Kitchen Planning & Installation
For me, the most exciting part of the building process was the kitchen installation. It was thrilling to see all my ideas and planning come to life. Giddy is more like it. Today, I thought I’d walk you through some of the planning decisions I made for the kitchen and talk about the process.
As I mentioned earlier, there are three main walls in the kitchen. I wanted to keep the design simple, and be very easy to navigate. Keeping in mind, the space needed for entertaining and workflow. This wall is for the Sub Zero, a large pull-out dish pantry, and the coffee station.
Since I didn’t want to have any hanging or drop down cabinets, I had them designed from floor to ceiling..utilizing every inch of space available. The upper cabinets are for things like punch bowls, large serving pieces and seldom used kitchen items. The walk-in food pantry is just to the right.
All the cabinets were designed with either pull-out trays or drawers. And I can’t say enough about how handy that feature is! The coffee station (above right) will have a marble countertop and floating marble shelf above for coffee cups and accoutrements. I thought the marble would be a nice design element instead of a standard wood shelf.
Here, the painting is still in process, but you can see the floor plan of the kitchen. I’m very happy with the layout and at just under 600 sq ft…the size feels like a luxury compared to my previous kitchen. I chose white laminate glass for the Shaker style pantry door from Preferred Windows & Doors. They were so incredibly helpful and professional. I can’t recommend them enough!
The Wolf range will go into the opening on the center wall with salvaged wood shelving on either side, and the sink and dishwasher are under the 12′ window.
For the perimeter counter tops, I chose Bianco Carrara Marble and had them cut a 2″ mitered edge. This gave the counters a more substantial look, which works nice in large spaces. And more importantly, keeps you from having an exposed seam. It’s one of those little details, you know?
I also had the 6″ deep window sill made out of the marble so I can set herb pots and little plants on it without having to worry about wood rot. To streamline the space between the sill and countertops, we added a 4″ backsplash also out of the marble, and then carried it around the room to unify everything. (Sorry for all the cell phone shots…it was just easier during the construction.)
Above you can see how the appliances fit in and the lighting.
(I’ll do a separate post on lighting in the future!)
And below, is a progress shot of the marble tile wall installation. I chose to do 4 x 12 Carrara tiles all the way to the ceiling. The larger size is perfect, as I think smaller tiles would have looked too busy for my preference. Scale is a very important, but often overlooked component and I tried to keep this in mind when designing the space.
After the marble was finished, we started on the salvaged wood shelving!
And things were beginning to take shape!
Between posts you can find me on Instagram (heatherbullard) sharing the little things in life.
33 Responses to “Kitchen Planning & Installation”
Beautiful!
Thank you!
I’m so glad you are sharing this step by step…we are in the “permit” stage of building a new home and I love getting inspiration from you.
Thanks
Teresa
Thank you, Teresa. I remember being where you are and looking for ideas, tips and inspiration…so I can truly relate. I hope what I share will be helpful to you. Congratulations and all the best on your new home!
It looks amazing! It must be wonderful designing your kitchen from scratch and being able to include all the little details that make it so much more functional.
Thanks, Lynda! It was a blessing to be able to design the home ourselves…but on the flip side, we’re the only ones to blame when something wasn’t quite “right”. 😉 Still, very grateful!
Wow Heather! I would be ‘giddy’ to…well how about ” over the moon and back”. Wow is all I can think of right now. Congratulations and I’m looking forward to future post. Have a great weekend!
Rita
Thank you for sharing my joy! Looking forward to sharing more as we settle in. Happy Friday and thanks for stopping by!
We are currently in the midst of our new kitchen design – we just ordered the same sink! Love all that you do, so beautiful. Catherine
Ooh, I love my 36″ Shaw sink…it can handle all my dirty dishes and more! Enjoy designing your new kitchen!
Lovely, of course. Nice job on the oversized marble subways. Your lack of toe kicks on the lower cabs interests me. It looks both traditional and a little bit British to me. Is that a ‘thing’? We’re just finishing our bathrooms (yay) + will start work on the kitchen very soon.
Thank you, Kay. Regarding the toe kicks, there were a few reasons…
1. Cleaning. I hated all the dust and debris that was constantly caught under the cabinets of our old kitchen. Hated.
2. I wanted a very simple, streamlined look for the kitchen and felt having the cabinets go to the floor would give me that effect.
3. The kitchen is large, and having solid furniture style cabinetry helps weight the space.
4. The island will be more open and airy and not a solid block in the center of the room, which will help counter balance the cabinets.
Not sure if it’s a “thing” but it’s my thing. 🙂
PS. Have fun with your kitchen…so exciting!
Oopsie. I hope I didn’t sound disparaging about “things”. So sorry if I did. :-X I love “things”, actually! Farmhouse sinks are a “thing”; so is the color gray! 🙂 Can’t wait for more snapshots from your project.
Oh no! Not at all. I understood your meaning. 🙂 We all have our favorite things!
Can’t wait to see it all done! Love it!
Thanks, Darrielle! 🙂
Heather,
I love it. The lights over the sink are fabulous and I love the marble. What I would give to have a walk in pantry. I had one years ago and its the only time I’ve had one. No matter the size, it makes such a difference, doesn’t it?
Karen
I completely agree! Our first house had one…our second did not and we both missed it dearly. So this go around, we made sure to add it to the plans. Now we’re happy as clams again! 🙂
Lovely kitchen! I am loving your marble too!
Thanks so much, Kelly!
Heather it is looking beautiful. I have the same counter tops and I also did the marble window sill with a white subway backsplash. I LOVE my kitchen and I LOVE your kitchen design. The lighting is spectacular!!!
So happy you’re in love with your kitchen…that’s the best part of all the hard work! Thank you for the kind words about ours. 🙂
Heather, you have an eye for beauty. Seeing your kitchen reminds me just a bit of Martha Stewart back when she did the show from her house. It was white and beautiful. I miss that show, it’s never been the same since the show moved to a studio. Hmmmm, Heather Bullard the next Martha Stewart!!
Haha! 😉 I miss the show as well. I can’t ever find it on tv, Netflix, reruns..anywhere! I haven’t checked YouTube…maybe that’s it!
looks absolutely lovely! Question, what is the flooring material you’ve chosen? J’adore! Enjoy it!
The floors are concrete. In these photos, they aren’t yet finished or polished. 🙂
Your kitchen looks like my kitchen. Love it.
http://leeshideaway.blogspot.com/2013/05/kitchen-subtle-transformation-lavender.html
I think my favorite thing is that enormous fridge!
It all looks beautiful. You are a lucky gal!
What is the “think” that runs the peak of the ceiling in what I assume will be an eating area?
I meant to say “thing”
So beautiful Heather!
Thanks for sharing all the details!!!
We are in the process of designing our kitchen,
Your posts are so informative and helpful.
Love your beautiful home.
I have a burning question: How do you keep the marble clean?!?! What is the best thing to use to clean marble?!?! Oops more than “a” question! We just remodelled our ensuite bathroom this past spring and installed a marble vanity top. I find it is getting yellow-ish stains on it. Would that be the water staining it? Help!!! Again, oops more than “a” question!!!
The appliances are beautiful (the entire kitchen is beautiful, actually)! What brand is the fridge? Do you have a separate post about choosing appliances?
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