Designer Vanessa Francis transforms into Kitchen island with seating bright English farmhouse-style space. Discover how she combined a serene palette, hits of black and a furniture-style, colorful island to add character to the room.
Kitchen Island with Seating
We’ve been in the house for about nine months. We moved in last fall. When we first saw the house it was very dark and not really dated but just not me. Particularly the kitchen, they had brown cabinets, brown laminate counter, brownish tiles. So I just really wanted to freshen it up.
One Room Challenge
I actually did the kitchen for the one room challenge where designers and bloggers complete a space in about six weeks. So I started before the timeline up to the one room challenge but I finished it up on the day before the photographer was coming to shoot it.
Kitchen Island Ideas
I was born in England and I’ve always loved that English farmhouse kitchen. They are famous for their sort of off-white or painted cabinetry. Their kitchen island with seating which is more like pieces of furniture with legs but sort of light in feeling. I landed on this island color which is Benjamin Moore night train, which is a nice dark grey-blue. Another thing I wanted was courts, I’ve always recommended it to clients over the years. It’s more hard-wearing and stain resistant.
Lanterns
When I saw this one from Silestone, it’s called snowy Ibiza, that kind of drew the color palette for the whole space because it’s a very warm gray-beige color. I just loved it. One of my pet peeves is lighting over a kitchen island with seating which is too small. I knew I wanted to have an oversized lantern. I’ve always loved lanterns. I love them because they don’t have glass so they don’t have to clean them, and they don’t block sight lines. They’re actually perfect for the kitchen decor.
Affordable Appliances
The appliances are affordable. They’re also nice-looking. I just love the sleek simple handles on them. The profile of it was nice and clean and I liked that. I was able to save with the kitchen remodel by using some of the existing cabinetry. My cabinet maker was able to color match to the new cabinetry by adding crown molding from the tree. We were able to bring the cabinets to the ceiling.
Black Hardware
I brought in black Hardware. I just love the punctuation of black hardware and white cabinetry. Lanterns, of course, are black. I also saved on splash. I was going to use a statement backsplash but I kind of wavered and went back to my always tried-and-true classic white subway tile. You can never go wrong it’s always in style, it always looks good.
The Outcome
I love my luxury kitchen design. I really really do, it’s one of the prettiest kitchens I’ve seen if I do say so myself. It’s just fun to have people over and gather on the kitchen island with seating, have my daughter and her friends over. It’s the perfect space for entertaining.
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