My sister in law Kriston and her family were here in Calgary a week ago and her and her husband Scott were throwing around the idea of possibly... maybe... let's think about it some more.... moving. With a recent teenager in the family and two more kids close behind things were starting to feel a little cramped at their place. This weekend (only 5 days after they left our place) she called to tell us they bought a house and are moving in next weekend!! The house is a beautiful 100 year old character home on a tree lined street backing onto a park. The house is full of rooms covered in wallpaper which for me makes it even more exciting. This place screams dramatic before and afters.
The previous owner was a carpenter and he put a lot of love into this home. The cabinets in the kitchen were built by him and Kris says they are in great shape. However they are oak, which definitely can look dated. There are tons of great tutorials in the blogger universe on painting cabinets but it's a huge job. A lot of people buying older homes are left in the same boat- wondering how to make the oak work. I got excited about the idea of creating a mood board centered around oak cabinetry, which can hopefully serve as inspiration to other oak kitchen owners who are paint-over-wood adverse.
In Kris and Scott's new place the kitchen is large enough for a table but thanks to the attached dining room Kriston is opting for a big butcher block island instead. This family is not afraid of bold design choices so I think painting out the island in a fun color like this would look great.
via dustjacket attic
Scott's brother makes gorgeous pottery and they have a beautiful collection of his work including most of their kitchen dishes. Removing some of the upper cabinets is a great way to open up the kitchen, eliminate some of the oak and provide a functional area for displaying some of their dishware. Win, win, win.
via Traditional Home
Adding in some woven roman blinds to the windows in a similar tone to the cabinets will keep the taller cabinetry from feeling unbalanced.
Bianco Romano Granite from MSI stone
via amazon.com