Hey all, Ginny again with the final reveal of our Traditional Eclectic kitchen I introduced yesterday. For your viewing pleasure, here it is in all it’s white, black, blue and grey glory. The tile is clearly the showstopper here which is complimented really well by my new favorite wall color: Stiffkey from Farrow & Ball. The kitchen feels fresh, simple and inviting so with that in mind, we styled it out for everyday use.
From the bottom up – we kept the existing marble floor tile and had it polished out since there were a few stains on it from the previous owners. It would have cost us a lot more to replace when you add up materials and labor, and since they were in good condition and complimented Sara’s (our client) style aesthetic we decided to keep them. I really like that they bring in warmth to the floor, yet still feel fresh and clean. We installed simple white shaker cabinets that have a slight bevel detail to make it feel slightly more traditional with oil rubbed bronze hardware from Rejuvenation. I love their oil rubbed bronze finish because it feels more matte black than brown like you get from other places.
We moved the range from what was a really tight, awkward corner and now it feels like it’s been given a new lease of life and space to breathe. With a 36″ range you ideally need at least 18″ on either side otherwise it’ll feel tight and overbearing. Can we talk about the tile now? Sara always wanted to use a encaustic cement tile which obviously made me giddy and meant I didn’t need to twist anyone’s arm. I did try to get her to do it the full perimeter of the kitchen but keep it to under cabinet height, but I love how this has turned out. It makes the range area feel like a true focal point in the room.
We added a pot filler in the same oil rubbed bronze and you know you’ve made it big when you have a pot filler in your kitchen… soooo fancy!
We styled it out so that Sara could actually live with the kitchen every day and we honestly didn’t remove any unsightly microwaves, coffee makers or toaster ovens – they are all stored away in the pantry/laundry area. We brought in some wood tones with the chopping board, utensils and salt bowl which makes it feel earthy and adds depth. Sara has an insane cook book collection so we leant a few of her favorites against the wall for easy access and to give height and balance out the opposite side of range. We brought in some marble elements with the utensil holder (which I later found out is a wine cooler) and cheese platter which we used to corral everyday cooking essentials like oils, vinegar, salt and pepper. It’s always nice to have things like this out for easy access but sitting them on a tray or platter helps to keep them grounded and feel more organized. Is anyone drooling over the gold pepper grinder yet because I know I am?? We added a pop of color with the tomatoes which can live out in everyday life. And don’t get upset when you don’t see the ceramic tomato dish on the get the look, you’re behind me and several other people trying to convince Emily to let us buy it from her – Scandinavian, vintage, of course!
Moving on to another area and this unexpectedly might be one of my favorite shots. When Zeke and I were figuring out the shot list I knew I needed to get one of the fridge to show where we moved it to. We initially couldn’t figure out the angle but this surprisingly turned out really well. You can see that this might be the perfect location for the fridge, it’s tucked away nicely and doesn’t feel as heavy as it’s previous location. We added a cute rug from Dash & Albert in front of the sink which adds a fun pop of blue to the floor.
We added a light grey Belgian linen roman shade from Loom Decor and hung it a few inches above the frame. That way when you open it you don’t end up blocking any of the window itself, meaning you’re maximizing the amount of light in the room. We did think about putting open shelving either side of the window, but I like that it feels clean and open.
We started styling this area out by organizing soaps, hand-wash and sponges in little bowls and trays to keep things grouped together by the sink – this also helps to catch any drips. Also this faucet is touch activated, pretty fancy and not as expensive as you’d think.
We added green and white flowers to a tall vase to give the corner some height. Stacked chopping boards, but this time horizontally, and added a rustic wooden bowl which ties in with the other wood elements in the room. By adding the colorful still life and fruit we easily added a pop of color to what could be a dark corner. This artwork might be my biggest regret in life so far. Sara and her husband didn’t want to keep this after the shoot so I returned it to the store. I feel like I might need it in order for my life to be complete.
