White Kitchen Inspiration

So many people I know have books of inspiration for their entire lives, not just for rooms in their house. My friend Lynn has a beautiful book filled with cut-outs from magazines to inspire her life goals. It's gorgeous and, well, inspirational!

Finding inspiration and interpreting it in a way that is your own is important. I've been on incredible creative teams that have come up with some beautiful story spreads, awesome ads, and fabulous promotional materials doing that. So use other designs to influence looks you want to achieve. Maybe it's a color you love, textiles, a fabric motif, a cool word to use as wall art... you have to experiment.

This is the philosophy I applied when coming up with ideas for my kitchen. I combed through magazines, books, and the Web for inspirational pictures I could build on and make my own. The big joke about my kitchen is how long it took me to do this. But had I done it immediately when I purchased the house 12 years ago, it would look completely different than it does today. Back then I knew I wanted something white, but I probably would have settled for a directly out-of-the-box kitchen. I was too green in the process. Plus, it would have also represented my life in another marriage. Waiting helped me begin a new life with something fresh—a new perspective. And the more I waited, the more I honed it what felt right. It also gave me time for me to learn more about the design principles and for my tastes to mature. I discovered how much I love architectural details. I may actually be addicted!

My house was built in 1890, so it deserves to be revived in a way that mimics interesting architectural details of that era and modern ones, too. Below were the three pictures I used as the basis for my kitchen. I think I found a couple on the House Beautiful website. Each has gorgeous eye-catching architectural detail. Remember—it all starts with a vision, then a picture, then one thing happens, and all of a sudden you are creating around it. And before you know it, a year later in my case, you have "the thing." (For pictures of my finished kitchen, see post the kitchen.

This is the first white kitchen that really made me fall in love. That back wall is so interesting and works beautifully in that space. I just couldn't make it work in mine. But I loved that white marble carrara. So I sourced it out. I ended up finding a company who sold it for a really good price, and they threw in the ogee edging free. Sometimes you pay so much more to get the edging you want. It can get ridiculous. Try and negotiate. The worst thing they can say is no, and then you go somewhere else. Don't you just love that table?

My interpretation for below.
I still need a switch plate, but finding the right one could take awhile. The three objects represent my girls: a rattle, a cup, and an apple.

I fell for this white kitchen next. I actually loved it so much I mimicked parts of the back wall. I owned a similar clock and thought, what a great place for display. I even went out and bought very similar island pendants — then quickly returned them. I ended up going for milk glass pendants, instead. I needed more white off-sets. Plus, I love milk glass. Growing up, my mother displayed it all over the house. The tile, well, I borrowed that idea, too. Who doesn't love classic subway tile? Now this kitchen has some pink hues—not for me. But it helped me visualize how different shades of white could work. 

This kitchen uses all the styles I love: rustic, traditional with a hint of  modern. It's pure bliss! It was the inspiration for my island. I wanted to incorporate brown, but couldn't visualize it. This kitchen makes it easy. My island has cabinetry with a built-in console I bought off a friend. It was very country-like. So we added the island legs, created a bookcase at the bottom, added wainscoting (see above photo), switched out the knobs for ones I found at Anthropologie, then painted it BM Bittersweet Chocolate. It softens up the entire room! 

My island built-in painted brown.
And a little bit of sun from my best friend, Annette.