Welcome to my favourite room at Oak Ridge – our gorgeous country-style kitchen! We’ve continued the green theme in this space as well and I’m so obsessed with it.

BEFORE

My goodness this kitchen has come a long way! Whilst it was still a practical space, it just lacked personality. Nothing about it screamed country or related to the location we’re in. It just felt like an early 2000s kitchen devoid of all soul. The layout however worked, it just needed a rangehood added (not sure why one wasn’t included in the first place), along with making the island larger (as the existing one felt out of proportion with the rest of the kitchen).

FLOORING

One of the biggest transformations we made to our cottage overall is change the flooring. The kitchen used to be tiled and the adjacent living/dining space along with the bedroom was carpet. The carpet absolutely stank, it was musty and old and had to go! As our cottage will be an Airbnb, it was important to have practical flooring that’s easy to clean so I chose a hybrid flooring from Carpet Court. This is the Aspen ‘Tassie Oak’ hybrid flooring and it looks so good. It has the perfect amount of warmth to it and works well with our island cabinetry as well.

CABINETRY

All of our cabinets (including our rangehood) are custom-made by CabinetHQ. I wanted a country aesthetic so decided on a classic looking shaker profile for the kitchen doors. I’m also very much on the green bandwagon still, so naturally this kitchen is green! I took forever deciding on the perfect green. In the end I landed on Dulux ‘Lush Hosta’ after hours of deliberation. The green cabinets are in a 2 pac finish, but to be honest I think the colour turned out a little darker than the paint sample I was looking at. It ended up being a good accident as I just love the colour.

Island made with Farmers Doors ‘Weathered Oak’

Let’s take a moment to appreciate our island which is the hero of this kitchen – it’s made entirely from Farmers Doors ‘Weathered Oak’ in a matte clear finish. Farmers Doors make real timber cabinetry products - everything from your door fronts, end panels, benchtops etc. It was an absolute dream come true to be able to include Farmers Doors products in our cottage kitchen. I’ve been big fans of theirs for some time. I’m so in love with the tone of colour of the timber, you can just tell the quality is amazing too. If you’re keen to include Farmers Doors in your own kitchen, you can order samples direct from Farmers Doors before ordering, and your cabinetmaker will be the person in charge of liaising direct with Farmers Doors to order everything you’ll need for your own custom kitchen.

Walls, architraves and ceiling painted in Tint Paint ‘So Fresh & So Clean’

ADP’s ‘Vaucluse’ sink / ‘Melbourne’ twin tap mixer from Yabby

SINK + TAP

A farmhouse kitchen definitely needs a butlers sink! I chose ADP’s ‘Vaucluse’ sink 600mm size. It’s such a stunning sink - the front has this ribbed profile and the back is a plain profile (you can choose which side you’d like to feature on the front - I chose the ribbed side as I think it has more character). This sink is so good - the price point is good too for the size of it and all of the free accessories that come with it. The accessories include a sink protector (a must for this type of ceramic sink), colander insert, roll up tray drainer and chopping board. All of which sit perfectly within the lip of the sink. So many useful items that I know our guests will appreciate.

I’ve paired the sink with a brushed brass ‘Melbourne’ twin tap mixer from Yabby. I feel like this tap is a good blend of modern meets classic style. It looks super elegant and it ties in beautifully with our bathroom tapware where we have also used the Melbourne range of tapware and accessories.

RANGE COOKER

As soon as I clapped eyes on the Belling Mini Induction Range Cooker I knew I found the one! I was looking for something that had more of a traditional feel and this one just looked the part. It comes in a range of cute colours and I chose white seeing as we have green cabinets. This particular cooker actually has two ovens. The top oven also includes a grill option. You can choose from convection or fan forced cooking, and it also includes a 4 zone induction cooktop. But if you prefer cooking with gas, there’s also this particular option with a 4 burner gas hob. I can’t wait to entertain family at Christmas time – we’ll be able to cook a few dishes at the same time using the twin ovens.

It really is the perfect blend of modern cooking meets farmhouse looks. Plus, there aren’t that many 60cm size freestanding ovens out there that actually look good – this is one of the very few out there, which works well with our small kitchen. If you have more space you can upgrade to their full size Richmond oven at 90cm and 110cm.

SPLASHBACK + BENCHTOP

I’ve used the ‘Newport’ matte white subway tile from Tile Cloud for the splashback. I’ve had it laid in a brick bond pattern for a classic farmhouse feel. I think you can’t go wrong with a subway tile. It’s an instant classic! And this tile has a bit of a wave in it, so it doesn’t feel flat or one dimensional. We used the same tile in our bathroom renovation, so it ties in nicely.

For the benchtop I’ve used Stone Ambassador’s ‘Marbella’ surface. It’s got subtle veining that is quietly elegant and lets the kitchen cabinetry shine.

HANDLES

I’m so in love with our handles. These are all from Luxhandles. I’ve gone for 3 different styles which all complement each other. I think in a country kitchen, it’s fun to mix and match styles to keep it from feeling too flat. I’ve used the Belgravia brass handles on our pantry, long drawers and integrated dishwasher. These come in a variety of lengths and look super high-end! On the island I’ve used the vintage arch brass pulls for old world charm. And on the cupboards I’ve used the Belgravia brass knobs for their classic look. They all work in so beautifully together. They’re heavy for their size too which is a tell-tale sign they’re great quality. I’m smitten!

ROMAN BLIND

The perfect finishing touch for this space is our roman blind from Tuiss Blinds Online. The wide stripe of the fabric gives it a cafe-like feel. As our large window takes up a fair bit of visual space in the kitchen, it was really important to choose the right window furnishing – one that was elegant, but made an impact. I chose the Dartmouth Oatmeal electric roman blind and I just love it. It just gives the whole kitchen another layer of texture.

I’ve gone for electric blinds all throughout our cottage (which you’ll see more of in our upcoming room reveals), for a touch of luxury for our guests. There’s nothing worse than having to hand wind several blinds throughout (our cottage has 7 windows, 1 set of french doors and 1 set of sliding doors so that would have been a lot of manual work!). To set up your remote control blinds is easy - just download the app and follow the prompts. You can either operate the blinds on the app or from the remote control (which is the best option for our guests).

Oak Ridge Cottage Kitchen Renovation