This is the other side of the room which is the only area that has upper cabinets. If you read the post yesterday, you’d see where I mentioned about spotting prefab cabinetry and this is the area where you can probably tell the most with the upper cabinets. Had we gone fully custom, I might have been tempted to do two doors on the left at the top instead of three. Minor details but that’s all part of the job.
We styled this area out to bring in pops of blue to enhance the wall colour as well as orange and wood tones. This countertop is a big expanse of space, especially the corner section, so you need to break is down into smaller areas when styling it out. By adding an open cook book on a stand helped to give height and fill out that back corner, you could also do this with an oversized bowl or a set of canisters. We stacked a few more books close-by to give it some friends.
On one side of the counter we made an area with a tray, flowers and a bowl for your key – almost like a secondary entry area. And added a colourful ceramic plate as a backdrop.
Above the wine fridge we made a drink station with a few casually sliced lemons 🙂 I’m not-so-secretly laughing at myself, because I had a conversation with Emily a few days before the shoot asking her how “styled do I style?!” And we both agreed to keep it simple and casual and not go overboard with cut up baguettes and a full on charcuterie board – but I think this does the trick and doesn’t feel overly staged. We added more art and this beautiful floral citrus filled fruit bowl from Nickey Kehoe (I couldn’t find it on their website so don’t be mad when you can’t find it on the get the look). And not forgetting the rug, which is a different patten to the other but they both worked well together in the space.
So there you have it, Traditional Eclectic kitchen. Tell us what you think and if you liked the changes we made the the overall layout.
1. Stipple Large Bowl | 2. Rustic Olivewood Bowl | 3. Assorted Kitchen Towels | 4. Gatz Vase | 5. Blue Print Vase | 6. Gold Scalloped Pot | 7. Coco Blue Indoor/Outdoor Rug | 8. Olivewood Cheese Cutting Board | 9. Round Marble Cheese Server | 10. Notch Wood Server | 11. Pepper Mill Grinder | 12. Blood Orange Oil Painting | 13. Glass Olive Oil Bottle | 14. Glass Canister with Lid | 15. Glass Canister with Olivewood Lid | 16. Wall Mount Pot Filler | 17. Tribute Pitcher | 18. Dots Cobalt Plate | 19. Olivewood Spoon | 20. Denim Plaid Woven Rug | 21. Linen Roman Shade | 22. Matte Black Kitchen Faucet | 23. Bubble Up Brush | 24. Fireclay Kitchen Sink | 25. Asian Pear Oil Painting | 26. Bevel Edge Bin Pull | 27. Ball Cabinet Knob | 28. Patterned Cement Tile | 29. Stiffkey Blue Paint
* Designed by Ginny Macdonald for EHD. Styled by Ginny Macdonald, assisted by Melanie Burstin for EHD
**After photos by Zeke Ruelas
*** A big thanks to our contractor, Golan from H&A My Design, for making the whole process so seamless.
For more of this project: Modern Traditional Bathroom
I love the new layout of the space, the limited and effective use of the cement tile and that still-life makes me want one in my kitchen. Nice work!
I am the biggest ‘white and brass’ person you’ll ever meet, but I am really digging the new ‘black hardware’ trend!
http://www.shopthecoconutroom.com
Did you recently change the way you insert photos so that they’re web based? In the past few weeks, I can’t load any of your post photos on my blog reader app. I only read on the subway on my commute, but all your posts seem to require internet connection, so I can’t load them.
Weird. no, we didn’t change anything! I’ll ask my IT guy. Which app do you use?
I love the kitchen and the trendy farmhouse sink. Maybe I’m an idiot, but one thing I don’t understand: How do you wash dishes in a single sink? Is the water to rinse running all the time? Or do people just not wash dishes in it?
Hey Sophie, they have a dishwasher so they’ll use that more than washing dishes in the sink- rinse and then load. The singles are great for really big pots!
