Modern Rustic Kitchen Design Inspiration

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This post is sponsored by CliqStudios. All opinions expressed are my own.

Come take a look at this Modern Rustic Kitchen Design Inspiration and a few tips on starting the design process of a kitchen renovation.

As you guys know I've been working tirelessly on a Kitchen Remodel! We've literally been staying up til 4am working on this space trying to check off every item on our list. The original goal was to be done by the holidays, but you know how setbacks can happen on projects like this. We're just wrapping up the final touches and I can't WAIT to share it with you.

Let's talk design because I truly feel that you should always design a kitchen before starting to shop for the actual items. There were certain things I knew I wanted without a doubt in my mind, and then there were some things that just sort of happened organically throughout the process. I tried my hardest to plan out every detail of this space, but we just had to adjust for unforeseen circumstances. In all honesty, it worked out for the better. Every time I felt like I was going to break down and cry because of all the planning I did, it ended up being better than I could've imagined. Ahhh I can't wait to share all these details, but today let's talk about the planning.

The NUMBER ONE thing I wanted was inset cabinets. I adore the look this offers and how it makes the cabinets feel like furniture rather than just kitchen cabinets. It's for sure a style preference though and full overlay doors can look just as gorgeous. I looked around for inset cabinets and couldn't really find any unless I wanted to pay a custom cabinet maker. I actually pursued that briefly until I was very quickly told it would be 6 months before I could even get a contractor out here to take a look.

Part of me just thought it wasn't going to happen and the other part of me persevered and found CliqStudios who just so happens to offer an inset option. Not only do they offer this option, but they offer it at a fraction of the cost! I was quite giddy to see the estimate and how much money I'd be saving! I want to fully disclose that this is a sponsored post, but I did a lot of research on their cabinets, read countless reviews, and finally decided I was going to go with their brand and then reached out to them. Here are a few things that really drew me to their cabinets

• Inset cabinet options
• ¾" thick, 2-¼" wide solid hardwood mortise-and-tenon joint frame and
  ¼" engineered wood center panel
• One-piece ¾" solid hardwood slab drawer front for top drawer & 5-piece drawer front with ¾" mortise-and-tenon joint solid hardwood frames and ½" solid hardwood center panels for lower drawer fronts
• Blum^® Compact Blumotion, 6-way adjustable, concealed soft-close hinges
• Blum Tandem plus Blumotion soft-close drawer glides

Overall I wanted to give you guys a starting point on planning a kitchen remodel and the inspiration period that is one of the most important!

Look for Kitchen Inspiration

I always start on Pinterest or Instagram and look for examples of all the things I'm imagining. I can't even begin to tell you all the completely insane things I've typed in to a search bar to see if somebody has done what I was thinking trying to find out if it would actually work or not! Trying to find examples is always helpful in visualizing ideas.

Cabinets & Appliances

I know this sounds a little premature, but appliances are actually a big deciding factor in a kitchen. It's right up there with cabinet colors! How I start deciding is by asking myself what are my top two cabinet colors and what two type of appliances am I most interested in. For me it was black or white cabinets and stainless steel or the newer black stainless appliances I see popping up.

Begin by thinking about how these things go together and color combinations. Maybe work up a few different design ideas and see how you'd like to go from there. CliqStudios is AWESOME in this area of expertise. I worked directly with a kitchen designer and she sent me 3D mock ups allowing me to easily visualize color choices. I had already decided on black cabinets when I started that process, but she was so great about making changes so I could see what it would really look like when I started doubting some of my decisions.

Kitchen Vibes

Do you want your kitchen to feel homey and inviting, do you want it to feel fresh and clean, do you want it to feel like you are working in a professional kitchen. We all have own cooking desires and I personally wanted to walk that line of cozy/welcoming and an industrial work space meant for cooking. I wanted style and functionality. Basically I wanted the best of both worlds. All these things play a part on in your design choices.

I wouldn't say this step is where you want to dive into all the accessories but I highly suggest picking out metal finishes, appliances, countertops, backsplash, flooring and some of those bigger items in a kitchen. The things you CAN'T easily change. I like to call this the base layer. Accessories can be changed as often as you want depending on a budget, but you can't just rip out a sink because the season changed! Aim high on your choices and don't settle because more than likely once you dive into the kitchen renovation process you will have to make compromises, so don't start the process with compromises or you'll end up with a kitchen you don't love.

Talk to a Kitchen Designer

Once you have all your kitchen design inspiration gathered then it's time to reach out for help. CliqStudios really made this process easy for me. If you're totally new to designing a space they can easily help. If you're more like me and go in knowing exactly what you want they're available to share their experience with you.

I will be walking you through the entire kitchen renovation process. I'll share information from demolition to styling and everything in between. There will be tutorials for a lot of the things we did in our space. Let me know if you have any questions down in the comments and I'll be sure and answer them as I progress through the different posts.

For more information on Kitchen Cabinets be sure and check out CliqStudios.