Modern Farmhouse Kitchen & Dining Room Reveal
One of the very best parts about my job as an Interior E-Designer, are my clients. Seriously, I work with the sweetest, kindest people. Last month when I was out sick for a week, and instead of being mad their designs were delayed, my clients were wishing me a speedy recovery and telling me to rest up. I wish I could sit down over a cup of coffee with each and every one of them to chat about their room designs.
And some clients I get to know better than others. I loved this lovely lady named Jill from the beginning-this Colorado Mama of two at the time (and now three!) was in the beginning stages of planning her dream home. She and her husband had the building plans and contractor, but were overwhelmed with the idea of having to choose fixtures and furnishings for an ENTIRE home. Um, yup I totally get that. What I loved was that she contacted me at the very beginning on the process so that we could take our time working throughout her entire home. By the time her home was finished, Jill had Master Plans for just about every room in her whole house.
“Love this!! I can’t wait to show my husband. I love the this process that you’ve designed (and that we have two options!!). You’re brilliant, thank you!” -Jill
It was so fun to hear her (and her hubby’s) feedback and thoughts on all of their designs. It is SO much easier to give specific feedback when you have something to look at. Then we tweaked her designs until they both loved it. So read on below to see the designs and the reveal of her finished Modern Farmhouse Kitchen & Dining Room!
Designing a Modern Farmhouse Kitchen
If you have ever built a new home, you’ll know that the first rooms they contractor will have questions on will be your Kitchen.
Well before choosing paint colors and window treatments, Jill’s contractor wanted to know all of the fixtures and finishes she wanted for her Kitchen. And of course she was more than a little overwhelmed about having to choose a Kitchen all on her own. She purchased my “Finishes Only” Room Package and together we created this design for her Kitchen. Then she was able to pass the design and her Shopping List to her contractor to do his magic.
First Things First
While Jill was feeling overwhelmed, she still had a strong vision of what she liked and didn’t like. In her “Welcome Packet” I sent her a Design & Budget questionnaire. She filled that out, and sent over a scan of her builder’s floor plans. I also had her create a Pinterest board with Kitchens she loved so I could get a better idea of her style. Then I created two custom Kitchen designs for her, as well as notes and ideas, and a Shopping List for all of her fixtures and finishes.
“I think I’ve re-read everything word a dozen times from the Postboxes. I so appreciate all of the detail you’ve put into them.”-Jill
But best yet, she had a Master Plan for her Kitchen design before it even begun. That had to have taken the burden off. Here’s what her Farmhouse Kitchen design looked like:
Modern Farmhouse Kitchen Reveal
And here is the finished look of her beautiful, open floor Modern Farmhouse Kitchen! Doesn’t she have the BEST taste? I can just imagine her kids eating breakfast at that island before going off to school, or working on projects on that farmhouse dining table.
Open Floor Plan Kitchen Design
Like many families, this Kitchen is the heart of the home. But it is also literally right in the CENTER of her home with a beautiful open floor plan. Her Kitchen opens up to her front entry, dining room, and adjacent Family Room (see below for a peek!). That is why I was so thrilled I got to work with her on so many rooms of her home: we could make sure each room flowed into the other for a polished, cohesive look. Not only do you want your finishes and colors to flow, but you want to make sure the LAYOUT of your furniture flows as well!
Modern Farmhouse Kitchen Touches
Her Modern Farmhouse Kitchen is so classic and neutral, but still oozes character. We incorporated metal chandeliers from Ballard Designs with her beautiful high ceilings, and paired in up with light finishes with her light cabinets and quartz tops. Extra long subway tile and rustic woods lend a Farmhouse look without going too rustic. And wouldn’t you want to just live at that island?!
And it is hard to believe that beautiful nickel hardware is from Home Depot of all places. I love the sophistication it brings into her Kitchen design.
Modern Farmhouse Dining Room Design
I also loved how honest my client was about their casual lifestyle (me too!). They wanted their home to work well with their family lifestyle and their young children. So instead of a fancy, formal Dining Room, they had an open Dining Room right next to their Kitchen. This will work beautifully not only for meals, but she can be making a snack while her kiddos work on a project next to her.