Sophie, we have a large single sink in our home. Living with it for 4 years now. We have a dishwasher for most of our dishwashing needs. When I hand wash I make a bowl of hot water and soap and handwash and then rinse and place those dishes on a drying mat. After that my husband or kids will hand dry the items and then put them away. Because the sink is one compartment I find that I keep it empty and clean more often then when I had two. It seemed that one sink was always full of dishes or crud at any time of day. Also in our home the kids are responsible for unloading the dishwasher daily. This helps so much in making sure we are consistent in keeping the kitchen dishes under control. Big sinks are also fun in bathing little ones.
Thanks, good to know! I do often have dishes in sink. But I also have a lot I have to hand wash, and I’m not sure anyone can ever get away from that. I still feel like a single sink would make it harder to do dishes, but maybe it’s worth it.
Hi Sophie- we only have a single sink (think that is quite common in the UK?). We use a dishmatic to wash up (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dishmatic-Washing-Brushes-Heavy-Sponge/dp/B003LY7F64) – we don’t have a basin, just put one thing in the sink at a time as we wash it, and have the tap running gently. I much prefer using it now rather than having a basin because I hate the dirty water from the dishes. (God this is such a geeky comment!)
We live in an apartment which, being from 1932, doesn’t have a dishwasher. So we have a plastic tub that we keep in the sink that acts as the “washing basin”. As the tub can be removed, the sink is genuinely useful for washing up really large items, as Ginny says.
Typically in the UK we have a separate washing up bowl that sits inside of the sink so you soak and wash in there and then you can rinse to the side. They aren’t that great to look at but it means you aren’t wasting so much water by having it constantly running. When I moved here I was shocked that people didn’t really have them, and that people use their dishwashers a ton – but having said that I couldn’t live without mine now 🙂 x
we use a plastic? rubber? white basin that fits onto one side of our double sink, fill it with hot sudsy water, use the other side for rinsing with running water, dishwasher rack acts as drying rack, using basin in a big single sink would subdivide it,
bought the Rubbermaid basin at Walgreens, so easy to find I imagine, very useful
This may seem strange/dumb to some people, but I actually never learned how to use a wash basin to wash dishes. I do soak dishes/pots (in my one sink basin) ahead of time if needed, but usually all I do is run the faucet long enough to wet the dish, turn off the faucet, use my soap-dispensing scrub brush to scrub the dish, turn the faucet back on to rinse the dish, turn off the faucet, and put the dish in the drying rack (then repeat). I hope that makes sense and is helpful.
What do you do with the basin? Don’t you still need to scrub and rinse each dish individually? Is it just to save water? I guess you could rinse all the dishes at once if you kept your drying rack in the other basin, but otherwise I don’t really see the need for it.
I do exactly like you do! 🙂 Only the final rinse is done with all the plates together. I use the basin to collect the plates, rinse them a bit to wet them, sponge and soap each plate and final collective rinse. It’s funny to read all these ways of washing the plates 🙂
Lovely job, and I am eyeing that Viking range. I love how you highlighted it!
Stunning kitchen! Can you tell me which fabric you used for the Belgian Linen roman shade above the sink? I don’t see it on the Loom Décor website. Did you provide your own fabric?
Hey Karen, it’s Classic Pure Linen in Lunar! Hope you track it down 🙂 x
I really love this kitchen, and I particularly love how it is styled in a way that can actually be lived in. I might steal some of the ideas for grouping soaps and all by the sink. I never actually think about “styling” my kitchen, but perhaps it is time to invest in some cute functional kitchen items!
I’m getting ready to tile the backsplash of our own kitchen (if the countertops ever get installed… Le sigh…), and I’m curious about the bullnose (or is it pencil?) that you added to the right of the oven? Please help! XO
Hey Oksana, it’s actually white schluter strip. It’s super thin so that you’re not adding an extra 1/5-1″ of bullnose.
Perfect, thank you so much!
