4 Tips For Selecting Kitchen Cabinets – Farmhouse Project

Today is DAY 431 – FARMHOUSE PROJECT 

I haven’t given an update for awhile so I thought I would let you guys know where we are on the building the farmhouse. Since we are having one of the wettest summers since 1875 (as the weather man points out each day) we are having a lot of challenges in getting the house built.

This is a view of the kitchen area. I plan for the sink area to be under the window. The view is beautiful and looking out during the fall will be full of amazing colors. Let’s talk about the kitchen plans shall we. This is my first time ever I have gotten to design my kitchen from ground up so I am super excited. I have always moved into an already built house.

At first it becomes overwhelming. Its like “Where do I start?” I could give a hundred tips but that would be too time consuming, so I have narrowed it down to 4.

What’s Your Style? What do you like?

First I needed to nail down exactly what style I liked. To do that I started looking through tons of photos on websites, saving them, and it wasn’t long until I saw a pattern in color and design that kept catching my eye. I also wanted to keep everything as timeless as possible. I am not going with fade colors or fixtures that will be outdated in 2-4 years. White cabinets, black granite counter top, white cast iron sink, glass doors, classic lighting fixtures, traditional faucets. Design a Mood Board is really the best way to keep your thoughts and plans organized.

Design/Quote

Once you know what you like then it’s time to meet with your cabinet maker/vendor. You will need to have a price range in mind, along with the color, style, and your layout. They will help you with the options and draw up a design and preliminary quote.

Revised Design & Quote 

Once you receive the quote you can then start revising as needed for your budget. I received the quote and then sent it back saying what price I wanted to try to get to and also told them the options that I really wanted and didn’t want.

For example: I wanted to cut the price without giving up certain features, so I asked if we could make the island 5 ft instead of the 6 ft that our architect had drawn. The 5 ft., still offered the work space and eating area we wanted, but also made for more floor space. This change alone saved us $1800 on cabinetry and granite top cost.

Final Design 

Once you have sweet talked  conversed with your husband and agreed on the  quoted price, the final design will be drawn up. Cabinets will be ordered and delivered approximately 4-6 weeks later. Following is my kitchen selections and a few photos.

Floor Plan

Update:  This is an actual photo from my finished kitchen. First I decided where I wanted my appliances. The sink was definitively going under the window. Here is the view looking out the kitchen. This is a double window so it is a lot bigger than it looks in this photo. This is my view when standing in the sink area.  If the window was any higher I would have to tippy-toe to look out. Since this is a farmhouse I wanted to stay with a shaker style or simpler style if you will. I first was going to have a drop in stove in the island, but later decided I really wanted the island as a work space and eating area, so moved the stove to the left wall and the microwave will be above it. The refrigerator will be on that wall as well.

Here is over view of the layout of the cabinets.

One of my inspiration for white cabinets is this photo of a kitchen from East Hampton Kitchen Remoldelista Sawyer Berson.  Love this so much!

I selected the Kraftmaid Hamilton Shaker, style cabinet. Since this is a farmhouse style home I am going with simple, traditional, classic style. The cabinets look like the photo above but have an additional wood center piece in the middle of the doors. You may also want to consider other cabinet and storage options from  Nathan James

There are lots of glass designs now a days. Have you all seen the beaded glass? I fell it love with it. Four of the top cabinet doors will have beaded glass inserts like the photo above.

Black matte cup handles hardware.

White Kohler drop in cast iron double sink

I went back and forth between the apron front sink and a drop in cast iron, and then went with the safer bet of the traditional drop in.
Kitchen pendant lighting over the island

This is the Bead Board that will be on the island seating side.

Black Pearl Granite counter tops.

 This is the layout of the kitchen. Two options that I really wanted were the valances on the bottoms of the cabinets and the beaded glass doors. 

The cabinets were delivered a few days ago. It will probably be at least 4 more weeks before they are installed.

Final Thoughts

Now its on to the selection of wood trim, staircase railings, bathroom vanities, faucets, light fixtures etc.What do you have in your kitchen that you can’t live without?  Any suggestions for me?

Come on over to PINTEREST and let’s hang out.  All kinds of DIY going on over there.

Hope to see you back soon.