Kitchen Renovation Plans

We are starting the very daunting process of planning to renovate our kitchen. Our 1920s home has built-ins that are original to the home and although they are some of our favorite features in the home, they prevent the kitchen from flowing correctly for a modern family.

I took yesterday off to scour New England for cabinet, appliance and counters to ensure we are doing thorough research on different finish options.

As of this moment, the design plan looks like this. I change my mind daily, but keep coming back to a design with soft white shaker cabinets (similar to white dove) with unlacquered brass hardware, a farmhouse sink, wood floors, an AGA induction range, and porcelain countertops.

I have done a ton of research on counters and am trying to strike the right balance, a natural looking counter than mimics the look of marble with organic movement, but something that will not etch or stain. Basically I want marble, that is somehow not marble (a tall ask, I know). After looking at every quartz option under the sun, I discovered another option - Porcelain. Porcelain comes in astonishingly realistic patterns and after lots of phone calls we found a fabricator willing to work with it! Apparently it breaks very easily in the cutting process and needs a professional very familiar with porcelain and able to keep weight on the slab while cutting to prevent damage before install. Once installed, it is impervious to all from the sounds of it!

Here is a mood board for our cabinet style.

We want a porcelain counter, porcelain backsplash & bead-board behind it, like this Inspiration photo.

I am still toying around with the idea of soapstone counters however (they do not really stain or etch, but do scratch and chip!). I am not sure if Matt will be able to handle the chipping. It seems pretty forgiving based on the experience I had with it at Restoration Hardware when I worked there part-time. Everyone commented on its beauty. It took a beating from customers all day and still looked great.

My plan B if porcelain does not work out?

I am considering re-using our existing marble counters as a backsplash (so that stone does not go to waste) & using black soapstone for our counters. Example here from Chris Loves Julia.

Source: Chris Loves Julia

The porcelain we are considering is Calacatta Royale from Neolith, a NEW porcelain that I am not even sure we will find a distributor for. We are calling around.

Also really like these:

Mont Blanc

Blanco Carrara

Or this one is interesting with its warm tones.

Abu Dhabi

Here is the soapstone I looked at yesterday in person!