It goes without saying that cabinets are the foundation of any kitchen remodel. They are the one thing you really\u00a0<\/em>don\u2019t want to screw up, the item you are most likely to spend your time agonizing over, and definitely the place where diving into the details really matters. Also \u2013 measuring, measuring measuring. It can all be a bit overwhelming, but when they come together and get put into place? The reality of your new kitchen takes shape and it\u2019s the BEST feeling.<\/p>\n After revealing the finished (!!!) remodel of our cellar kitchen yesterday over on Emily Henderson\u2019s blog<\/a>, I thought it would be fun \u2013 and helpful! \u2013 to get into more of the thought and design process behind our kitchen cabinets since that\u2019s where most of the comments and questions landed! For me, designing cabinetry can be broken down into three big decisions: 1) Layout 2) Color & Style and 3) Functionality. So, I\u2019m going to go through our process using those three main decision-drivers.<\/p>\n But first off, the most important piece of info: where we got our cabinets.<\/p>\n I worked with\u00a0Masterbrand Cabinets<\/a> when we remodeled our entire main floor kitchen with their Omega line<\/a> a few years back. We had a wonderful experience, so I knew I wanted to work with them again. This time, however, we opted to go with their Diamond Cabinet line<\/a> which is a bit less custom, and a bit more affordable. Even though our cabinets were sponsored, I wanted to keep things slightly<\/i> more realistic as far as the type of cabinetry we would potentially choose to remodel a secondary kitchen. This cabinetry also had a shorter lead time, which was awesome.<\/p>\n LAYOUT<\/strong><\/p>\n When we took an initial look at what this remodel would look like, my husband and I walked through the ways we would use this space to see if there was any big reason to change the current layout of the room. I\u2019m sure many of you know by now that one of the biggest ways to save money on a remodel is keeping the currently layout, so you don\u2019t have to move plumbing, electrical or gas lines around too much. But the fact was that we were going to have to gut the cabinets (they were in awful shape)<\/em> and replace all the plumbing and electrical which gave us the perfect excuse to change things around! But we didn\u2019t \u2013 and here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n This was one of the first rounds of renderings we got from the designer we worked with at MasterBrand based on our preliminary rough measurements and layout requests. From here you can get a better perspective on the space. The door to the right exits to the back yard. If you were renting the apartment, you would come and go from here. Right now, this is the door we use to come and go from the garden. On the the left is an open entry to the living room. On the wall that we are looking out from are two doors: one on the far right that is the entry from the laundry room and stairwell, and one on the left that is a closet. As you can see\u2026 it\u2019s a small space and a lot of doors to work around, making the layout options pretty restricted!<\/p>\n I played around a bit with the location of the refrigerator, but ultimately this was the best place for it to go.\u00a0 The only big change we had initially thought about was adding more cabinets to the left. We went back and forth on if they would be open shelves (as shown here)<\/em>, floor to ceiling cabinetry, etc, and ultimately landed on not doing them at all (I\u2019ll get back to why in a bit!)<\/em>. Here\u2019s more perspective, again from our initial rough renderings, with some of the smaller adjustments.<\/p>\n Most of the choices we made here are pretty basic. Replacing old cabinets with new always brings the option of more functional storage, and we took full advantage of that. The corner unit has pull out, layered storage<\/a>. We added a combination garbage\/recycle pull out<\/a> to the right of the sink (gotta love hidden garbage vs having it sitting out!),<\/em> the cabinet under the floating shelves has pull out drawer storage<\/a> for pots and pans, and of course we\u2019ve got some nice open shelving options too!<\/p>\n It seems like anytime I opt for floating shelves in a kitchen vs. cabinetry there\u2019s a contingency of people who are really unhappy about it. It sort of cracks me up because \u2013 honestly \u2013 if it works for the home owner, who cares!! But let\u2019s address the top concerns we always hear:<\/p>\n The bottom line is, if it works for you, and you love it \u2013 just do it! That was kind of my entire philosophy for this space actually. Which is the perfect segue to the topic of style!<\/p>\n COLOR & STYLE<\/strong><\/p>\n When it came to choosing the style of cabinetry, beadboard was always my first inclination. I was inspired by a furniture cabinet piece that I had originally thought about using for the space (which didn\u2019t work out)<\/em> and had beadboard detail, so the idea just stuck with me. But before I made that call, I decided to focus on the finish. After pulling a lot of inspiration<\/a>, I knew I wanted to do either a light wood, a creamy white, or a sage green for the cabinet color. Once we knew we were keeping the terra cotta floors, that quickly ruled out wood for me. And while cream would have been just fine, it would also have been the exact same color as our main kitchen, and that felt a bit boring. A quick look at the options offered by Diamond cabinets showed three shades of green: one that was more of a gray with a green undertone (Limestone)<\/em>, one that was a midtone green with quite a bit of blue in it (Seaside)<\/em>, and one that was a classic dark green (Foxhall)<\/em>.