Designing Our Kitchen: Planning and Inspiration

Hi there!

I have an appointment in the morning with a kitchen designer to put together some ideas for our new house. Eek!! Never in a million years could I have prepared myself for the ball of nerves and excitement in my belly right now! Naturally, one turns to Pinterest when looking to design a kitchen, and since I have never done this before, I figured that would be an excellent place to start!

In my current home, we have an island and I am not a fan. I think our kitchen will feel much more open without it, so I know that I am going to have a peninsula or wrap around counter so that we still have the ability to sit at the counter and eat if we want to.

Kim from Sand&Sisal has both the wrap around peninsula counter and the island in her kitchen. Makes me rethink not wanting an island, just a little bit. 😉

Isn’t it beautiful?? She is an absolute genius when it comes to designing an open, airy and welcoming home. I could get lost on her blog for hours.

Brittany from @prettyhandygirl also has a gorgeous kitchen. I am in love with her ceramic apron sink. I love that you can wipe the counters off straight into the sink when cleaning up after meals.

Of all the kitchen designs I have scoured through though, I keep coming back to Krista’s kitchen from The Happy Housie. If I could buy her house, I probably would, simply because of how much I love her kitchen.

The shaker cabinets she has are exactly what I have been picturing in our kitchen. Both David and I agree that white painted cabinets with stainless steel appliances is the look we love. The stainless steel sink is much more durable than a ceramic one. With stainless steel appliances and cabinet hardware, the stainless sink really pulls it all together. I think I have repinned her kitchen about a million times because it looks beautiful from every single angle. In all the kitchens David and I have fallen in love with, we have been drawn to the mismatch cabinet colors. Krista has mastered that look of mismatched colors for her cabinets while still having it all flow beautifully together.

I really wish I knew who’s kitchen this is that Better Homes and Gardens featured. I would love to see more of it, wouldn’t you?

The open shelves are different, and would take some continuous upkeep, but they add to the open feel of this kitchen. What an excellent way to display some of your prettier dishes if you don’t have the space for a hutch!

These cabinets give the refrigerator a nice built-in look while adding extra storage. I think I would use those long cupboards as either spice cupboards, or a place to hold cleaning tools (broom, dustpan, mop, etc).

I talked in this post about having to make concessions when buying your first home. Unfortunately, that goes for building your first home too. David and I realized quite quickly that since we only have $7000 to work with for our kitchen, we are going to have to get extra creative in making that stretch.

I’d love any insights or suggestions in designing our kitchen, let me know your thoughts in the comments below!

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