The kitchen: before and inspiration

The next/last big project to tackle around this place is the kitchen. Although the bathroom reno has left me feeling a bit less terrified, I'd be lying if I said I was looking forward to the process of the kitchen reno. This is not a big house and the kitchen though tiny is the still the activity hub of the house. I have no idea how we'll manage with relocating everything. Plus the thought of living off take-out and microwaveable "food" for any period of time is also unappealing.

Since we're planning on selling in a couple of years, there's not much room for expansion/re-configuring and because our neighbourhood is not going to attract upscale buyers anytime soon, we're not going nuts with highend upgrades.

Basically I'm looking at lower-end Ikea for almost everything: white cabinets, perhaps some glass on the uppers to make it look a touch above builder-grade, dark counter tops, single sink with a built-in drainboard, white subway tile backsplash and new vinyl flooring.

I've been collecting some inspiration pics of small white Ikea galley kitchens to get me motivated:

Masculine minimal.

Love this image of the work of Susanna Zacke (via Desire to Inspire)

Perfect kitchen

Black wall, exposed brick, industrial elements... yum.

Courtney's Home via Darling Dexter

Minimal family.

I really like this warm, minimal-modern family home. Proof that a house can look lovely and still be child-friendly. Well, when the cameras are out anyway but a girl can dream right?







Source: Apartment Therapy.

Pure genius.

If I had sufficient counter space I'd do this in a minute.

"To create my work space in the kitchen I had the bottom of the cabinets cut out and set on the counter. My appliances slide in and out easily and look neat when they are “away.”"


Source: Design Sponge - Alexandra Hedin.

Gorgeous grey and white.

Source: Jac de Villiers via Desire to Inspire.

Could just be the hormones...

but right now I want to tear apart my whole house and rearrange everything.

Of course, it being February doesn't help either. Definitely getting a tad shack-wacky. I find pictures like these calming:

Source: Toast.

All bach pad, all the time.

Ron Marvin is another designer that does a great job of mixing antiques and modern to create classy living spaces:

As close to a zen state as I'm ever likely to experience.

A couple of lovely simple spaces from photographer Michael Wells:

Simple kitchen.

Lifted from Prince of Petworth via Apartment Therapy:




Love the natural light and the spice rack.

Orange appliance love.

Why would anyone pick stainless steel when they could have orange enamel? That is not a rhetorical question.

Period via Desire to Inspire.

Lickable lino.

I've been thinking of checked lino for the kitchen for a while now but I always assumed black and white would be best. Definitely rethinking that now:

Apartment Therapy

Desire to Inspire.

I especially think the grey is a nice. Basically a softer version of the black but still neutral.

Darkly beautiful.

Lately I've been mostly drawn to light bright images, probably as a winter coping mechanism. However, once again, the ladies at Desire to Inspire have provided me with an image that makes me crave the total opposite. I think it's because this pic reminds me of the light in coastal BC. It also doesn't hurt that it features a Smeg.

A crisis of colours.

This beautiful kitchen of Swedish blogger An Angel at My Table has got me seriously regretting painting any of my walls.

I suspect though that this would only work in a large well-lit home, rather than my tiny abode, but it certainly is a stunning example of how beautiful monochromatic decor can be when done properly.

Banquettes for breakfast.

I've been working on a sketch of the future layout for my kitchen (planning for when I finally break down and sell that extra kidney or a couple of spare gametes to pay for the renos). There's this odd space where the door to the outside and the door to the basement are. I hate it and it drives me nuts so the plan currently is to get rid of the outside door and replace it with a window when we put French doors into the dining room. I'm also thinking we might be able to get rid of, or move, the basement door as well, leaving a nice corner which would be perfect for a cozy little corner eating nook.


I've been digging around looking for banquette inspiration and found a couple of good pics:

Cottage Living.

Ikea Hacker.

PointClickHome.

Sunset Home.

Domino.

Flickr - dinawitter.