Birch + Bird Vintage Home Interiors

Over the holidays, it was once again made clear to Brad and I how poorly our kitchen functions when we’re entertaining. Our home is a late 1960′s rancher with a retro feel and open plan layout that we love. The kitchen, however, is a smallish galley style layout and, while it does have newer cabinets and plenty of storage, there’s not much room for more than 2 people to move around comfortably in it. I don’t know about your social circles, but when we’re with friends we almost always all congregate in the host’s kitchen for the majority of the evening. I am a firm believer that the kitchen truly is the heart of the home. Here are some of the must-haves on my list of dream kitchen requirements…what are some of yours?

Desire to Inspire

A central island is definitely at the top of my list. Brad and I (but mostly Brad!) did a full renovation of our last home. We literally gutted the whole thing and the finished new kitchen was by far my favourite part of our little house! All of the main living area walls were knocked down and we moved the kitchen from it’s original awkward location at the back of the house to a brighter and more spacious one at the front. We incorporated a large kitchen island full of storage and, hands down, that is where most of our socializing, art projects and significant moments (like signing the sale papers when it was time to move elsewhere) happened.

At the time of our renovation, and until Rachel and I opened Birch + Bird, I worked as a kitchen designer for for a wonderful local company called Generation Cabinets. I’d previously worked at a flooring store with Trish, the owner’s wife, and when she left to lend a hand at her husband Dave’s cabinet shop, I begged to come along! They taught me so much and I loved using both the logical and creative sides of my brain while piecing together dream kitchens for our clients. In fact, I still lay awake at night planning the renovations I would love to design for some of my friends’ kitchens…sad, right? I think I’ve mentioned it before, but that is where Rachel and my friendship first began, during the renovation and design process of her own kitchen with Generation. I’m hoping she’ll post her before and after pictures soon because they’re pretty amazing!

Lonny

I love the idea of open shelving for everyday items like mugs and cereal bowls. I’m not a fan of dusting, however, so I don’t think I’d include open storage for too much more but looking at the next two rooms, I could easily be convinced otherwise…

Elle Decor

Brooklyn Brownstone via Design*Sponge

More and more, especially since doing countless photo shoots of our shop inventory, I’ve been realizing the importance of good lighting. Although our new home was basically “done” when we moved in and didn’t need any major improvements or upgrades, we did change nearly all of the light fixtures. During the day our home gets quite a bit of natural lighting, thanks to large windows, but in the evenings things often become quite dim. Lighting in the kitchen is especially important for cooking and meal prep. I absolutely love these next two kitchens and their dramatic pendant fixtures…

Elle Decor via Design Elements

Style At Home

Industrial and vintage touches, like these metal stools, bring a relaxed family vibe into these fabulous white kitchens. I love incorporating unique and sometimes unexpected elements into a room and find it keeps them from looking too stiff or formal. Such accents can easily be brought into the kitchen by using vintage or reproduction light fixtures, seating, dish collections and more. Adding stainless steel accents like backsplash tiles or appliances brings a more masculine touch to the space…

1. House Beautiful 2. Elle Decor

Caldwell Flake Interior Design

Natural materials like wood and stone bring so much warmth to what can often be the most sterile and clinical space in the house, other than bathrooms anyway. If you haven’t already noticed, I have a huge soft spot in my heart for wood ceiling beams and posts…rustic, stained or painted, I just love them!

The lovely ladies over at Desire to Inspire put together several amazing “Best of 2010″ kitchen collections that you really should take a look through if you’re thinking of remodeling in the year to come…

Desire to Inspire

1. Martha Stewart 2. Canadian House & Home

My tastes lean towards neutral coloured finishes and materials, simply because they stand the test of time. However, I couldn’t live without splashes of colour in our home and here are several great examples of how to inject colour into the kitchen. Notice that almost any colour could be substituted and still look fabulous against a neutral back drop like these…

Style At Home

Kitchen belonging to Victoria Smith of sfgirlbybay via Rue

Well, I’m sure that’s more than enough to get you dreaming about your own cooking space! I’d love to hear your thoughts about your own kitchens…please share!