Rachel’s Design Dilemma
It’s time to solve another kitchen conundrum, this time in a 100-year-old farmhouse. Here’s Rachel’s letter:
I have been a lurker on your website for a while. I love seeing what you have done with your home and I love your decorating style! My husband and I bought a two story, 100-year-old farmhouse that needed lots of work-especially in our dated kitchen. We’ve already replaced all of the appliances and the countertop. We’ve also purchased a creamy neutral colored linoleum for the floor, but we haven’t installed it yet. We need to do something with the backsplash and yes, the cupboards are just that frilly-looking. We’d love to modernize this kitchen to match the rest of our home, but we have one problem. I am expecting our 2nd child in four weeks -we also have a two year old!! We are nearly out of time, out of funds, out of energy, and out of inspiration! Any ideas you could give us to get our kitchen updated would be greatly appreciated!! – Rachel
This big kitchen actually gets lots of light and has some major potential- especially with the new countertops and appliances. So without further ado, here’s our mood board:
Here’s the mood board breakdown.
1. After prying off the frilly trim around the cabinets (and replacing it with molding or quarter-round if needed) we’d definitely suggest painting those cabinets. It’s actually a surprisingly straightforward process. Just apply one coat of oil based primer and roll on two latex coats of a taupey-gray paint (try bringing home Barley Beige or Carolina Strand swatches by Glidden and see how they look with the countertops).
2. Rachel asked for some backslash help and boy did we dig up somethin’ special. We’re absolutely crazy for this neutral houndstooth mosaic tile and think it would absolutely compliment all the other neutral tones in the space with just the right amount of movement.
3. Here’s our proposed color scheme. The deep taupey-brown color represents Rachel’s new counter, the black represents her new appliances, the taupey-gray is our suggested cabinet color and the light cream is our best guess at her future linoleum floor. The most important thing is that any new colors work with the freshly installed counters, and that the color that you paint the cabinets isn’t the same color as the floor (it should be at least one shade darker or lighter). We love how all these colors are working together in the mood board and hope they’re an accurate take on the counter and soon-to-be-installed linoleum… it just feels so sophisticated and Restoration Hardware-esque.
4. We noticed Rachel’s little shelves on either side of the window because our old kitchen had little display shelves like this as well. They look great with matching items on each tier- and these smoky glasses for $7.95 a pop (actually meant for margaritas) from Crate & Barrel would look über chic.
5. Since the kitchen must remain eat-in, we thought replacing the big square table and folding chairs with this absolutely affordable round black pedestal table and four x-back chairs from Target would help the flow and keep things crisp.
6. As much as we adore stainless steel, this kitchen is positively begging for a new biscuit colored double sink. Since the new appliances are black without any trace of stainless trim or hardware, this $158 score from Lowe’s would keep everything in that yummy neutral range.
7. Another thing this kitchen is crying out for are some oil rubbed bronze fixtures and hardware. This timeless finish will add even more rich detailing to the space from simple cabinet knobs to this sleek and curvaceous faucet (on sale for $109 thanks to Overstock.com).
That about does it for Rachel’s farmhouse kitchen overhaul. We just hope all the excitement doesn’t induce early labor. Thoughts? Ideas? Musings? Ready, set, comment.
Update: We sadly can no longer find the time to take on client commissioned mood boards (we now whip up general inspiration boards instead) but if we ever reinstate them we’ll make a big announcement!
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Sherry,
With our bathroom remodel planning in progress and very little money left for anything else renovation related…I will be filing these affordable hints away for a future kitchen updating project. I feel like I’m learning a lot about color and composition from your site…the way that shades should differ and how colors can work together. Your mood board makes a very elegant statement that could work with both modern and traditional. Beautiful ideas!
Hi Sherry–
Loooove it! I found your blog through “Making It Lovely” and I loooooove what you’ve done with your house! I have a 50′s era ranch home in need of some major updating. There are some mid-century mod touches throughout the house with some of the later updates bordering on more traditional design. The same family owned the home from the time it was built until we purchased it, so I was able to get the scoop on the dichotomy of design straight from the source. To my eye it’s a little schizo, so I’ve had a difficult time deciding which direction to go. Your decor is just right: strong, clean lines throughout and a cohesive color palette. I think that’s just what I need. Anyway, I digress… I’m planning to enlist your help with a mood board in the very near future; I’m just trying to decide where I can make the best use of your talents. Thanks again for your lovely and inspiring blog!
I love using a not-stainless sink. I think it adds to the farmhouse feel while not busting the budget on a farmhouse-style sink.
Hmmm… you just made ME think about doing a bisquit sink. But would it work with my black and ALMOND appliances? (Some are all black, some are black AND almond). Our countertop is going to be a bisquit colored granite, too… so maybe that would be TOO much bisquit!
We have a round table (dark wood with BLACK accents) in our eat in kitchen, and I love the way it looks and feels… plus you can squeeze 6 around it or fold a leaf down and put it against the wall. I’d love that table from target… but ours was a lucky handmedown that complements pretty well.
And, I LOVE that backsplash!
Hey girlies,
So glad you like the ideas. This mood board was especially exciting to create since it was a slight departure from my typical suggestions (oil rubbed bronze instead of nickel and a biscuit instead of stainless steel. But I really thought it would perfectly compliment Rachel’s 100-year-old farmhouse while looking classic and updated.
Jennifer, as for your biscuit sink question, my advice to you would be to pick up a white sink, an almond one, and a biscuit one and see which one looks best once you have a bunch of the materials in the room. Then just return the other two knowing that you have the perfect sink for your space. Hope that helps! Send pics when you’re done- we’d love to see how everything turns out.
xo,
Sherry
Maybe this is just because I’m a boy, but is anyone else hungry for biscuits now?
-John
Hi Sherry and John!!! Ohhhhhh – I LOVE the ideas you have for our kitchen!! It is perfect!! I think I have the perfect paint color for the cupboards, also, but I want to check out the two you recommended. I showed my husband and he liked it also, so. . .it’s off to work we go! I’ll try to send a follow-up picture when we are finished, but it is very possible that this project is going to have to be finished post-baby. First thing – I’m going to order a sample square of that great tile for the backsplash you found! Thanks so much!!!! Rachel
Oh, one more thing! If I weren’t halfway across America from you, I’d bake you a huge batch of buttermilk biscuits and send ‘em over piping hot with some homemade strawberry freezer jam! :)
Rachel, you domestic diva, you!
Those biscuits and jam sound delish, but the fact that you like the mood board is music to our ears. Can’t wait to see pics of your baby enjoying his or her fabulous new kitchen. Good luck with everything!
xo,
Sherry
I know this is from a while ago, but I’m kind of using similar colors and I wanted to know if you have ideas for adding a small splash of color to this kithen? Even just in some decorations of some kind…
It’s such a classic and neutral palette that you can add practically any accent color (like red, turquoise, navy, orange, yellow or lime to name a few). As for how to introduce them, dish towels, a small area rug, some art, a tea kettle, a fruit bowl, and even sweet cafe curtains can work. Good luck!
xo,
s
Hello, I love the mood board you created for the farm house. I’m currently remodeling my kitchen. I have black cabinets and stainless steel appliances, chrome fixtures, knobs and half moon pulls. I thought this color palette would be great for me also. What do you think? Do you think it would work well. If so, what are the actual names of the color swatches you chose? I’d like to use them in my color scheme. Thanks in advance
Oh yes, it should look great! Those colors are just a representation (swatches can read differently in every house) so I’d just recommend bringing a bunch of paint chips home and seeing which ones look the most like the grouping (and look the best together). Good luck!
xo,
s