Lately, I know things have seemed pretty quiet on the home front since we’re currently in between projects and trying desperately to get our barrings back after the 17,000 gallons of white paint we used to paint the main living area. (that was insane)
Since our walls are finally the right color and our home finally feels like its headed in the right direction we can now move on to other more important projects that still need to be done such as our kitchen, dining room, bathrooms and one little girl’s room!
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Heres a look at our kitchen, it still looks the exact same way it did the day we closed, two-toned cabinets and all!
There are tons of things we would like to change but we have been so focused on making the rest of our home look presentable that we haven’t even begun to start on this baby… but the time has come!
We’ve been throwing ideas around about our kitchen and dining room for the past few weeks and I honestly just don’t know which one we should tear into first. Our kitchen is a giant can of worms that I have been putting off opening pretty much since we moved in, there are so many things that need to be done in the space and I need to sit down and figure out the exact design and finishes we will be going with as well as the total cost for the project.
Since we will be doing this in the most budget-friendly way possible I will need to pay extra attention when choosing the design elements and finishes.
Kitchen renovations are a huge deal and can quickly get away from you if you aren’t careful. That’s why its so important to have everything planned out down to the smallest detail to try to prevent any expense overages.
The layout of our kitchen really can’t change, as much as I would love to have an open concept space taking out the built-ins and fireplace is just not something we’re prepared to do at this point and I honestly don’t think it would make financial sense for the house. But just because the layout isn’t going to change doesn’t mean we can’t have a beautiful kitchen.
Current Kitchen Layout
Our kitchen has the typical galley kitchen layout, we have thought about doing some demo to the wall of built-ins and fireplace that separate the kitchen and living room and although it would give us a completely open floor plan due to the shape of our home I’m just not sure that would be the best solution.
- Filling in the oak wood grain on cabinet boxes.
- Updating countertops
- Working with our existing cabinet boxes.
- Replacing the cabinet doors.
- Updating all cabinet hardware.
- Add pot filler
- Remove arched brick over the stove to allow ventilation to the outside.
- Add venting above the stove that actually goes outside. (our current kitchen has no vent and its awful smelling last nights taco dinner when you come in)
- Adding a custom hood vent.
- Either running the cabinets to the ceiling or ditching them and adding open shelving.
- Reworking the small pantry to give us the best use of the space.
- Replacing the current electric stove with gas.
- Choose the flooring for the entire main area (although this will be a different project for a different time the color choices still need to be made now)
- Update recessed lighting
Modern Farmhouse Kitchen Elements
If you’re a new reader here we are currently transitioning our home to a modern farmhouse feel and in keeping with that, I want our kitchen to be a space that works for us, not some fancy space that we’re scared to get dirty but a space that has simple classic finishes but still looks amazing. Think the clean lines of a modern space and the workability of a farmhouse kitchen.
When people hear modern farmhouse they often lean toward the chippy paint, lettered signs and frills of farmhouse past but the true elements of today’s modern farmhouse are actually none of those things and I think that’s why I’ve fallen head over hills in love with it.
Think natural wood tones, earthy elements, white walls, modern clean lines, lots of texture and most importantly durability. The idea is to use all of these elements in their simplest form because, at the end of the day, the actual job of a farmhouse is for it to work for you and not the other way around.
It seems the older I get the more I crave practical and simple decor although I used to think that a kitchen decked to the nines was something that I would love to have, my heart now craves something that will last a lifetime instead.
Our Inspiration
Dining Room Plans
Since our dining room is open to our kitchen I felt it only right to include it and although the dining room is really just a shell, the layout is rather awkward and I would like to make the best use of the space.
The current plan is to swap out the rectangle dining room table for a round table and possibly add banquette seating along the wall, recenter the electrical for lighting and add a few pillows to cushion the back of the banquette.
Angling the space toward the double sided fireplace would make this a feature that I believe would finally get some use in the space instead of just being in the way.
Since I pretty much know what the plan is for this space I am hoping to start building the round dining table very soon, I am thinking something like this with our new dining chairs will be perfect in the space.
Sometimes it can be hard to see the forest for the trees when you’re renovating and instead of jerking down walls sometimes its best to take a step back, get your head right and make some plans and that’s exactly what we’re doing but we will be sure to let you guys in on our design plans as soon as we have them all finalized.
If you’re currently in the process of renovating your own home I would love to hear about what you struggle with the most when it comes to the reno/ decorating process, let me know in the comments below.
First off I really like the chosen topic “KITCHEN RENO: OUR MODERN FARMHOUSE INSPIRATION”, very very expressive. I always love such a image rich article. thanks for sharing such a nice piece of info.
Thank you so much JON I really appreciate your kind words!