Design Concept
I am a strong believer in designing your interiors to match the style of your home. Our home is located in Wilmington, North Carolina and has a vintage southern charm to it, with a white brick exterior and black shutters. The inside of our home is covered in custom wood paneling and vintage brass hardware. We wanted to update our outdated kitchen and love a modern style but also wanted to feel like it fit within our home. After all, the vintage charm is one of the beautiful things that drew us to this home in the first place. One of my all time favorite interior designers is Alison Victoria from HGTV. I just love modern decor mixed with vintage accents and of course brass and a bit of glam! She does a beautiful job of marrying these aspects within her design style. So here is our take on a modern timeless kitchen with a sprinkle of vintage beauty. We hope you love it as much as we do!
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Countertops and Backsplash
We went with a quartz countertop. This exact one is called Cosmos Quartz Calacatta Sponda. We decided on quartz because it is very durable, stain resistant and low maintenance. You can pretty much do anything on these countertops except set a hot pot directly on them. With small children in the house, the stain resistance, durability and ease of cleaning were top priorities to us. We love the sleek look of a waterfall edge and running the quartz up the wall as the backsplash. We did not want outlets to take away from the beautiful design of the quartz backsplash so we minimized these by hiding them under the cabinets.
Hood and Cabinets
We went with a custom white wood hood from Hoodsly.com. We wanted to go modern with the hood to balance out the crown molding we put on top of the cabinets that matched with the rest of the house. We also chose white for the hood and glass front upper cabinets to break up the black and bring some light in to brighten up the space.
The cabinets are a black stained maple. We loved the high end look of a stained wood, as you can see the beautiful graining in the wood close up. We wanted to go bold and modern with the choice of the black color. This color also complimented the overall style of the home very nicely.
Fixtures
Here is where I wanted to bring some vintage aspects and glam into the design. Not only because they are absolutely gorgeous but to balance out the sleek modern quartz and cabinet fronts. I’m a sucker for a little glam and sparkle so these felt like beautiful pieces of vintage jewelry that brought the whole design together. The lights are from visualcomfort.com in size small (gilded iron).
The faucet, disposal flange and RO Faucet are polished brass and made by Kingston Brass. They can be found on Amazon, kingstonbrass.com or build.com.
Dry Bar
The dry bar is one of our favorite elements of the kitchen! We found the brass shelves from SoilandOak on Etsy.com. We ordered them in the brass plated option which is a beautiful bright, shiny brass/golden color. It was a challenge to find a light fixture that paired well, as brushed brass, polished brass, and antique brass clashed with the unique bright shiny color. It was a satin gold finish from Wayfair for the win, that we found here. We brought in a modern take on vintage charm by installing a clear polished and frosted glass penny tile backsplash from floor to ceiling!
Hardware
We wanted to add a little glam, or jewelry if you will, with the hardware, so we went with a polished brass. We chose a modern take on an old world drop pendant for the dry bar from signaturehardware.com. We also replaced the pantry door handle with this vintage polished brass knob from myknobs.com. The rest of our cabinet hardware are sleek modern pulls and knobs from CB2.com. They have excellent hardware choices and a wide variety of polished brass.
Window Nook
Who doesn’t love a breakfast and reading nook?! This bay window was screaming for a built in that not only added additional seating and a beautiful design but also excellent storage. We trimmed out the front of the bench to match the rest of the wood detail in our home so it looks as if it was here all along. The top lifts up with a brass hinge in the back to allow for additional storage space.
Storage and Function
Not only did we want our kitchen to be beautiful but we also wanted great function! This is why we chose to create pull out drawers on the lower cabinets. It is so much easier to get things in and out without having to crouch down and reach back into the cabinet. I can simply open the drawer and see my beautifully organized things all within reach! Our microwave is also a drawer microwave built into the island along with a beverage/wine cooler.
Appliances
We decided to go with all Cafe Appliances in stainless steel with the brushed bronze accesory kit! They have since come our with a brushed brass accessory kit as well that I also think would look stunning.
Floors
The hardwood floors are original to the home and are a natural red oak wood. I loved the vintage look of the 4 inch planks so we had them refinished and brought to their lightest natural color with a clear satin finish to contrast with the dark cabinets.
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