Creating A Culinary Haven

The kitchen is probably the most important room in the house for me. I love to cook for large groups of people. However, more importantly, I love to BE with said people! Have you ever noticed that when large groups of people gather in your home they always end up gathering in the kitchen?

I’ll be honest, about my favorite pastime in the world is weaving in and through a kitchen full of teens! So, obviously the kitchen in the Jenny-Mike house was a major point of focus for me.

Again, and always, I begin my research with Pinterest. Even creating an entire board “Culinary Haven” on kitchen Design. Here are some of the things you will find in Culinary Haven…

LOVE the glass design in this kitchen! I’m working on persuading my carpenter here. He’s promised me a “prototype” while proclaiming that all his workers are going to lose their fingers in the process of recreating this design!

This kitchen is just all the way around one of my favorites! The color of the cabinets, the two armoires flanking the windows and range, the curtains, the dainty chandelier, etc… All Super Fabulous!! Don’t you agree?

The details in the above kitchens are eye-catching and definitely potential ingredients in my own kitchen. I love the brick wall with the black cabinet by Wilson-Kelsey Design. I love the rustic looking wood island counter top Segreto! And for the rest of the counters I really am drawn to the Carrera marble at ZsaZsa Bellagio. And take a look at the appliance garage on bhg.com! No more cluttered countertops!

La Dolce Vita

Almost every element to this galley kitchen is appealing to me! The checkered floors combined with the grey marbled back splash and the striped wall paper all so classic. This picture could’ve been taken from a kitchen decades ago! Timeless elements are my fave!

This kitchen I hold in my heart as I designed it. So, of course I love a lot about it! Christmas is seriously my Favorite time of year! And the decorations in this pic are the work of the sweet ladies at Miss Cayce’s Christmas Store in Midland, Texas. Seriously, my favorite store in the world! You can learn a lot from them at Show Me Decorating.

One of the best components in this kitchen is the baker’s cabinet! I LOVE it and used it often! Behind the bifold doors is a countertop with mixers and blenders and everything I needed to bake up a storm! Close the doors, and all the mess is hidden away!

The Jenny-Mike Kitchen

Out of all the cabinet designs I have seen, these are the ones I’ve sort of chosen to model mine after. They are fairly simple. Inset design with a simple molding to give the appearance of a paneling.

Very classic, of course.

North Wall of JM Kitchen

Let’s start with the sink wall, which I will refer to as the North wall.

Not exactly Auto-Cad drawings but you get the point. the cabinets at the top are glass paneled with a design that hopefully my carpenter will make prettier than I did! It’s hard to tell but on the far left is an appliance garage that is on the counter beside the bar.

East Wall of JM Kitchen

Above is the east wall. Obviously the range and oven is incorporated into this wall. The vent hood is encased by the same paneled design as the rest of the cabinets. I’m hoping to mirror the opposite wall, which is in the family room with the fireplace and mantel. The cabinets on each side of the vent hood are glass with a design on the front (I hope).

South Wall of JM Kitchen

This is the south wall, housing the baker’s cabinet (YAY!!) and the fridge, which is panel-ready (this means that the carpenter will put panels on the front to match the rest of the cabinetry). Above them is an opening for my favorite things to be displayed.

West Wall of JM Kitchen

The west wall. This is the wall that is open to the family room. A paneled eye-brow opening frames the fire-place wall in the other room. Also, housing a bar area. This drawing looks so boring because there is no family room in the picture. I’ve got skills but freehand drawing isn’t one! On the far right is the appliance garage that will face toward the fridge on the south wall.

And here’s the progress…