Popular Farmhouse Kitchen Cabinet Design Ideas
Kitchen cabinets are often the first thing people notice about your kitchen. They set the tone for the whole look & feel of the space, which is complemented by your choice of countertop, hardware, tile, and paint color. So, if you are looking for a farmhouse style for your remodel, the first step is selecting the right kitchen cabinets. So which cabinets should you pick?
There are so many cabinet door styles, wood options & colors to choose from – it can make anyone’s head spin. However, renovating your kitchen doesn’t have to be hard! With a little inspiration, and an experienced kitchen designer, the farmhouse kitchen of your dreams is just around the corner.
What Is Farmhouse Style?
Farmhouse design draws from the homesteads of early American settlers – portraying a sense of practicality, comfort & nostalgia. Rising in popularity because of shows like Fixer Upper, farmhouse style offers a refreshing change to the glitz and glam of the early 2000s, returning to more traditional, simplistic design choices.
The early American settlers built their homes, and their kitchens, using readily available, practical materials. Wood, a staple in farmhouse design, was one of the most abundant products available at the time. As a result, homestead kitchens featured wood as much as possible: cabinets, countertops, flooring, walls & more. Other popular materials include simple metals and natural stone.
Typical farmhouse design features were used for practical purposes rather than aesthetic ones. Kitchens had large, open floor plans, serving as the main gathering space in the home. Long dining tables were a necessity for family meals, and exposed beams were simply part of the house construction. An oversized porcelain sink, known today as a farmhouse kitchen sink, held plenty of water from the creek for washing dishes. In a classic farmhouse kitchen design, everything served a practical purpose.
While today’s farmhouse kitchens are not as simplistic as the ones of the first settlers, they tend to give us the same warm, homey feel. Here are some popular kitchen cabinet design ideas for farmhouse kitchens.
Farmhouse Kitchen Cabinet Colors
When people think of farmhouse cabinet design, they primarily think of wood cabinetry in a variety of natural finishes. This refers to the history of farmhouse design, when the settlers primarily used wood as a building material, due to its availability.
Today’s farmhouse kitchens, however, use a variety of colors and woods, often together in the same kitchen. These colors are usually colors commonly found in nature: whites, blacks, even blues and greens, are all popular farmhouse cabinet color choices.
White Cabinets
With a simple & adaptable design, white shaker cabinets are an ideal choice for farmhouse kitchens. Here, the white paint of the cabinetry adds a bright and open feel, which is balanced with strategically placed natural wood accents. The pewter glaze and matte topcoat finish also give these white cabinets a vintage appearance, which pairs well with the hickory wood island, shelves, decorative hood & flooring. Other notable farmhouse design choices include floating hickory shelves, a large apron front sink and a shiplap ceiling.
Blue Cabinets
An up-and-coming trend in today’s kitchen design, blue cabinets fit in perfectly with farmhouse kitchens. This design, featured on a premier episode of an HGTV show, called Farmhouse Fixer, pairs blue shaker cabinetry with custom reclaimed wood accents and wood flooring. This design is lacking upper cabinetry, which makes the kitchen appear open and spacious. The white shiplap wall detail is a muted but nice touch to this farmhouse kitchen design.
Rustic Farmhouse Kitchen Ideas
Rustic is a fancy word for something typical of the countryside, not usually found in urban settings. This farmhouse kitchen is loaded with “rustic” features: muted green cabinetry (hello, Mother Nature!), a rustic alder sink base cabinet and decorative range hood, wood beams, and an island made from reclaimed wood posts. This design also highlights the homeowner’s personality, with a vintage cast iron sink and other antique curios from their collection. One of the best parts about farmhouse design is the ability to mix and match materials, textures & patterns to reflect not only what’s readily available, but your own personality.
Small Kitchen Ideas: Open Shelving & Glass Cabinets
This modern farmhouse kitchen has a smaller footprint with a limited about of cabinet space, so the designer had to get creative when it came to adding extra storage. Glass cabinets, particularly white glass cabinets, reflect a lot of light, making the space feel larger. Floating shelves, another farmhouse design staple, adds more storage over the peninsula without making this kitchen feel “closed-in” by adding more upper cabinets.
What is A Modern Farmhouse Kitchen?
A modern farmhouse design merges farmhouse and contemporary elements into one cohesive design. In this kitchen, the large farm sink, wood cabinetry/flooring, and large peninsula/island space are all farmhouse design elements. However, this wood cabinets and accents are finished in a gray stain, which is a contemporary cabinet color choice. Additionally, the quartz countertops, ceiling-height tile backsplash, crown molding & decorative furniture posts are other elements that signal a modern twist to this kitchen design.
Modern Rustic Farmhouse Kitchen Design
Although it sounds like an oxymoron, this kitchen has a rustic feel to it despite many modern design choices. The designer complements the white cabinets with medium-finish, natural wood tones, including wooden countertops (known as butcher block) on the island. The black granite countertops around the perimeter pair well with the butcher block while offering substantially more durability and less maintenance.
Other rustic design elements include: a barn door guarding the pantry, metal hardware/light fixtures, and gorgeous, reclaimed wood flooring that the homeowner had custom-made for her ideal look. Instead of floating shelves, the designer added bookshelves to one end of the large island, which works great for extra storage for cookbooks or small appliances (or a decorative basket or two!).
Black stainless-steel appliances, a luxurious marble tile backsplash, and decorative cabinet moldings give this kitchen a modern flair without distracting from true farmhouse kitchen atmosphere.
Farmhouse Kitchen Design At Norfolk Kitchen & Bath
Feeling inspired? It’s time to make your dream farmhouse kitchen a reality!
Norfolk Kitchen & Bath is New England’s largest family-owned kitchen showroom, with 6 locations offering free expert kitchen design, and custom remodeling services for all budgets. We have hundreds of cabinet style and finish combinations to choose from, including farmhouse cabinets. Stop by one of our kitchen showrooms to browse or schedule your free design consultation online today to get started.