Kitchen of the Week: Fine-Tuning a Connecticut Farmhouse

You don’t need all-new appliances, a completely different layout or a major addition to give a kitchen a fresh look and feel. Take this family’s 400-square-foot kitchen in a sophisticated farmhouse in southern Connecticut. The owners liked the location of their sink and range and wanted to keep the breakfast nook. But they were ready to lose their dark counters and old-school cabinets with traditional feet. Quick and painless design moves like adding a pocket door to the dining room, new windows above the sink and custom cabinets helped deliver a powerful update.

The existing kitchen was attractive and functional but very traditional in flavor (notice the feet on the cabinets and dark counters). The owners and their architect, Jimmy Crisp, set out to give it a more modern look that still respected the home’s architecture.

AFTER: A custom island replaced the existing one; it includes a trash center with storage drawers on one side and storage cabinets, tray storage and a built-in recessed wine rack on the other. “We purposely planned it with seating on the outside of the island so the kids or anyone sitting there stays out of the way of the work triangle,” Crisp says.

Posts on the island are both decorative and functional (they allow legroom for those seated). Meanwhile, an extra-thick honed Mother of Pearl quartzite top has a 1-inch overhang that protects the cabinets below.

The new custom cabinets add a sort of Shaker simplicity. The upper cabinets have larger glass fronts with lights inside that offer a better look at the collectibles on display. Meanwhile, the sleek new handles, knobs and pulls lend a more contemporary edge.

Kitchen of the Week: Fine-Tuning a Connecticut Farmhouse

Kitchen of the Week: Fine-Tuning a Connecticut Farmhouse