When we bought our house almost three years ago, we knew one thing for certain – we were going to knock down the wall between the kitchen and the dining room. We live in a rancher built in the 1950s, so open floor plans were definitely not a thing back then.
Our oak cabinets were dated, we had very little counter space, and our Pepto-pink pocket doors needed to go! From a practical standpoint, the layout made it impossible for us to talk with our guests and prepare food at the same time.
We were ready for a change.
To complicate matters a bit, I’m incredibly indecisive when it comes to interior design. Selecting colors, styles, and layouts is NOT my thing.
When we were first coming up with ideas, I was convinced I wanted “warm” colors and a sunshine-y feel to the room – from countertops to paint colors. Oh, and I was adamant about a modern look. I told myself and anyone I talked to that the one thing I did not want was a modern look.
Sooo, naturally, we ended up with…dark gray porcelain tiles, a grey-beige paint color, white cabinets, nickel fixtures and a cool countertop with hints of plum – pretty much the exact opposite of what I thought I wanted!
Now that it’s finished, we love it!
Can I tell you how AMAZING it is to have counter space?? Soft-close drawers and doors? A pantry? Space to move? A place to entertain guests?
We used Craftmasters Remodeling to do the job, and they did pretty amazing work, making our (limited) vision into reality. We couldn’t be happier with how everything turned out 🙂
Here are some before and after shots of our old to *NEW* kitchen!
I know people like to know the particulars of renovation jobs like this, so I will do my best to let you know where different things came from:
- The Belmont kitchen island (with wheels!) is from Crate & Barrel.
- Appliances are Frigidaire Gallery and are from H.H. Gregg (Prez Day Sale!)
- Kitchen table is from Stebbins Anderson and has a bench that you can’t see in this picture 🙂
- Our floor tile is Galvano Charcoal Porcelain tile with pewter grout from Lowes.
- Paint color is Versatile Gray from Sherwin Williams.
- Backsplash is Tender Gray ceramic tile from Home Depot.
- Granite countertop is Bianco Frost from the Granite Outlet.
- It’s amazing to finally have some storage! Our cabinets are by Wolf and are the York style in white. We highly recommend the drawers for pots and pans and the rollout shelves in the pantry!
- We bought these drawer liners for our spice drawers from Amazon, so we could easily organize and access our herbs and spices.
Now, let’s take a look at some of the fun decorative stuff. We used greens and purples / plums as our accent colors, since our countertop has hints of plum in it and because I’m kind of in love with the color purple.
- Kitchen towels are All Clad and are from Bed Bath & Beyond.
- Kitchen sink mat and utensil holder are from Home Goods (love!).
Our wall artwork is from Marcella Kriebel. She does BEAUTIFUL watercolor art. Speaking of the walls, we’re looking to update a different room in the house soon; we’re not sure which one yet but we know we want to radically change the walls in some way. One of the thoughts we’ve had is to get some peel and stick wallpaper as we’ve seen some really nice designs. But for now, we’re quite happy with the wall artwork we have as it does bring some character to the otherwise bare walls.
I have a few more prints from her that we will be framing and hanging in other rooms in the house. She’s based nearby in D.C. but ships everywhere. She’s also on Etsy, so check out her stuff.
The frames on the ends are a Vintage Stone Grey wood frame from The Rusty Roof on Amazon.
So, there you have it!
Rachel (& Bill’s!) Nourishing Kitchen is complete 🙂 I’m excited to see what will happen in our new space and look forward to sharing with you some new videos I will be filming using the island. I hope to host some smaller cooking events in our home, so those of you who are interested in having a more intimate and cozy class can join.
Corinne
Looks amazing!
Rachel Druckenmiller
Thanks! We are so happy with how it turned out! Dinner next week?? 🙂
Jan Jackson
Beautiful job, Rachel and Bill! Your kitchen is bright and fresh and ready to serve up delicious and healthy food. I’m sure it will be the focal point of your home for years to come. (My kitchen is also white and grey and gives me a happy feeling every morning.)
Thanks for your wonderful blog, I love the recipes, tips and ideas.
Jan Jackson (Sarah’s Mom)
Rachel Druckenmiller
Thank you so much! We are very happy with it and look forward to using the space for teaching, community, and nourishment in every sense of the word! I appreciate your kind words about my blog. If there are any questions you have or ideas you’re looking for that you’d like to see me cover, feel free to let me know!
Lolly
Simply Beautiful!
Rachel Druckenmiller
Thank you! It was a long time coming, but it was definitely worth the wait!
Caroline Kirschnick
I LOVE it!!! That is definitely right up my style alley!
Rachel Druckenmiller
Thanks so much! We were ready for a change and are pleasantly surprised by how it all came together!
Cathie
Beautiful!!! When are you coming upstate again? Miss you guys!
Rachel Druckenmiller
Thanks!! We will be up for a few days for the 4th and then for almost a week in late July. You should come see Bill do the Ironman on July 24th!
Kara Brown
Rachel, I LOVE it – I’m so happy for you guys!!
Rachel Druckenmiller
Thank you! We’ll have to make dinner plans, so you can see it in person! 🙂
eMoov
You will never go wrong with white and gray! It will always bring a classic and different look with any room in your house, specially with kitchen and bathroom. Love the after photos of your kitchen.
Rachel Druckenmiller
Yes! Love the combo of white and gray and didn’t think I would at first, but I’m so glad we did it. Thanks for your kind words about our kitchen! We really love the new space.
Katie Jones
Hey Rachel,
I recently came across your site and I’m wondering if I can post one of my articles here.
I’ve been writing up home improvement articles too and would love the chance to write
on your blog but I couldn’t manage to find your email. If you could get a hold of me at
ikatie.jones@outlook.com?, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks,
Katie
Rachel Druckenmiller
Hey Katie, thanks for expressing interest in posting. That home improvement article was kind of like a one-off post and was focused on my kitchen. This blog is dedicated to nourishing the body and feeding the soul, which is why my kitchen was highlighted. Other than that, I don’t write about home improvement topics, but I wish you the best of luck with your work!