Heart Of Our Home | Kitchen Update

Like so many people, when we were looking at houses, the kitchen was one of the most important aspects to me. I wanted a casual, eat-in kitchen environment that would double as a great space to entertain. I wanted our kitchen to be inviting, cozy, and still modern and chic.

When we walked into our new home, the kitchen was not that. It had good bones, the previous owners had removed the wall separating the dining room and small galley kitchen, but it left the space feeling disconnected.

I wasn’t crazy about the cabinets (felt too traditional for me…) or the backsplash color (green glass..) but we made the decision to keep the style instead of starting over. We removed the makeshift breakfast bar, all shelving, and lighting and prepared the space for additional cabinetry around the refrigerator. The goal was to create more counter space and storage, all while connecting the two former rooms. The new woodwork around the refrigerator would add a full sized pantry, upper and lower cabinets, drawers, and a custom Boos butcher block counter top — the perfect space for all my cheese board creations.

We selected a large, modern dining kitchen table, that would span the space and have enough room to host larger dinner parties for up to 10 people. While the cabinets were going to keep traditional, that meant I needed to update the other pieces to my modern, simple liking, but I needed to be careful to avoid a clash of design.

We decided to keep the palette neutral (no surprise there..) with Modern Grey by Sherwin Williams on the walls, light walnut wood, white marble accessories and black hardware + fixtures. I felt this would update the traditional feel, without looking out of place in the classic home.

Above the table, we selected a mid-century modern chandelier from West Elm, which turned out to be one of my favorite things about the kitchen.

I couldn’t be happier with the finished product — we have already hosted 3 dinner parties, in the 3 weeks it’s been complete…