Heart of the Home

By: Fusebox 02/26/2021

Heart of the Home

Well, that was a longer gap between blog posts than I was planning for! I think I was frozen for the last two weeks and finally thawed out enough to put together proper thoughts for this post. I am really excited to share our plan for the heart of the home, the kitchen.

Color Scheme

When I envisioned our kitchen, I wanted it to be warm and inviting. I love white kitchens, but knew I wanted something a little softer than white- enter beige! I know that word has a negative connotation for a lot of people (i.e. “builder beige”), but I’m here to tell you beige is not scary. The key to making it work is making sure there is enough depth to the color. Originally, was not planning to do a contrasting color on the island, but it felt a little flat. I found this grayish-navy color that brought a little something to the design. There will be white oak shelves that will complement the flooring running throughout the main level of our home.

 

Mixed Metals

I still love mixing metals, and plan to do so throughout much of our home. I refrained from brass in our current home and I have missed it these past two years, so it is definitely making a comeback in our new home. I am also using matte black in a few spaces, which sort of surprised me. I was planning on brushed nickel and brass, but was swayed into black by my husband. We will have to wait and see if he was right!

 

Lighting

I have changed my mind on the island pendant lights several times now. I had originally planned to do something dark (as shown in my rendering), and have decided to go black in our basement bar area instead, so it was back to the drawing board. I have several options that I like, but they need to coordinate with the small wall sconces I plan to use over our kitchen window. With that in mind, I am leaning towards the glass option in my design board. Do you like the brass or black option around the glass?

 

Countertops

This might be an interesting choice to read about. We are going with porcelain. Porcelain sheets have been making an appearance on shower walls for a while now, but is becoming more common for countertop use as they are beginning to manufacturer different thicknesses. This has been growing in popularity in other parts of the country and is slowly making its way here in the Midwest.

The pros of porcelain– 30% stronger than granite, heat resistant, scratch resistant, non-porous, stain resistant, UV Light resistant, and environmentally friendly (made from raw and clay-based materials). The other deciding factor for us, it looks the most like marble without being marble.

The cons of porcelain– The material itself is cheaper than quartz or natural stone, but it is more expensive to fabricate because it is more delicate to handle when cutting. Not every fabricator is willing to work with porcelain. This can be a problem in some areas, but are fortunate to have a few options here in the Des Moines area. We are excited to try this, not only in our kitchen, but also in our master bathroom shower.

 

Final Details of the Heart of the Home

The rest of the kitchen is pretty self-explanatory. A version of subway tile for the backsplash, brass cabinet hardware, and matte black and brass plumbing fixtures. We are also using a panel-ready refrigerator, dishwasher, and ice maker. It certainly does not make them disappear, but they do blend a little more with the cabinetry. Ryan is probably most excited for his built-in coffee maker. I do not drink coffee, but I am sure that I will enjoy a hot chocolate with frothed milk from this fancy machine.

We are excited to see this come together in the coming months. I hope this will be a space that our family loves to gather in for years to come.

I am signing out for the next week. Ryan and I are escaping to Key West for a few days, and we couldn’t be more excited after canceling three other vacations in the last 18 months. When we get back I hope to share details on the master bathroom! Have a great weekend!

Tags: Kitchen, New Home