Before & After: Farmhouse Kitchen Remodel

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Well spring break is just around the corner for us, and our family is excited to be heading up to our ranch in Montana for a week of fun and relaxation…with a bit of work thrown in. We always seem to have some construction project happening up there and this winter is no different. We are working on a new guest cabin and I can’t wait to share all of the details of that project with you as it gets closer to completion, but today I wanted to tell you about my all time favorite kitchen remodel!

BEFORE-A TINY REFRIGERATOR, A HUGE RANGE AND VERY LITTLE WORK SPACE

Some quick background: We bought this ranch five years ago with the intention of spending our summers there.  We loved everything about the property, but it was in a serious state of disrepair, so we began to a series of remodels and renovations.  My first priority was the kitchen . While we loved the house, the kitchen was just not very user friendly and certainly not big enough for the number of houseguests we knew we would have every summer.

BEFORE-NO UPPER CABINETS AND ONLY A FEW LOWERS MADE STORAGE DIFFICULT

By far, the best part of the kitchen was the huge commercial range. 

It looked as if someone had dropped a restaurant grade range into an old farmhouse kitchen.

I knew we would have to integrate that into the remodeled space, so we ended up expanding the entire space by closing in an outdoor carport and reconfiguring the laundry room and pantry.  What we ended up with was a very large kitchen and breakfast area that is now the heart of our home there. 

I wanted the new design to have a cleaner feel than the original space and yet still fit in with the style of the rest of the house, so we kept it mostly white, but used reclaimed barn wood for the center islands and old wood beams on the ceiling.

I knew I wanted two center islands, one as a “work” island and one for eating or serving meals.  We do a TON of buffet style meals at the ranch and the second island is the perfect place to serve everyone.

We absolutely fell in love with the readily available weathered barn wood in Montana and decided to use it for our center islands.

While looking through thousands of pictures for inspiration, I came across a reproduction of an old farmhouse sink and fell in love!  

I knew I wanted to incorporate that sink into our design.  It was the exact right size for the space and is my favorite thing about this kitchen.  When I open the windows above the sink, I can hear the creek running.

What used to be the carport, is now a large breakfast area.  We decided on a bench seat in order to maximize the space, and added windows all the way around that look out to the yard and creek.  

We also built in what appears to be a free standing hutch between the kitchen and breakfast area.  I wanted the continuity in color to extend all the way to the breakfast area, so it was easier to have our cabinet maker build the hutch.

With all of the stainless steel in the range and hood, I did not want to add more on the refrigerator, so we opted to panel the refrigerator with custom “barn doors” in a weathered gray/blue finish.  The addition of the large handles and strap hardware makes it nearly impossible to tell that is the fridge.  We filled in the area above the refrigerator with an open cabinet with chicken wire on the doors.

In keeping with the farmhouse style, we decided to use a wood beadboard backsplash, rather than stone or tile.  I love the way it adds texture to the wall below the cabinets, and is a major cost saver!

I was not nearly as practical when I chose our counter top material.  I wanted a soft white look so, we went with Carerra marble slabs.  I had used marble in my kitchen in California, so I knew all of the potential problems, but there really was no other material available that made sense at the time.  

I have to say, the marble has worn very well after a lot of use and I would definitely choose it again!

THE LITTLE DETAILS

We used black cabinet hardware and a polished nickel finishes on the faucets.  

The cabinets and walls were painted in Benjamin Moore-Swiss Coffee

So that’s it…my all time favorite remodel project!  It was the perfect transformation for our family and truly made all the difference in terms of our enjoyment and use. 

You can find sources and all of the details about our farmhouse kitchen by clicking HERE.

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10 Comments

  1. Farmhouse kitchen is one of the important types of kitchen style. The blog is giving away the right information. The two stages “before” and “after” the kitchen remodeling give you a proper detail about the changes that you can make in your kitchen. This blog will give you precise information of the step to be taken for renovating your kitchen.

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