
This is incredible; I just “pinned” the heck out of it so that when I get to build dream house, I can use this kitchen!
Um…can I live in your kitchen? I would totally sweep your floors everyday! Pretty please?
What I meant to say is what is the name of the color of your black paint on the island?
Love the dream kitchen! And the colors! I’m inspired. What color is the paint on your island?
Honestly I have no clue- it’s just plain ol’ black black 🙂
For someone who cooks as much as you do, you need to find and use Penzey’s spices. I have to recommend the shallot salt, French basil, and their Vietnam extra fancy cinnamon. Also, double strength vanilla is delicious if your into that kind of thing. They also make a vanilla sugar (which is kind of pricey) that goes well in recipes that only require a little bit of sugar. Just had to share! Your kitchen is LOVELY! Makes me want to cook just looking at it.
Congratulations on your kitchen:) it’s beautiful and I love the ceiling and stove back splash ~ brilliant!
Sara, your kitchen is a dream. Pretty sure I’m going to “borrow” a few of your ideas when we settle down. 😉
Wow!!! Your kitchen is stunning! Seriously! 🙂 Everything is so beautiful and put together so well. 🙂 You guys did a terrific job. I especially love your mantle, the lights you chose, your cabinets/spice rack (how cool is that?) and your little boy sitting at the island (love that island btw!). He’s so cute! Hehe Reminds me of my 2 year old son. 🙂
What a gorgeous kitchen!!! Lucky lucky girl!!! 🙂 Thanks so much for allowing us this view into your home!!! 🙂
Thanks for letting us all in your kitchen!! It looks fabulous! Can you tell me what the dimensions of your kitchen/dining room are? We are working on house plans and it can be hard to visualize the size of a room.
I absolutely love everything about your kitchen! I would love to see your floor plan, is it available somewhere online?
So I know being jealous is a bad character trait…but man am I jealous right now 🙂 beautiful!
Wow. That is a beautiful kitchen. Thanks so much for sharing the details. I love all the hidden storage and customizations you made. And the colors are just beautiful. One question–do you worry about having the spices so close to the stove? I’ve heard that heat can be bad for spices, but I don’t really know enough about it to be sure.
No Kiersten, that’s just a range top above it- my ovens are on the wall, so there’s no heat there.