Interior Design Kitchen Living Room Dining Room – One of the best parts about my job as an interior designer is my clients. Seriously, I work with the sweetest, kindest people. Last month, when I was sick for a week, and instead of getting angry that their designs were delayed, my clients wished me a speedy recovery and told me to rest. I wish I could sit down with each of them over a cup of coffee and discuss the design of their rooms.
And I know some clients better than others. I was in love with this lovely lady named Jill from the start – the then Colorado mom of two (and now three!) was in the early stages of planning her dream home. She and her husband had building plans and contractors, but were overwhelmed by the idea of choosing fixtures and furnishings for the entire home. Um, yeah, I totally get that. What I loved was that she contacted me early in the process so we could take the time to work on her entire home. By the time her house was finished, Jill had master plans for almost every room in her entire house.
Interior Design Kitchen Living Room Dining Room
“Love it!” I can’t wait to show it to my husband. I love the process you designed (and that we have two options!!) You are amazing, thank you! – Burn
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It was so fun to hear her (and her husband’s) feedback and thoughts on all of their designs. It’s much easier to give concrete feedback when you have something to look at. Then we changed the design until they both liked it. So read below to see the design and discover her finished modern farmhouse kitchen and dining room!
If you’ve ever built a new home, you know that the first room they’ll ask a contractor about is your kitchen.
Before choosing paint colors and window treatments, Jill’s contractor wanted to know all the fixtures and finishes she wanted for her kitchen. And, of course, she was more than a little overwhelmed about choosing the kitchen herself. She bought my Just Finished room pack and together we created this design for her kitchen. Then she could hand the design and her shopping list over to her contractor to work his magic.
Even when Jill felt overwhelmed, she had a firm vision of what she wanted and what she didn’t. In his “welcome pack” I sent him a design and budget questionnaire. He filled it out and sent a scan of the plans to his builder. I also made her a Pinterest board of kitchens she loved so I could get a better idea of her style. I then created two custom kitchen designs for her, plus notes and ideas, and a shopping list for all of her fixtures and finishes.
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“I think I re-read every word of the postal books a dozen times. I really appreciate all the details you put into them. – burn out
But best of all, she had a master plan for her kitchen design before she even started. His burden was to be lifted. Here’s what her farmhouse kitchen design looked like:
And here’s the full look of her gorgeous, open floor modern farmhouse kitchen! Doesn’t he taste great? I can picture her kids eating breakfast on this island before school or working on projects at this farmhouse dining house.
Like many families, the kitchen is the heart of the home. But it’s also literally right in the center of her beautiful open-plan home. Her kitchen opens up to her entry, dining room and adjacent family room (see below for spoilers!) which is why I was so excited to work with her on so many rooms in her home: we can make sure each room flows into one another for an elegant , cohesive look. Not only do you want your finishes and colors to flow, but you want to make sure your furniture arrangement flows too!
Dining Room Royalty-free Images, Stock Photos & Pictures
Her modern farmhouse kitchen is very classic and neutral, yet exudes character. We added a metal chandelier from Ballard Designs with beautiful high ceilings and paired it with light trim with light cabinets and quartz tops. The extra long subway tile and rustic woods give a farmhouse look without being too rustic. Wouldn’t you just like to live on this island?!
And it’s hard to believe that the beautiful nickel hardware is from Home Depot of all places. I love the sophistication she brings to kitchen design.
I also loved how honest my client was about their comfortable lifestyle (and me!). They wanted their home to work well with their family lifestyle and their young children. So instead of a fancy, formal dining room, they had an open dining room next to the kitchen. Not only will it work wonderfully for a meal, but she can make a snack while her kids work on a project next to her.
After we designed and finalized her kitchen, we moved on to designing her dining room. She bought the starter pack and I helped her design her dining room. I created two designs with all of his mood boards, floor plans, shopping lists, and step-by-step instructions on how to put it all together.
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One of Jill’s questions was how to save everything in this big open space. They wanted a large farmhouse dining table that extended to accommodate gatherings, so she wasn’t sure where to place the table or what orientation she needed. We had to find the right place for his furniture to make sure the builder would place his light fixtures in the right place. Additionally, this area was their front center, so she needed that room to do double duty…and flow nicely into her kitchen. It’s the first area guests see when they enter your home, so it all has to work together!
To further tie all these rooms together, we deliberately repeated some of the same elements in the kitchen, dining room and living room:
By repeating all of this in each room, it helps tie them together and visually flow without being boring.
When you have an open floor plan like this, you want to be really careful about how you place all of your furniture so you don’t waste valuable space:
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And I couldn’t love her dining room more! That chunky farmhouse table from Pottery Barn will work wonderfully with your little ones and host a crowd of gatherings. I can just see the adults cooking and chatting in the kitchen, sitting at the island, while the kids eat their first meal at this table!
I love the open, airy look of all the spaces and how each room flows naturally into the others. Its beautiful high ceilings and windows make the rooms seem larger than they are.
And I’ll see you peeking into her partially finished living room. I can’t imagine building a new house, being a mom to little kids, and then moving everything into the new house…wow! So she only had her main pieces of furniture (like her sectional sofa and coffee table) but hadn’t started putting things on the walls yet. Hmm, I think it took about two years for my house to feel “finished” when we moved in, so I’m impressed that she got there so quickly after moving in!
This was the modern farmhouse living room I designed for her, keeping that neutral vibe throughout the house. However, everything is really durable and kid-friendly (like the washable sofa covers, the rustic finish of the hide-it-all table, and the easy-to-clean leather chairs). Even decorative accessories made of wood, metal and plastic are more durable when knocked (because they will fall!).
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A big, big thank you and a big hug to my client Jill for letting us peek into her beautiful Colorado home! It was a pleasure working with you! I’m sorry that my design work ended on your house, but I hope it means that you and your wonderful family will enjoy and make good memories there.
I created mailbox designs for the Jills of the world. Busy people with work, family life and an endless to-do list. Home decorating sometimes gets pushed further down the list because the whole thing is too much to think about. Or in Jill’s case – trying to design a brand new house all of a sudden was daunting. Does this sound like you?
You are in a buying cycle. You buy things hoping they will work… but they don’t, and you can’t figure out why.
You’re a busy superstar and you don’t have time to get work done and hire a sitter to meet with an interior designer for days.
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I absolutely understand it.