It’s very welcoming. The encaustic tile to the ceiling works on the small bit of wall. I have a similar pattern in the bathroom of our renovation–very pretty.
I wouldn’t want to have to go into the pantry to use the microwave or a stand mixer or toaster, though.
It’s really gorgeous. I wish the post had a before pic so I don’t have to scroll back to yesterday’s. I wouldn’t want my cookbooks stored out, because you can’t really wipe them off, though I understand styling for a shoot. But to me more than one book on a counter looks like out-of-place clutter. But beautiful overall!
Beautiful work! I love the tip on adding a tall element to fill a dark corner, SO helpful!
Do you have the source of the narrow tray that holds the soap pumps to the right of the faucet?
Hey Cindy, yes this was from Target a few seasons back – something I borrowed from our props for the shoot. Sorry we couldn’t give you a source for that :)x
I was looking at that too! I think this one is similar, from Target just as Ginny said the original is from.
http://www.target.com/p/threshold-diamond-dot-pressed-ceramic-bath-tray-metallic-blue-white/-/A-15466744
INCREDIDBLY beautiful, functional, and unique! Great job, Ginny!
Hi – could you share where you got the prefab shaker cabinets? I’m starting a big renovation on 100+ year old house next month and love simple shaker cabinets and think the prefab kind would be just fine and save me lots of money. Thanks!
Yes! I am wondering the same thing..
I, too, am starting a kitchen reno next spring, and am in the process of weighing out our cabinetry options!
I third the cabinet question!
Beautiful! Do you have a “rule” for how to mix metals? By my count, I see 3 different metal finishes: oil rubbed bronze, gold and stainless. Are there any metal combinations that you would not make?
Love it! What brand are the kitchen soaps and where is the white soap tray from?
Found the lotion behind the sink:
http://shop.nickeykehoe.com/collections/bedroom-bath/products/los-poblanos-lavender-hand-lotion
Still looking for the soap…
Wow this is so beautiful! I can’t get over the tile and the sink. Thank you for sharing these details!
XO
http://WWW.BYNICOLEGEORGE.COM
Love the new location of the fridge: makes much more sense now, near the sink to wash veggies fresh from the cooler and such. Well done Ginny. Now I want to see the pantry! 🙂
This kitchen is so bright now! Such a difference changing to white cabinetry. I like the final choice on the tiles, it leaves room for color changes in the future and ties together with the floor. My question is with the layout. The closest cabinets are across the room, so does the homeowner have to schlep the clean dishes across the room every time the dishwasher is emptied?
I noticed that too! I like to organize my cabinets so e wry thing is as efficient and close to where I use it as possible (and also pretty ;), and I would have a hard time not keeping dishes right above the dishwasher. It’s a stunning kitchen though, and I realize sometimes you’re limited by the layout.
The layout is great. I really appreciated seeing the original walls/footprint left in place. It’s frustrating to see open concept kitchen after open concept kitchen with rows of lower cabinets, open shelves, and a giant island (lookin’ at you, Love It or List It). That layout is fine, but it’s not a practical option for so many homes. Plus, it will look “sooo 2015” here in about 10 years when everyone is putting their kitchen walls back up 😉 This kitchen has a great flow and still feels open despite having both WALLS and a DARK WALL COLOR (gasp!). Great job, Ginny!
So agree!!!
Same problem on Flip or Flop!
this looks amazing. i love it. but, is it so little counter space? that ikea island in the original did look awful but i’m wondering where this family does all of their prep?
I was wondering the same thing! It may just be the pictures and not being able to see it in person, but I can’t seem to pinpoint where you would do food prep. If it’s near the sink, they you have to carry everything over to the stove/oven. I just can’t quite grasp the layout.
I love the tile focal point for the range. And a pot filler! Personally I would’ve wanted the fridge closer to the range, and a full set of cabinets close to the dishwasher (for putting all of the dishes in) but maybe that wasn’t possible in this case.
