Kitchen
The natural walnut drawers that flank the range offer storage for pots, pans, mixing bowls and ramekins. The drawers include user-friendly cup pulls on top for easy access. “My husband wanted monster drawers,” Caroline says. “They’re thick and strong.” The rustic drawers also offered another chance to add warmth to the room. “Whenever you’re doing a bright white kitchen, you need texture and a natural element to add timelessness,”
Rikki Snyder 5. Warm Up Your Kitchen The kitchen is so often the central gathering place of the home. Make yours more pleasant for cooks and guests alike with fresh flowers on the table, a comfy spot to sit, colorful tea towels and small speakers so you can stream music. And don’t be afraid to add color: Paint the cabinets, walls or kitchen chairs to give your room some joie de vivre.
Supporting elements. Gray subway tile brings updated classic style to the kitchen. A modern faucet, minimalist cabinet hardware, solid white quartz countertop and contemporary stools offer balance to the alder’s distressed look. Why it works. The antique quality of the clear alder, specifically its black highlights, works beautifully to complement the darker flooring and black kitchen accents. The rustic feel of the island paired with the industrial-style pendants creates an old-world feel. The clean, simple white cabinetry offers relaxed elegance and allows the alder island to be the room’s focal point.
Clear Alder for a Kitchen Island and Open Shelves Though clear alder is the same wood species as knotty alder, it’s quite different in appearance and much less rustic. It’s ideal for light or natural finishes because it has minimal color variation. Its grain patterns are subtle and straighter than other hardwoods, such as oak. This wood is a great choice if you want to accent a transitional kitchen with an aged or distressed look.
Why it works. The wood’s distinctive markings in an elegant door profile produce a look that’s formal but not precious. The overall feel is graceful with a vintage quality. Durability. Alder is one of the softest of hardwoods and is commonly referred to as a semihardwood. It registers 590 on the Janka scale, slightly above pine. Its open knots and rustic appearance can conceal everyday wear and tear.
Knotty Alder on Base Cabinets and Select Uppers Knotty alder has a distinct character defined by nicks and dents. These markings make it quite different from clear alder, which has subtler patterns. How it’s used. Savvy Interiors used knotty alder for this kitchen’s base cabinetry and on one set of upper glass cabinets. Supporting elements. Refined polished nickel cabinet pulls and quartz countertops that mimic Arabescato marble nicely juxtapose the aged appearance of the knotty alder in this kitchen.
The home’s top floor includes the living, dining and kitchen spaces, which all open to the backyard through sliding walls of glass. The remodeled kitchen features a wall of cabinets with midcentury-inspired style. “We love the clean lines of the white cabinetry,” Henig says, adding that dashes of light blue and green help enliven the space. The butcher block top on the island is made out of maple, and a raised walnut slab is a popular spot for serving appetizers or eating breakfast.
Garden Grove from Sherwin-Williams is a similar warm, dark green paint color. Tip: Don’t be too intimidated to decorate with dark colors. They can give a kitchen a homey and intimate vibe. Darker colors closer to the floor help visually ground a room. You can balance that out with a few dashes of dark elements up higher around the room. This helps move the eye around.
Here’s another dark green island, this one in a handsome rustic farmhouse-style kitchen by Field Day Studio. The generous use of dark and earthy colors provides the perfect contrast to the white wall tile. I especially like that the island cabinetry was left open and that you get a nice peek of natural wood on the inside. Because the island is so large, it could look too monolithic and heavy if it was painted solid green. Also, open shelving beneath island.
A similar color to try is Sage Garden from Behr. This particular color works nicely, as demonstrated above, when paired with warm elements such as hardwood floors and gold- or bronze-tone metallic finishes. Tip: In a mostly monochromatic space, anything painted in a different color is going to stand out. That’s why it’s important to make sure the item is worthy of the attention. In this case, the island is truly the hub of the kitchen and is therefore the right focal element.
Green
The shelves front a backsplash of elongated hex tiles.
Hope Pinc Design The style offsets various cool metals and crisp whites with warmer finishes. “Playing off the warmth of the floors and accents, we opted for brass hardware at the island as well as the light fixtures,” Pinc says.
the large "beam" shelf
open shelving
cabinets, some open/closed
sliding barn door for pantry
letters "pantry"
glass-front upper cabinetry over open shelving
freestanding shelves to fit neatly to the left of the oven.
red tile detailing shown here and used throughout the kitchen.
McCarthy was able to use the same BlueStar stove and hookups by pivoting the stove 90 degrees and fitting it perfectly into the center of the new island. “I really love being able to face my guests while I cook,” she says. Drawers on both sides of the oven hold tools and potholders, while all the open shelving below holds pots and frequently used items.
The 7-by-5½-foot island seats six and is the main gathering place of the new kitchen. A new frosted thermal-pane window softens the door that leads to the garage while allowing light in.
pegboard wall
concrete, stone, copper and granite composite sinks in darker hues of gray, bronze or black
a chiseled edge completely changes the look and feel of this kitchen.
Dining tables in the kitchen.
Oil and utensil pullouts. In another example of well-designed cabinetry, narrow pullout cabinets on both sides of the range offer space for frequently used cooking oils, as well as utensils — a nice convenience for a frequent cook.
Undersink drawer. Given the plumbing fixtures that must go beneath the kitchen sink and the fact that there isn’t much room in that space for storage, this area can feel like a dank mini-cave. This drawer has a clever cutout that gently surrounds the plumbing, making available the good, clean space while keeping the plumbing hidden.
Roll-out pantry. When drawers roll out, as they do in this English pantry cabinet, you don’t have to worry about digging behind things to find what you need. The glass drawer fronts and sides also allow maximum visibility of items in the drawers while keeping everything in place.
Pantry storage areas like this are seen in the U.K., where it is known as a larder. It often is hidden behind double cabinetry doors in the kitchen rather than being in a separate room. The doors open to a storage system with open shelves on top, spice racks on the doors and bottom drawers or bins. The shelves usually are shallow enough so everything can be seen at a glance. This larder has a pullout work surface and a tall appliance shelf as a stand mixer, turning it into a baking center as well.
The kitchen includes a drawer with a built-in charger, complete with regular and USB outlets. “It’s so nice not to have all of those devices out and dealing with cords all the time,” homeowner Jody Suden says. Drawer charging station: Docking Drawer 18
“The size, shape and material choice for the custom metal vent hood,” Garner says. “We wanted something unique that anchored a key wall but didn’t feel cluttered or overly busy. The cold-rolled steel that’s waxed and left its natural color does just that. An important consideration about using pendant lights hanging in front of the vent hood wall is contrast and scale. I want to be able to see each feature in its own right. Hence our use of the spare but branchy pendants floating in front of the dark steel.”
ability to raise the mixer
The shelves and brackets, not long like most.
Simple floating shelves, or a hutch or island with an open cabinet
Weathered Metal
To avoid having fingerprints show on the hardware, I suggest using a brushed or antiqued finish.
cup pull, shaped to be perfectly functional and not flashy. You’ll also notice latching pulls on the upper and lower cabinets, which give a historic air and satisfying click when opened and shut.
Milk Paint
A leggy furniture piece that you can see through, like this island, also helps the space feel more open, so even the most humbly sized kitchen can feel big enough to do some real home cooking.
freestanding furniture, rather than the typical built-in type of cabinets, islands and appliances you expect to see in more modern kitchen styles.
feature lighting in the toe kick
Light fixture!
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