The Red House Kitchen Reveal!

It’s here! Our neutral, woodsy, earthy kitchen palette invites nature in, evoking calm and encouraging togetherness.

She’s a Mood.

I was talking with Scott the other day about a room design we’re working on, and I kept referencing the room as a ‘her.’ Her window wall, her closet, her millwork. Lucy, who was listening in on our conversation, asked if the room was a girl, and I laughed out loud, not realizing how that must sound to our 6-year-old. But after some thought, I answered, Yes, yes she is!

The Red House has been receiving her glow-up for over a year now, and through it all, she’s been adaptable, supportive and a soft place to land. She leans into the environment that surrounds her, invites us in, and exudes a warmth that makes it easy to follow her lead. And the kitchen? She’s a mood. Let’s go back in time to see where she started:

Kitchen | Before

Kitchen | Progress

Kitchen | Today!

When I tell you that we are head over heels for this kitchen, it’s still not saying enough. We’re in love! I’m really proud of the hard work and love we poured into this room. She feels like the coziest hug! In the past year, we’ve learned so much and come so far; dare I say this may be our favorite kitchen yet?

Finding Inspiration

I’ve shared this before, but leaning into a Mid-Century style for this 50’s ranch initially felt daunting. I got to work right away finding images that inspired me on Instagram, and began interacting with those accounts that seemed to nail the Mid-Century style in a way that felt inviting, not overly colorful, clean, with a nod to the traditional. As a result, Instagram did what it does, and it began serving me more of that content in my daily feed.

I bookmarked hundreds of images and spent a good amount of time scrolling through those favorites, making mental notes on what was the same across the board. I noticed a lot of wood – on the walls, ceiling and cabinetry, along with scaled back styling, straight lines emphasized with rounded corners, and mostly neutral colors mixed with deep jewel tones. With every decision we make in this home, I go back to my inspiration and ask myself, Does this work? Or am I steering too traditional?

In the end, I feel really, really good about the design we pulled together for this kitchen! See some of the photos that stuck with me throughout the process: @andandandstudio, @moodauthors, @maison.cotidiano.

About the Range Wall

The kitchen is more or less set up in two zones: The range wall, and the ‘wet’ wall. Let’s start with the range wall, which showcases two of my favorite features – our custom range hood and floating walnut shelves!

The range wall is the cooking command center, with the Fisher & Paykel induction range flanked by drawers that hold everything you’d need to prepare your meal: A spice drawer, pots and pans, roasting sheets, cooking utensils and even platters for serving.

The shelves were made by our dear friends and local-to-Red-House woodworkers, Norman Leigh. (They also did the shelving in our Chicago kitchen!) They have a soft curve on the exposed edge, and they’re about 1.5″ thick.

Several of the items you see atop the shelving were found while thrifting or discovered at nearby estate sales, and I’ve been waiting for this moment to display them! The small tomato print is by Chicago artist Leah Gardner, and displayed in a very 70s frame I picked up at a church rummage sale. The small wooden bowls are also secondhand, but those cherry wood nesting bowls are from Rejuvenation.

Designing the Custom Range Hood

Let’s talk about this range hood! I spotted this range hood on Instagram, and I knew right away the same shape would play beautifully in this room. I showed the design to our contractor, who is also a very skilled craftsman, and after a few brainstorming sessions, he was able to create the shape using MDF and 3″ radius corners.

I’ll be sharing a full post breaking down the details on this range hood, including photos showing the process as it took shape! Stay tuned for that in the coming weeks.

The Tile Backsplash

Ah, the tile backsplash! We DIY-ed this over the course of a weekend, taking you along from start to finish. This is the Home Kit Kat tile from The Tile Shop in the color Milk. It’s beautifully variegated, with a handmade look, adding beautiful texture and shine to the kitchen. What’s interesting and cool about this tile is that you purchase it in a 5″ x 10″ tile, with each tile featuring 6 individual segments, helping the process go more quickly!

We used an ivory colored pencil tile for the top trim, and for bigger impact, we wrapped the tile down to the baseboards and as far over as the door trim to the backyard! We had the tile picked out before installing the shelves, so we were able to create perfect symmetry around the room while taking into account the shape of the tile.

The Wet Wall

Moving over to the wet wall, you’ll find several new windows which frame the lush greenery outdoors! If you remember, there was a door that used to lead to the side of the house, but since we added a large sliding glass door to the room, there was no need to keep the door on this wall. By eliminating the door, we were able to extend the countertop all the way to the wall!