I do have a question, in the set of upper cabinets there’s the three on the left (because pre-fab, I get that) but why is the furthest right oriented with the handle on the left instead of the handle on the right? In the current set up it’s going to block it’s neighbor (the corner cabinet) when opening. Plus, it seems more asthetically appealing to have three groups of handles together instead of two groups and two singles.
LOVE how the accent tile was only placed above the oven. Gives the space that fun pop of character while the rest stays calm and simple! Perfect example of how less is more!
The floral citrus fruit bowl that you couldn’t find – I’m not totally sure (too far away) but it looks like it might be Boleslawiec (Polish pottery).
http://www.polishpotteryhouse.com/
This is so lovely! Any chance you have a source for the small tray that sits behind the sink, holding the dish soap and hand lotion? I have a space like that behind my sink, and it turns out finding a tray that’s narrow enough to fit there is super hard. I’ve searched and searched!
Home-freaking-run, Ginny!!! This is such a stunning kitchen and what a beautiful space to bring a new baby home to. So happy for this family!
How long did this take ?
Wait … did you say the homeowners didn’t like that little peach painting? Other than the gorgeous cement tile backing the stove, that piece made the kitchen (in my humble opinion). Can’t believe you didn’t keep it!!
Emily,
When I opened your page today, I have this huge video ad for budreaux’s butt paste. It is taking up half the screen and I cannot seem to make it go away. It pops up every time I open your page. It’s also really annoying. What do I need to do to make it go away? There is no x to remove it. I’m all for ads and making $$$ but this is horrible. Is anyone else seeing this?
Thanks
OH dear. I’ll try to fix that asap. That sounds TERRIBLY annoying. Sorry!!
Love how fresh this kitchen is. Makes me wanna learn to cook!
I love your blog, but PLEASE get rid of the pop up ad on your front page. It pops up to the top of the screen if you scroll below the link to the first blog post, where you get to the sponsored content. It plays music that wouldn’t stop, even when I hit the volume symbol on the video. I also couldn’t figure out how to get rid of it. And it was for something actually called Butt Paste.
I love the tile pattern! It’s gorgeous!
http://www.petiteandhungry.com
so best for your desain
so great your site
I adore everything about this kitchen. Big AND BEAUTIFUL Reveal should have been the title of this post.
Beautiful kitchen! Love the overall look and the orange details that warm up the blue, white and gray palette. The adjoining rug in the dining room was calling to me. Do you have any information on that?
This is a very familiar style to me. I’m from Santa Barbara where it seems we try to incorporate blues into nearly everything thing we do. Have you been here before?
I actually had a question about the layout. The fridge seems so far from the stove. Almost like it’s on the other side of the room. And where do you do the food prep? It’s a beautiful looking kitchen but I am confused about the the layout.
Impecible
Great tips, Thanks! Love it all.
A technical question if you don’t mind… what program do you use to create your animated videos, like this kitchen styling one?
these beautiful pictures made the kitchen look bigger than it is..I’m curious, there is no island?? As this kitchen seems to be on the small side for U.S. kitchens?? :O
This kitchen is gorgeous! Thanks for the genius styling tips! By the way, if you’re looking for some great art, you need to check out Leslie Duke. She’s a local artist here, and I think you’ll really love her style: http://lesliedukeart.com/
This is gorgeous! The backsplash and blue wall color go great together! I work for a company named Kukun, and we have some tools to which can make the home renovation process easier for homeowners. For example, you can estimate your costs, return of investment, and get reminders (for example, when something needs to be order or should be delivered soon). It’s all free, and we would really love to hear what you think. Check it out at http://www.mykukun.com
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I want a white farmhouse sink, but I have a white sink now and it is constantly getting stained. It is an old sink, so I don’t know if when I go to remodel the kitchen, if I get a farmhouse white sink it will still stain. Any ideas or work arounds besides scrubbing my kitchen sink daily?
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