Our Fixer Upper: Kitchen Plans

via Anthropologie

As I'm typing this, demo has begun on our fixer upper and it is kind of surreal that this is already underway.  One of the reasons we love this house: the kitchen is so big!  Most older homes have very tight and impractical kitchens but this kitchen is very open and has so much space and natural light.  It even has a corner brick oven!  This room is the biggest project of the entire house: we are gutting everything and basically starting from scratch.  We both love to cook and spend the majority of our time in this room, so we want to create an amazing space that has everything we've ever wanted in a kitchen.  The inspiration for this kitchen: industrial French farmhouse (and yes, I keep adding more and more words onto the description as we go!).

This back wall will hold most of our appliances and cabinets.  The kitchen sink will stay where it is but be replaced with a stainless farmhouse sink and new industrial-look faucet.  We will have a very tall stainless fridge on the left side, dishwasher beside it, and a large stainless range and hood on the far right side.  Whatever backsplash is visible will be covered in white subway tile with dark grout.  We will have lower cabinets only and they will be dark gray and the countertops will be a light stone (we are still deciding on the exact material).   We are going to get as big of an island as we can possibly fit and hopefully be customizing it out of an antique furniture piece with reclaimed wood top.   There will be two pendant lights over the island and some can lights in the ceiling above.  The floors are going to be a dark slate tile that will continue into the hallway beside the kitchen and into the mudroom.  Here's a mock-up of what the back wall will look like:

Mock-ups courtesy of Kitchen Concepts

See that little nook to the right of the large longer window in the above picture?  I'm hoping to also squeeze in floor to ceiling open shelving here.  I'd also like to put one or two thin floating shelves on the wall to the right of the range for olive oil, spices, and things we use most often.  

Above you can see a picture of the other side of the room.  The cabinets on the right are all being removed.  This entire wall will also be covered in white subway tile with dark grout and there will be industrial floating shelving covering the entire upper part of the wall.  On the lower half, we are putting my vintage 1940's white fridge on the far left side and a long, counter-top height rustic workbench I have on the right side.  I'm picturing the open shelving being built around these pieces so it all looks like one unit.  The ceiling fan and exposed wires will all be removed and we will put a big table in front of the fireplace.  We are going to remove all of the awkward molding surrounding the fireplace in hopes that there is more brick behind it.  

Here's another view of the main wall.  I think it will really open the entire space up when those giant upper cabinets are removed!  Here's some of my top inspiration photos for the kitchen that helped me put together the overall design.

via My Domaine

This entire kitchen looks very French industrial and has exactly the vibe I am after.  I love the dark floors, subway tile with dark grout, cabinet color, brass knobs, and open shelving.  This is exactly the style I am aiming for in our kitchen, except that our appliances will be stainless (even though those brass and black appliances are just stunning, they cost about as much as our entire house did!)

via Made NYC

I also LOVE the look of this kitchen: the dark cabinets, subway tile, and stainless steel appliances are very similar to everything we will be doing in our kitchen.  My favorite part of this kitchen is that gorgeous antique wood island!  We are hoping to find an antique piece for our island and I love the tone and overall look of this wood piece.  I'm all about mixing different styles and I love the contrast between the industrial and more traditional pieces in this space.  

via Domino

I loved this picture because the layout of the back wall is very similar to how we are going to set up our kitchen.  I also love the light fixtures, especially the ones mounted over the open shelving (I'm hoping to also do this on our big open shelf wall).

via Live Simply

Subway tile, stainless appliances, dark cabinets, and brass knobs- this is all very similar to my vision for the kitchen.  I love the contrasts of light and dark, rustic and modern, and mixed metals.

via Apartment Therapy

How gorgeous is that exposed brick?  These kitchens are what made me fall in love with the dark cabinets.  They are so unique and beautiful and really make the space pop.  I love the farmhouse sink, stainless appliances and unique contrasting backsplash.

via Milieu

I love the French countryside feel that this kitchen has.  The more rustic furniture, brick floor, and stately cabinets are a perfect mix of old and new.  I definitely want to incorporate some old, rustic furniture to give our kitchen this feel but with a little bit more of a modern, industrial twist.

via Styled by Emily Henderson

The layout of this kitchen is also very similar to what we are planning for the back wall.  The built-in around the refrigerator without any upper cabinets is also exactly what we will be doing.  Again I love the contrast between the light walls and dark cabinets. Have you noticed almost all my photos have vintage rugs in the kitchen?  This is such an unexpected touch for a kitchen that I love!  

via Apartment Therapy

Just look at all that beautiful subway tile!  This is a good visual of what our open shelving wall covered in subway tile will look like.  I love the old piece of furniture for storage too!

via House of Hipsters

These floating wood shelves are exactly what I'm picturing for our open shelving.  I love how their rustic look contrasts with the glossy tile and bold cabinets.  This kitchen has such a striking mix of antique and modern pieces. 

Right now our kitchen is an empty shell but I'm so excited for all these ideas and visions to take shape and I can't wait to share each step with all of you.  Below are some of the pieces that we have picked out so far.  What do you think of my initial ideas and designs?  Which inspiration kitchen is your favorite? 

xoxo

Emily