How to Design a Modern Farmhouse Kitchen

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Last year my husband and I embarked on one of the most stressful, insane, crazy ideas we ever had. We bought a new house and decided to renovate it. To read more about our crazy journey and to see other rooms we renovated, click here.

The most important room in the house, however, was the kitchen. I designed my entire house theme around the look I was going for in my kitchen, and I designed my kitchen around a single Pinterest pin. Along the way I learned how to design a modern farmhouse kitchen.

 

How to Design a Modern Farmhouse Kitchen

Find your Inspiration

For those of you out there who are new to design or don’t know anything about design (like myself!), Pinterest can be your best friend! The key to designing a room is to start by finding a picture that resembles the overall look you are trying to achieve. For me, it was a picture from Kate Marker Interiors.

The picture had everything I loved. White on white on white, and beautiful modern farmhouse elements. Inspiration doesn’t have to come from just Pinterest either. Good old fashioned decor magazines, your favorite episode of Fixer Upper, or even a house you previously visited, can be your source. I personally find Pinterest the easiest, however, due to the ease of having the photos with all the elements, right in front of you. In my own house, I didn’t have a lot to start with. The house we purchased was from the 70’s and had a lot of closed off rooms, sunken floors, and framing that was a nightmare!

It even included a fun peek-a-boo window 😛

Seek Out Individual Elements

Once I had my inspiration photo from Pinterest, I began seeking out each individual element. I knew modern farmhouse was the general theme I was going for, so white, shiplap, and a farmhouse sink were non-negotiable’s.  I also wanted to do an overall “white” theme. I knew I wanted white cabinets, counter tops, and back splash. I just love the crisp, fresh look of all white! Using my Pinterest photo, I knew all these elements went well together. I chose a white quartz counter to hold up against stains and heat, a pure white marble back splash, and a simple shaker style white cabinet. All of these elements fit well in the modern farmhouse look. I recently read a great article over at Jillian Harris, regarding the end of white kitchens. I admit I almost had a heart attack reading it. I don’t think I can ever leave my white behind but it is a great read for sure 🙂

Next, I needed to choose some of the other elements. I searched Pinterest each time for items such as “farmhouse sink,” “farmhouse lighting,” “farmhouse faucet,” and “farmhouse flooring.” Once I got the swing of that I simply found products that matched each photo I found! Finding the products was probably one of the trickiest parts, but through the help of Pinterest, Houzz and Google, I managed to find the exact products or very similar for everything I needed.  (If you haven’t discovered Houzz yet, go now…like right now…it is AMAZING!)

Mixing metal and shiplap is a great way to combine the farmhouse and modern look, so I chose metal stools. Lantern lighting is another great addition to any farmhouse kitchen! It allowed the room to still stay airy, but also brought the oil rubbed bronze look I paired with my white color scheme.

The farmhouse sink, next to my island, is one of my favorite features. No farmhouse kitchen is complete without one. You can find these sinks in all sorts of finishes, including stainless steel, black, and white. They also come in single sink and double sink options. Having a family of 10 means I use some pretty big pots around here, so I chose the largest single size sink I could find!

Some of my other farmhouse elements include: a barn door to the basement, crystal knobs on all my cabinets, farmhouse trim around the windows, and white milk jugs to hold my large counter utensils. Antique Farm House has some AMAZING finds that are unique and fit in so well with the farmhouse look, as well as others! Since I stuck with a more modern looking kitchen base (cabinets and appliances) it left room to add in more vintage inspired pieces elsewhere, to maintain the modern and farmhouse balance.

 

Tie It All Together

The implementation was one of the harder steps. Removing walls wasn’t as easy as it was on some of my favorite shows like Property Brothers or Fixer Upper (which my husband reminded me of constantly!). Instead we had to navigate around installing new beams, re-doing the entire heating system, and putting new footings in the basement to hold it all together. I made sure to pair colors and materials in a minimum of two places. I painted the barn door a beautiful robins egg blue, so I added a couple blue elements on the window sill as well. In fact, I even added fake robins eggs (which I thought were adorable), but the amount of people that assume they are real and ask if I eat them has led to FAR too many odd looks than I anticipated! The bronze can be found on my faucet, light fixtures and the base of my crystal knobs. The metal is on my appliances, stools, dining chairs, and a couple decor pieces. In the end all the hard work was worth it and it came together exactly as I had imagined!

Here are some of my before and after photos!

Here are some of the products I used in my kitchen renovation!

Farmhouse Sink by Franke

Island Pendant Lights – Darlana 4 Light from One Kings Lane

Appliances from Kitchenaide 

Kitchen Faucet from Splashes