Earlier this year, I designed a kitchen with a large family in mind. With its large arched opening and wide window that let in excellent light, our only job was to use the limited space (14ft by 14ft) to provide plenty of storage, functionality, style, and do so on a modest budget. Frequently, transforming a room into a magazine-worthy space with custom features and one-of-a-kind furniture pieces requires a great deal of money. Still, it has always been my belief that there are ways to achieve any high-end look more affordably without sacrificing the style. Many retailers and manufacturers offer products in similar finishes and functions for a fraction of the cost if you are willing to look and put in the work.
In this case, the client wanted an English-inspired kitchen with inset kitchen cabinets, natural-looking countertops, and details to make the room feel custom. Our only limitation, as is the case for almost everyone, was the budget. Traditional inset kitchen cabinets can often be more expensive and, until recently, awfully hard to find in stock options. Thankfully, times have changed, and now several retailers offer the look at a fraction of the cost. We went with Build with Ferguson, who provides the shaker inset style, unassembled, in a few standard colors but plenty of different widths, heights, and arrangement options.
While it is possible to use one of their stock colors to create a lovely kitchen, for this design and after we completed the renderings, the client chose Kendall Charcoal by Benjamin Moore. Its warm and rich tones create a moody kitchen that is not dark (remember there is all that natural light from the large window), which is more in line with their inspiration images.
This kitchen offers plenty of storage, wide walkways on all sides of the large island, and a beautiful hood that is the focal point of the far back wall. We included a classic faucet, the traditional farmhouse sink, a variety of conventional knobs, bin pulls and latches for the cabinets, and backsplash tile that, although white in color, has variations and movement and adds another natural material to the mix.
This kitchen is proof that good design does not have to cost an arm and a leg. Let us know in the comments below if you have a favorite rendering. Ours is the nighttime scene of that farmhouse sink! Interested in a design of your own? Contact us HERE!
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