After we designed her Kitchen and got that to its final look, we moved on to her Dining Room Design. She purchased the Starter Package and I helped her design her Dining Room. I created two designs along with all of her Mood Boards, Floor Plan, Shopping Lists, and step-by-step instructions for how to pull it all together.
How to Make an Open Floor Plan Work
One of the questions Jill had was how to lay everything out in this big open space. They wanted a large farmhouse dining table that would extend for gathering, so she wasn’t quite sure where to place her table or what orientation it needed to be. We had to find the right place for her furnishings so we could be sure the builder would put her light fixtures in the correct place. Furthermore, this area was their front foyer so she needed this room to do double duty…AND be able to flow well into her Kitchen. This is the first area guests see when they walk into their home, so it all had to work together!
To further tie all of these rooms together, we purposefully repeated some of the same elements in the Kitchen, Dining Room, and Living Room:
The same light gray walls
The same white cotton Pottery Barn curtains and rods
The same black metal light fixtures
By repeating all of these in each room, it helps tie them together and visually flow, without getting boring.
When you have an open floor plan like this, you want to be really careful with how you lay out all of your furniture so that you aren’t wasting precious space:
Modern Farmhouse Dining Room Reveal
And I couldn’t love her Dining Room more! That chunky farmhouse table from Pottery Barn is going to work beautifully with her small children AND host a crowd for gatherings. I can just see the grown-ups cooking and chatting in the Kitchen, sitting at the island, while the kids eat their early dinner at this table!
I just love the open, airy look to all of her spaces, and how each room natural flows into the other. Her gorgeous high ceilings and clerestory windows make the rooms seem even larger than they are.
Modern Farmhouse Living Room Design
And I’ll just give you a sneak peek into her partially finished Living Room. I can’t even imagine building a new house, being a Mom to small kids, and then moving everything into the new home…whew! So she just had her main pieces of furniture (such as her sectional sofa and coffee table) but hadn’t started putting things up on the walls yet. Um, I think it took me about two years until my house felt “finished” when we moved in, so I’m impressed she got this far so quickly after moving in!
This was the Modern Farmhouse Living Room I designed for her, keeping that neutral vibe throughout the house. Yet everything is really durable and kid-friendly (such as the washable sofa slipcover, the rustic “hide everything” finish of the coffee table, and easy-to-wipe-down leather chairs). Even the decor accessories are wood, metal, and plastic to be more durable when they get knocked over (because they WILL get knocked over!)
And here is a peek into her Living Room that is just off her beautiful new Kitchen:
Thank-You!
A huge, huge thank-you and big hug to my client Jill who let us peek inside her beautiful Colorado home! You were such a joy to work with! I’m sad my design work is done on your home, but I hope that means you and your sweet family get to enjoy it and make beautiful memories there.
Want to Know More About Interior E-Design?
I created Postbox Designs for the “Jills” of the world. Busy people who are juggled work, family life, and a never-ending To Do List. Home decor sometimes gets pushed further and further down the list because the whole thought of it is overwhelming. Or in Jill’s case-trying to design an entire new home at once was intimidating. Does this feel like you?
You don’t know where to start…so you don’t do anything.
You’re in the buy-and-return cycle. You buy items hoping they will work…but they don’t, and you can’t figure out why.
You’re a busy superstar and you don’t have time to take off work and hire a sitter to meet for days with an interior designer.
I totally get it. So, instead I only work via Online Interior Design. Everything is done virtually and on your time schedule. After the whole design process, I mail you your “Room-Inside-a-Box” and you can pull everything together…without leaving home. And in your PJs. No judgement. Plus I’m with you from beginning to end, so I can help with all of the final details of pulling it all together. But you don’t even have to put on make-up since all of the chatting is done via email instead of in person. Score!
You can see How Postbox Designs Works or even check out my Room Packages and Prices. Or you can just email me at kristin@postboxdesigns.com and we can chat all about your project and needs. I can’t wait to work with you.
Free Modern Farmhouse Kitchen Design
But before you go, I have one last thing for you…and it is worth the wait. I designed this FREE Modern Farmhouse Kitchen Design + DIY Island Tutorial. You can grab the Free Design + Source List in my FREE RESOURCE LIBRARY. When you sign up, you will get an email with the link and password to access all of the freebies inside the Library, including this one:
So here’s to 2019 being the year your “house” starts feeling like “home”!
Cheers,
Kristin
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