Annie Schlechter via Martha Stewart
It’s been a while since I updated you on my kitchen plans, so today I’m sharing our refined and finally firmer direction. I’m thrilled to feel settled and ready to move forward with the project. Walking through the possibilities and letting ideas settle helped clarify what felt right. As I’ve said before, the main reason we moved here wasn’t to design another house but to live more fully, and that perspective guided our decisions.
With our goals and purpose in mind, being intentional about the life we want has made it easier to identify what our house needs and what it doesn’t. Designing another kitchen is a dream, not a must. The most important challenge for our family is shaping a home that supports how we want to live. Because our home and daily life are so intertwined, I’m excited to see our vision come to life.
We can’t wait to move forward, and I couldn’t be more pleased with our design direction. Hearing contractors confirm our ideas felt reassuring — a relief to reach this point.
House Beautiful
If all goes well, the kitchen will be gutted early this summer and the remodel will begin. I joked with a contractor that if he could start today I’d be thrilled — I’m very ready. My goal is to have the kitchen finished by fall. Timelines often shift and projects encounter bumps (our side yard is still in process), but I’m hopeful the work will start soon and pick up pace.
Kitchen – Dana Benson Construction
Layout, size and style
The kitchen style will remain in the modern-traditional vein we love, with a coastal farmhouse influence. The whole house will evolve over time, so it’s exciting to begin introducing elements we enjoy. The inspiration photos included here each contribute an idea or the overall feel I’m aiming for; they’re references rather than exact blueprints for color and detail.
Zoldan Interiors – High Gloss Magazine
To simplify the remodel and manage cost, we’re leaving the major structure in place: appliances, plumbing, windows and overall layout will remain. The kitchen is small, and we’re happy to keep it that way; I appreciate the cozy atmosphere of a compact kitchen. Instead of changing the room’s footprint, we’ll transform the space within the walls to improve function and flow and enhance the connection to the dining room.
Sink location
Originally I dreamed of moving the sink to the back of the house to capture expansive views, but after living here longer that priority has lessened. It was a beautiful notion, but there are simpler ways to achieve the feel we want. Keeping the sink in its current spot still allows views with only a slight turn of the head, and it prevents us from being blinded by late-afternoon light. Instead, we’ll add a full-height counter beneath the large window with generous drawers below — an ideal coffee and baking station with an unobstructed view.
Upper cabinets
We’ll remove all upper cabinets except those around the fridge to create a cleaner, more open look. When I removed upper cabinets in my last kitchen it sparked conversation, but now open shelving and fewer uppers are more accepted. Even without most uppers, we’ll add functional drawer storage so we won’t lose capacity. Open upper walls also make countertops feel larger, which is especially beneficial in a small kitchen.
Olivia Babarczy via The Grace Tales
Walls and openings
One change I’m especially excited about is replacing two small interior doors with wider archways. The arch idea surfaced early and kept drawing us back — once a contractor confirmed it’s feasible, we knew it was the right move. We’ll have a wider arch from the dining room and a narrower one from the entry hall. The new openings will add character to three adjacent spaces, improve traffic flow, and make the tiled hall function more like a mudroom with the addition of hooks for coats and bags.
Saskia Folk / Inside Out
Arches feel inviting and romantic, and these openings will bring more light into both rooms while preserving the range wall with counters on each side and a hood above. The archways will also help conceal the messier side of cooking from the dining and living rooms, which is a practical benefit for holidays and gatherings — nobody wants to see a sink full of cookware during a dinner party.
This isn’t the final dining layout, but you can see the painter’s tape we used to visualize an arch.
So, there you have it — the latest plans. I’m so excited to get started and grateful you’re following along. Stay tuned!
Old Seagrove Homes
See more angles of the “before” and catch up on past kitchen posts in the same category on the site.
Related posts:
6 Ways to Make Your Kitchen Feel Bigger
10 Clever Kitchen Space Savers