When building our first tiny house, I found an article in Country Living Magazine I was browsing at an appointment, in which I just fell absolutely in love with the kitchen colors they selected! I knew absolutely I was so over the white and grays of all these fancy fake "farmhouse" styled interior design trends I was seeing literally every place. I love bright and bold colors that relate to my surroundings. So when I found these greens I immediately fell in love. I also love the fact that I can use either nickel or copper colored fixtures with these colors and they still look amazing. In my new kitchen I am going to do the same exact color combinations from Behr paints. Lucky Clover, Bamboo Shoot, and Linen. Oddly, or luckily, whichever way you want to put it; my new kitchen lay out will be almost the same as the first photo (the inspiration magazine photo), with the exceptions: Will be one large window instead of two side by side over the sink but approximately the same size, no window next to the stove, and instead of a small pantry, we will have a 24 inch counter depth refrigerator. The second two photos are the kitchen in my tiny house where I used these colors to see if I did love them as much as I thought I would..and I do!
As I mentioned in the last blog post, I will not have any upper cabinets. I will be utilizing shelves, wood, perhaps live edge, but that is not quite yet decided. The shelves will start 18 inches from the top of the counter, just as if I were placing a cabinet. I will tile from the countertop to the bottom of the first shelf and then from the stove top to the bottom of the custom range hood (about 36 x30 behind the stove). Since our home is log, and I don't want to put any mastic onto the log itself, I'm going to put a thin sheet of mdf screwed into the log and then apply my tiles to that. I will use trim to trim it out so the edges look nice. Later if I wish to change the tile, I will just have to unscrew the board I put up and not have to scrape that mess off of my logs. I think that will be the easiest way to do it. I decided on encaustic tile. I just love the rustic look. I picked two patterns. I haven't decided which one will be used in the kitchen yet, however, whichever one I do not use in the kitchen, I will use in the laundry. I really like them both! The first is called Merola Tile Archivo Argania Encaustic and the second is from the same line called Merola Tile Archivo Argania Encaustic.
I do have the drapery material picked out. I probably will just do a valance over the sink but full length from ceiling on the window facing the west. I did buy the rust and beige colored fabric that is in the inspiration photos. I will just pin them up on cafe rings for a rustic and casual look for the kitchen. I won't be using that same fabric for the living/dining area however. We are on a huge tract of land with no neighbors or need for privacy, so really window treatments are just an aesthetically pleasing creature comfort. Although they would be helpful for keeping the glare and sun out on the long summer nights that we are not enjoying the deck or patio!
I did splurge a little on the 36 inch Fireclay single basin farmhouse sink. From Signature Hardware. I very much wanted a high back double basin with a washboard, but, tiny house... tiny space. I'm going all chrome fixtures in this kitchen, only because the stove and fridge have such nice chrome accents and I think it will tie in nicely. I haven't picked the hardware for the cupboards yet, but since the tile is so full of life and pattern, I'm thinking of something very plain and utilitarian.
The Island will have to be custom. I will have to go with something pretty narrow, movable and packed with utility. I'm thinking that since it's movable, I should maybe put an outlet in the floor. So I can use my food processor, stand mixer, and other appliances on the island as a work space. The island will have to have some sort of solid surface. I was thinking maybe something quartz. Since the counter tops are butcherblock I will need a solid workspace. I do however want to have lunch there and casual meals, even a spot to have coffee, or someone to sit and visit while I'm cooking. So will have to have at least a 12 inch overhang. I haven't really come up with any drawings about it yet, but I do know it has to have some cubbies underneath and at least one long shelf. In my floor plan I placed it as 8, 12 inch cabinets 4 on each side. The cabinets are 24 deep so that would be 48x48. In the floor plan that gives plenty of room around all sides. In essence that would really be the biggest but after some thought I think that rectangular would be better than square in this space. So If I did 36 inches wide and 50 inches in length.. if I did the cabinet/shelf space 24 deep that would give me a 12 inch overhang on one long side and 50 inches in length would seat 2 people per long side for casual eating. I will have to do a mock up in the space and see. The island will have to be the last item in the space, because no matter how many times I draw it up; until the cabinetry and appliances are all in place, I won't really know how crowded it is!
Our Flooring throughout the entire place (minus the bathroom) will be a Waterproof Luxury Vinyl Plank sourced from LL Flooring (formerly Lumber Liquidators). We chose a Copper colored wide plank (Tranquility Ultra Copper Ridge Luxury Vinyl Plank Flooring) with a hand scraped look for a more rustic feel and since reds are so very compatible with the greens, I think it is a perfect match. This particular flooring has a 22 mil wear layer, which I recommend to anyone who has children or animals to have at least a 20 mil wear layer to prevent dents, scratches, stains and dings, and is a floating floor design. It is very easy to install, a clickdesign, is usable over in floor heating, and has a lifetime warranty and a 25 year commercial warranty. These floors are really optimal for the DIY'er. This particular model does not have a pad beneath it, so we will have to install one, but that is not that big of a deal. Here are some photos from the store web page of what it looks like.
So these are my finish ideas thus far, for my kitchen space! Please feel free to comment, interject ideas, suggestions or ask questions!
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