CHARISMATIC KITCHEN

Tour the reveal of the kitchen in our Tennessee Project House, which is new but has classic character.

See the kitchen in our Tennessee Project House revealed. It’s new but has classic character.

It’s one thing to renovate an old farmhouse, and an entirely different experience when a portion of the home is new. Our design and build team Kara and Matt Christensen of Garden Gate Homes moved the kitchen of our 2021 Project House to an old addition of the home because it was a larger space. While they’re unsure exactly how old the addition is, it’s new enough that it didn’t have pre-existing character like the rest of the home. To make it flow with the other spaces, Kara and Matt had to find ways to add charm using their experience and love of vintage.

CLEVER DETAILS

Several details contribute to the success of the kitchen design, including the wood beams that separate the kitchen from the breakfast nook. “The floor plan called for it to be one room,” says Kara, “but we added those beams to separate it.” Not only did the addition allow her to add Woodgrain trim to the breakfast nook wall, but it also gave the impression that they opened up a wall during the renovation, giving the space an old-home feel.

Another way to add character is to incorporate salvaged pieces. Kara repurposed an original bedroom door for the kitchen’s pantry and included the transom window with it. It adds charm and warmth with its pine wood finish.

Even small details can make a difference. Since the homeowners didn’t want open shelving, Kara designed an open shelf on the upper cabinets to display infrequently used pieces. “I enclosed them with beadboard on the back as a nod to vintage style,” she says. She displayed vintage pieces in those cabinets and all around the kitchen, including a strainer, glasses, pitchers, bottles and ironstone.

NEVER ENOUGH NEUTRALS

The kitchen is open to the living room (which we’re showcasing in the October issue of Cottages & Bungalows magazine). The Mullican Flooring works in both spaces, and a neutral palette that flows from room to room. With this neutral kitchen foundation, Kara added warmth through wood stains and mixed metals. “Typically, I tell my homeowners not to be too matchymatchy with wood stains,” she says. “When I decorate, I bring in different colored woods for harmony.” In this case, the island and flooring are white oak, the pantry door is pine, and they stained the wood beams to look darker. Even the caramel color of the leather barstools contributes to the warm tones.

Along with mixing wood stains, Kara likes to mix metals. In this kitchen, she added copper pots from Riverbend Home, a brass faucet, a rail, pendant lights, Emtek hardware and black metal legs on the barstools. All these details help break up the white cabinets and countertops.

Since the dining room isn’t near the kitchen, Kara designed the island to include turned legs on the end, which makes it look like a big farm table. The pantry door and transom window are original to the house, and Kara repurposed them in the kitchen. She also added a breakfast nook with wainscoting using Woodgrain trim.

With quartz countertops and white cabinets, it was necessary to bring in moments of warmth to soften the look. Copper pots from Riverbend Home, brass hardware from Emtek and vintage amber touches help break up the white.