There have been a lot of kitchens over the years.

Some with impossible layouts. Some with strange footprints. Some needed to be completely relocated. But I really do think this one might be the trickiest yet. And somehow, I also think it may have the most potential.

The kitchen at Atelier Acres has angles in all the wrong places and a footprint that isn’t especially generous.

But then there’s the window. That lovely windows over the sink and the walls of windows that will become the eat-in nook.

The plan is for a casement crank opening that swings outward over the sink, and something about that instantly transported me back to another season of life.

Many years ago, we custom-built a home with casement windows over the sink that opened outward to birds singing outside. It became one of my favorite details in the entire house. The kind of detail you don’t fully appreciate until you no longer have it.

Truthfully, when we purchased this property, I looked past almost everything else in this kitchen because I knew we could have that feeling again.

And that was enough for me. The wall of windows didn’t hurt either.

The Beginning of the Dream

What most people probably don’t know is that we actually started negotiations on this property back in June of 2025.

And if I’m being honest, it was a roller coaster.

At first, I was incredibly excited and immediately started dreaming about what this place could become. Then it looked like we weren’t going to get it. Then it came back around. Then it disappeared again. This happened too many times to count.

At a certain point, I had to shut down all dreams and design thoughts entirely.

The more I dreamed about the property, the more disappointment there would be if it didn’t happen. So I stopped myself from going there mentally.

Or at least I tried.

Around November of 2025, it finally started to feel like this thing might actually become real again. So naturally, I started with the kitchen.

The inspiration was already there. I knew the feeling I wanted. I just needed to begin pulling the pieces together.

My Kitchen Design Process

Every kitchen starts the same way for me.

I begin by identifying the design elements that matter most. It helps keep me grounded and prevents me from drifting too far from the original vision once the functional decisions begin.

Then I sketch.

I’m not an architect, and I’m not formally trained as a kitchen designer as you can see, but spending the days living in kitchens and designing around how families actually function gives me a pretty strong sense of what works and what doesn’t.

Once closing day finally came, I gave myself a brief moment to fully appreciate the fact that this long journey had finally led somewhere real. And then it was time to get serious about the kitchen.

The Challenges of This Space

The reality is that this kitchen is small.

There are angles everywhere, and the footprint itself doesn’t naturally lend itself to the kind of spacious layout most people dream about. Every inch has to work.

But strangely, the limitations of the space are also what started pushing the design in a direction I ended up loving even more.

The tighter layout naturally leaned into something cozier. More collected. More intentional. Less about excess and more about creating a kitchen that feels warm and deeply lived in.

And because of that, a lot of the decisions in this kitchen ended up becoming firsts for me.

The Island

The island might be my favorite piece in the entire design.

It won’t have barstools, which honestly feels slightly terrifying because I’ve never designed an island without seating before. But instead, it’s becoming something much more special.

The vision is an old apothecary-style island with drawers on both sides and the kind of presence that makes it feel like it has always belonged there.

I already know it’s going to be magical.

The Eat-In Kitchen

One of my close friends, who also doesn’t have barstools at her island, has an eat-in kitchen setup that I’ve always loved.

An old antique table. Banquette seating. Slipcovered chairs. A beautiful chandelier overhead. It creates this incredibly cozy little gathering space that somehow works for everything. Coffee in the morning. Homework. Late-night conversations. People lingering longer than they meant to.

That feeling became a huge inspiration point for this kitchen.

Our version will sit surrounded by natural light and views of the land, tucked right beside the coffee bar.

The Coffee Bar

If there’s one thing that has quietly become a signature in my kitchen designs, it’s mixing something truly old into the space. At this point, I think it’s fair to call it a steady.

Rather than custom-building the coffee bar cabinetry, we decided to scale that part of the budget back and bring in an antique instead.

The piece we chose is an Old English Oak Welsh cupboard from the 1800s. Need I say more?

It brings soul into the room in a way that brand new cabinetry simply can’t.

The Pantry

The pantry is another space I’ve dreamed about for years. Honestly, calling it a pantry almost doesn’t feel accurate.

The plan is for a large walk-in pantry wrapped in windows, with natural light pouring in from every direction.

This space is coming to life by relocating the laundry room and killing a hall and powder bath that currently sits in the middle of the first floor. Now, there will be a straight shot to the dining room through a hallway, and the kitchen footprint increases dramatically.

Andy is slightly concerned that everything inside the pantry will permanently be on display, but surely by now he knows that he married a type A creative.

When the Renderings Came Back

Once the initial sketches were complete and the ideas were organized, they went off to the cabinet company for measurements and renderings.

That part always requires patience.

They take the sketches, work through the realities of the dimensions, and send back renderings based on real-life measurements.

And once those come back, the real work begins.

One thing I always do during this phase is make a complete list of everything that was stored in my previous kitchen.

Every kitchen accessory. Every serving category. Every occasional dish. Every drawer. Every awkward item. Everything. Because nobody wants to custom-design a kitchen only to realize on move-in day that they forgot to include storage for pot lids.

This time around, when the renderings came back, I just couldn’t settle on the visual balance between the range and hood area, the sink wall, and the dishwasher.

It felt unresolved.

After some brainstorming with Andy, we landed on an idea that changed everything. We decided to build a brick enclosure around the range and tuck the hood inside it. And immediately, the entire kitchen started to make sense.

Not only did it strengthen the English cottage direction we were already leaning toward, but it also allowed the range wall to feel like its own intentional moment instead of something competing with the rest of the perimeter.

The Brick

We added brick in our last house, and I absolutely loved the warmth and character it brought into the space.

It was one of those elements I knew I wanted to bring into Atelier Acres somehow. I just wasn’t entirely sure where.

So the fact that this opportunity naturally presented itself inside the kitchen feels especially right.

Moving Toward Final Plans

Once revisions are finalized, everything heads back to the cabinet company so they can implement the updates and move us one step closer to final sign-off and production. Which means this kitchen is slowly becoming real.

And honestly, that still feels a little surreal.

There’s still a long way to go. But this kitchen already feels like the heart of what Atelier Acres is becoming.

Warm. Collected. Lived in. And full of stories before we’ve even moved in.

Stay connected as we bring this place to life.