<\/p>\n Sadly, neither of the true greens were the right color \u2013 both just felt too dark for the space. While the basement may look nice and bright in these photos, I can assure you that it only gets that kind of light about four hours a day \u2026 when it\u2019s actually sunny. Any other time of day or year in there and colors feel dark very\u00a0<\/em>quickly, and I wanted to keep things feeling light. So the final call was made, and we went with Limestone.<\/p>\n The color itself changes quite a bit in the space throughout the day but I\u2019d say that this image most accurately captures the putty tones, and how much they change in different light!<\/p>\n Some have argued (not wrongly)<\/em> that the beadboard just doesn\u2019t make sense\u2019 with the tile. Ya\u2019ll. Not much makes sense with this tile. I feel like I\u2019d have had to do a full on dark walnut or a hand built plaster cabinetry for it to make sense with this tile \u2013 and neither of those was happening. So I did what I wanted. I chose beadboard because I loved it. It also\u00a0does\u00a0<\/em>make sense with the 1920\u2019s craftsman farmhouse style of the home. So if someone comes along one day and wants to rip out those tiles (God bless them for it)<\/em> the rest of the kitchen will still make sense.<\/p>\n Also, this is where I started to imagine bringing in the elements I wasn\u2019t getting fro the cabinet in other ways. The green came in through the backsplash and other styling accents. The natural wood came in through the floating shelves and the cabinet we brought downstairs. Choosing the cabinets we did gave me the opportunity to use those elements elsewhere!<\/p>\n FUNCTIONALITY<\/strong><\/p>\n I told you in the beginning of the post that we\u2019d get back to the reason we didn\u2019t end up adding another cabinet piece here, and \u2013 yes \u2013 it\u2019s alllll about the functionality of the room. And yes, we\u2019ll talk about some of the other functionality pieces too, but this is a big one because it teaches an important lesson.<\/p>\n So, originally I had thought it would be nice to have a cabinet moment here that also acted as an entryway moment. Part of the challenge with this kitchen is thinking through\u00a0all\u00a0<\/em>the ways it may be used. Not just now, as a secondary cellar kitchen. But a few years (or more)<\/em> from now when we want to use it as an apartment. Or the in-between times when it\u2019s serving guests. And what I realized was: If this was my full time kitchen I would want the flexibility to use that wall for multiple options. It could easily house some seating and a small table for a breakfast nook. You could bring in a kitchen island that sits against the wall, and pulls out as needed. Or, you could do what we\u2019ve done here, and simply add shelving for more storage.<\/p>\n Those of you who have followed me for a while may recognize this piece as the one we had in our living room for quite some time! It was literally just a few inches too big for the space we had it in, and once I started reimagining other ways to use this wall, it came to me: This cabinet was\u00a0perfect.\u00a0<\/em>It brought in the wood tone I had wanted a dose of\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>it offered more storage for big items like all my flower vases, and extra entertaining pieces like large bowls and cake plates that don\u2019t really have a spot upstairs. I added the hat rack for my garden hats, and the bench mostly to visually round things out,\u00a0 but it has become a good spot to plop down items from the garden like gloves and extra pots.<\/p>\n But the biggest lesson here was that thinking through the functionality of this space not only for ourselves, but for future tenants, helped us make a smarter choice.<\/p>\n As for functionality with the cabinets, for me, its something we think about from the very beginning of the process (layout and flow of the space)<\/em> to the very end of the process (what type of inserts are we putting in the cabinets, and where is each item going to go?).\u00a0<\/em>This time around, that process became really different, and it was kind of a relief to not have an exact plan for everything. But the one thing that I\u2019m so glad we did is the open shelving. Not only in the floating shelves but the open shelf in the corner. It\u2019s so helpful when you\u2019re dealing with flowers and veggies to not <\/em>have to open doors or sift through cabinets to find what you\u2019re looking for. Having the shelves and countertop function as a space to hold vases, flower clippers and shears, pitchers, colanders, you name it\u2026 \u00a0it makes more sense for us. And when the time comes for a tenant to use the cabinets, I\u2019m pretty sure they\u2019ll be\u00a0just\u00a0<\/em>fine with the options we have.<\/p>\n So there you have it friends. A total breakdown (and maybe more than you really wanted to know!)<\/em> about the cabinetry process. A HUGE huge thank you to our cabinet sponsor, Masterbrand, and their Diamond cabinet line.<\/a> From start to finish, they were so helpful in creating the space of my dreams!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cassandralavalle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/cassandra-lavalle-basement-kitchen-renovation-before-and-after.jpg\")
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