Good morning!  I’m VERY excited this morning to have my friend David Leland, a designer with Aya Kitchens and Baths (who are one of the amazing sponsors of the upcoming Blogpodium!), here to share with you one of his recent kitchen renovation projects. David first visited Recreated last year to share his favourite piece of furniture as part of my Pieces of You series. And now he’s back talking kitchens, and he has some great information for you on New Traditional kitchen design. So, without further ado, I give you David.

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Hello peoples!  As mentioned, my name is David Leland and I am indeed a kitchen designer with Aya Kitchens and Baths.  I am certainly excited to have been invited by Lindsey to be part of her “all things design”  blog and have the chance to share a little of me, with you!   There are many things I suppose I could have discussed, but ultimately I decided I would talk to you about a project I recently worked on. I hope you find it an interesting read and enjoy the transformation!

Classic in its esthetic  and timeless in its design, the traditional kitchen is still a prevalent desire among most people embarking on a kitchen renovation project today.  So if you’re a traditionalist at heart, but are concerned you may be dating your home, don’t worry, because a major trend has hit the kitchen design world: the new traditional kitchen.

The key to creating the new traditional kitchen is the combination of traditional design elements such cabinet door styles and detailed mouldings with more contemporary design elements such as open concept floor plans, clean, bright-coloured finishes and contemporary hardware to keep the space looking fresh and up-to-date.

In the project I’m featuring today, the clients wanted update their space, while still keeping with the overall traditional esthetic of the home.  The removal of a bulkhead, some light fixture concerns, and the refinishing of all the baseboards and mouldings were just some of the things that had to be addressed to really bring this space into the present and give the clients the showcase kitchen they deserve.

Before 1

In addition to just giving this space a facelift, we wanted to give the main floor a more open,  free-flowing design  – conforming with today’s idea of a more modern floorplan. We decided that the kitchen and the eating area should no longer be divided as shown below in the before photo below.  To do this we removed the wall between the kitchen and the formal dining area,  and relocated the range and ductwork which was originally found on that wall to get a a more open-concept space.

Before 2

The first choice of the redesign was the more traditional, raised-panel cabinet door style – the Churchill – and we went from there.  The selection of an elegant 3-1/2” crown moulding (my clients also had a finish carpenter copy the profile of the crown moulding, so they could continue it throughout the space), false panels on any exposed cabinetry ends, decorative posts flanking either end of the island, and an intricate on-lay over the “desk” provided the traditional base for this kitchen design.

After 1

Now, to incorporate the “new” elements to this new traditional design we opted for a bright oyster painted finish on the cabinets, clean white marble tile, a modern mixed mosaic back splash, a white Alaskan granite counter top, a clean, modern faucet, and a two-tiered island.  Furthermore, all the mouldings were painted white providing a more elegant feel to the space, and with the wall removed a much more intimate gathering area is achieved – allowing for those in the kitchen to entertain and maintain conversation with those seated at the table.  Given that in today’s world everyone loves to congregate in the kitchen at parties, it is important for hosts to be able to do what needs to be done, but at the same time allow them to enjoy the company of their guests.

After 2

Various other ideas and elements were used to make this traditional kitchen feel up-to-date and contemporary; from shiny chrome hardware to the mix of contemporary stools and traditional dining chairs.

After 3The finished product is a beautiful elegant space, classic enough in its design so it never goes out of style, but dressed up with some modern elements.   The result is a clean, simple, and tailored look and a great example of the New Traditional kitchen.

All photos taken by David Leland and used with permission from the homeowner.

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Hope you all enjoyed and thanks again to David for visiting today!

Have a great weekend lovelies!

XO,