You’ll notice two more floating shelves here (also made by Norman Leigh), which we added to keep this side from feeling too top heavy. It also reminds me of those sweet shelves you might find in your grandma’s kitchen, with the only purpose being to display tchotchkes. It may seem impractical, but it’s also a little nod to the Mid-Century era of kitchen design!

The Coffee Corner

You know we couldn’t let this kitchen slip through the cracks without a coffee corner! I’ve switched fully to decaf coffee, whereas Scott still likes his rocket fuel. As a way to keep things easy and allow us and our friends to choose their drink of choice, we opted for a pod espresso machine. The convenience is unreal, and we’re thrilled with the drinks it makes!

Nearby, we stuffed these glass canisters with raw sugar, stirring spoons, and – of course! – dog treats for Kitty. (It should come as no surprise that this is her favorite corner of the kitchen.) A hanging planter above adds a boost of greenery to our already stellar view into the woods surrounding the home.

Choosing Walnut Cabinetry

Let’s talk about this cabinetry! We were so thrilled with our Chicago home cabinetry, that it was the easiest decision to use the same company for our Red House kitchen. Cabinets are from Cabinet Joint’s newest collection, the Access line, a slab front frameless choice for cabinets that were the perfect fit for our Mid-Century kitchen! The finish is Straight Noce from the Modern Collection, a beautiful mid-toned wood finish that plays beautifully with our walnut paneled ceiling and lighter oak flooring.

We commissioned Norman Leigh to create the hardware, the same hardware we installed in the bathroom! The hardware was 100% inspired by this kitchen, and we love how linear it is, playing against the grain of the wood on the cabinets themselves. You can learn more about the hardware right here.

We chose Fisher & Paykel panel-ready appliances, which provide a cohesive (and stunning!) look overall. We actually chose the same refrigerator and induction stove as our Chicago home’s kitchen, because we love the functionality so much!

Many of the cabinets feature nested drawers, which allowed us to have that beautiful clean line of lower drawer cabinets across both areas of the kitchen. Symmetry was really important to us, and we wanted to see clean lines across the cabinetry for that buttoned up, tidy look.

Kitchen Meets Dining

Are you tired of me referencing our Chicago kitchen yet? When we renovated that kitchen in 2022, we nixed the island in favor of a small table for our family of three, and it was the BEST decision we made in that space. Lucy can tackle her homework in the kitchen while I work, then clear the table and set it for a cozy family dinner. It’s also where our friends most often end up as we shake up cocktails! All that to say, having an eat-in kitchen was a top priority as we designed this room.

Our green marble dining table was a vintage find, and it was the first piece of furniture we bought for the Red House! When I say it was the first domino to fall in the kitchen renovation, well, it was truly the piece that inspired the rest of the design – including the reason we leaned into green soapstone countertops! The table is a solid 6-seater surrounded by these gorgeous dining chairs from Rejuvenation.

Thank You!

Y’all. Y’ALL! We made it to the finish line! This kitchen was months – a year?! – of some of the most intense planning we’ve tackled for a room design. Thank you for following along, offering helpful suggestions when we got stuck, and all-around cheering us on. How lucky are we that our Yellow Brick Home community is so supportive and wonderful?

From the moment we walked through this home, we knew this kitchen would be something special. We walked you through the process from the very beginning, and while some of you had some hesitation about the amount of wood being used in the space, we couldn’t be happier with how warm and inviting this room feels! This was really outside of the box for us, and it’s been the most challenging, rewarding design we’ve created to date. She’s a dream come true.

The Kitchen Mood Board

And a huge thank you to our supporters and partners, Rejuvenation, The Tile Shop, and Cabinet Joint for believing in us! We’ve rounded up the larger pieces in this kitchen for you below, and you can always shop our kitchen here (all the way down to the small stuff), too!

1. foster sconce | 2. home kit kit tile | 3. allenglade chandelier | 4. soapstone countertops | 5. straight noce cabinets | 6. blair faucet | 7. giana sink | 8. under-shelf accessory | 9. induction range | 10. fouts runner | 11. rinna rattan bowl | 12. canister | 13. cherry wood bowl | 14. dining table (vintage) | 15. wool rug (similar) | 16. como table lamp |17. harper chair | 18. maria planter

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Looking for more kitchen content? This was our thought process behind the kitchen mood board, here are the details behind the walnut paneled ceiling, and this is everything you want to know about the tile backsplash. And check out some of our other kitchen before + afters, such as our Chicago kitchen with red cabinets, a neutral kitchen at the Tree House, a two-toned white + wood kitchen at the Two Flat, and this compact kitchen with floating shelves!