I recently spilled the beans about my parents’ new house build. If you missed it, the lowdown is that a few months ago my parents moved back from the other end of the country, and now they’re building a beautiful home right across the road from the beach (and 5 minutes away from us – yay!)
The kitchen has gone in (except for the benchtops) so I’m itching to show you our progress. Photos are at the end!
To get you up to speed, we decided to do a modern coastal kitchen with a Hamptons vibe. The kitchen is open to the living and dining area, and the entire area features a raked and panelled ceiling, which will make the space feel light and open.
Here’s the kitchen elevation as drawn up by the cabinetmaker:
It’s a U-shaped layout with a walkway through to the laundry and master bedroom beyond. (You can see the complete floorplan of the house in this post.) The window behind the sink has a lovely sea view.
A few details aren’t quite to scale in this rendering – such as the finish beneath the island bench, which actually features slim vertical planking to reference the ceiling.
We also added planked detailing to the pantry cupboard next to the fridge, which you can see below. This section is recessed back further than the rest of the cupboards to create a wider walkway, so visually it was already delineated from the others, which is why it was the ideal place to feature a different finish.
As you can see, we decided on a classic Shaker profile for the cupboard doors and drawers. The cabinetry will be white 2-Pac, with white quartz countertops.
The handles will all be black, which is a classic accent and looks so crisp and striking against an all-white kitchen. To give the whole thing a modern twist, we’ve also settled on a black granite sink and tapware.
The splashback is a gorgeous marble herringbone that I cannot wait to see installed. Because the splashback faces directly onto the living area, it really will be a key feature of the whole space. It’s going to look stunning. (Picture me doing a heart-eye-emoji-face over here.)
There will, OF COURSE, be two pendant lights above the island bench, because pendant lights are my most favouritest thing ever. (For more on my obsession with pendant lights, see this post where I share 21 of my favourite pendant-light-over island-bench combinations.)
Our original thought was to use this black lantern-style pendant, which is a lovely modern take on a classical Hamptons look:
…but the installation would have been quite tricky. These pendants have a rigid pole, meaning they can only hang directly down at 90° from the ceiling. Because our ceiling is sloping, the builder would need to create a wedge at just the right angle, and then attach them to that. There would have been a fair bit of mucking around involved, and it might have all ended up looking a bit awkward if you stared closely enough.
So to cut a long story short, we ended up going with more of a modern coastal style pendant with a natural woven look. I love the pendants we chose and how they bring a bit more of a relaxed holiday vibe to the room.
Here’s the complete mood board with all sources listed below!
1 – Benches: Smartstone in “Astral”, 20mm – This sample looks creamy on screen, but it’s actually a crisp, clean white in person.
2 – Splashback: Carrara Bianco Herringbone mosaic
4 – Shaker profile doors by cabinetmaker. We haven’t finalised the handles yet, but I’m holding out for black knobs on the upper cabinets and black pulls on the drawers, somewhat similar to these.
5 – This is the wall colour (although it will actually be a shade lighter than this). We are using Dulux “Tranquil Retreat” in half strength. The white panelling is representative of the planked ceiling, which will be painted white (Dulux “Lexicon Half”).
6 – Duck egg blue salad bowl – Okay, so I have yet to convince my parents that they need to let me spend a little bit on decor items to style out this space. (Same goes for the whole house, really. Lol.) So the lovely feature salad bowl and chopping board are more based on my fantasy of what this will look like than the current reality. Time will tell! I would love to see them get some nice things, though. They deserve it.
7 – Round recycled Elm chopping board – Timber is a lovely way to bring a touch of warmth to a white-on-white colour scheme.
8 – Hand-blown Glass canisters – because every kitchen needs canisters.
10 – Oliveri “Santorini” sink – in black granite. Nice!
We haven’t 100% settled on the bar stools yet. I do really love the look of these ones, which are exactly the right style for this space: a little bit classic, definitely Hamptons, but still relaxed. The white looks slightly lost against the white-on-white scheme though, at least in a mood board rendering, so I have considered other colour options.
My problem is that I want a rattan-look stool, but definitely not in a natural finish, because there will be two natural woven pendants directly overhead. Duck egg blue would be a fun way to pull in a little colour – except there’s a duck egg blue couch right next to this bench, so that would be way too matchy-matchy. Another option would be black, and while I have found a bamboo-style bar stool that comes in black, it’s feeling a little heavy to me for this space. I do love the daintiness of this particular stool. I’ve also thought about dying the seat cushion to bring in a little more colour, which may end up being the best solution of all.
Honestly, I think I love them too much to switch these stools out completely, and I have a pretty good feeling that they are going to look amazing just as is. What are your thoughts?
All of which may be completely hypothetical if we don’t end up putting in bar stools at all. (There won’t be a whole lot of room between the couch and the island bench, so we’re going to wait until the rest of the furniture goes in and then decide.) But decorating wouldn’t be nearly as much fun if we didn’t spend ages wrestling over hypothetical decisions, right?!
Alright, so I know you’re dying to see how it’s all coming together. Now for the progress shots!
If you follow me on Instagram, you should have already seen this LIVE in my stories this week – plus I also shared a sneak peek of the gorgeous tiles in the bathroom, so come on over and follow along so you don’t miss out on all the updates to come! The house is really coming together fast now!
It’s going to look so lovely, fresh and crisp. I can’t wait until that marble splashback goes in!
Next up, I’ll be sharing the bathroom plans and progress. I am SO excited about the beautiful tiling that is happening right now. It’s already looking amazing!
See the rest of the series:
Announcing… A new house build!
Modern Coastal Kitchen mood board… and progress pics! (You’re here!)
Wishing you a house full of sunshine!
