White Kitchen Love

White Kitchens – love ‘em / hate ‘em: they’re never going to go out of style!

We have done a lot of kitchens on Love it or List it Vancouver – most homeowners reach the breaking point with their home when it comes to renovating a kitchen and for good reason: they are complicated to design and the choices you make are ones you will live with for the next 10-20+ years, so the pressure is on, and unfortunately not many people have the privilege of knowing about the kitchens tunbridge wells!

Jillian and the Love it Team are obviously fond of white and, though we have done a few more colourful kitchens (check out Danielle & Trevor, Violet & Rob as examples) a white kitchen makes such an impact when updating that it’s hard to resist!

White = Light

So many of our renovations are about bringing the light back into a space. We go through house after house that have dated kitchens in dark wood cabinetry, equally heavy-looking countertops and all enclosed so that whoever is preparing a meal feels like it’s a chore in a dungeon rather than a pleasure!

For Kelly & Steve, they had a typical 80’s kitchen tucked into a corner with dark wood cabinetry and no one enjoyed cooking in this space. We moved it to a larger space, opened it up to the family room and made it as white as white could be. The windows all existed – the light was there, it just needed space to move about the room. With white tiles, and white countertops, this kitchen looks like it’s lit from within!

White = Space

We can’t always make the kitchens larger but we sure can make them appear larger! With Emily & Gary we took the existing footprint of the kitchen, moved around a window to make better sense of the appliance layout and took the wall down between the kitchen and dining rooms. This little U-shaped kitchen works well for 2 people: a generous peninsula for prep space with a pantry/fridge on an opposite wall – but it is by no means a large kitchen. The white cabinetry, white tile and countertops give breath and airiness to the space while the glass-fronted cabinets and layering of countertop décor bring depth and interest to the kitchen – this combo of airiness and depth makes the space feel bigger.

White = Transparency

With Michele & Brent we had all the space we could ever want with the new kitchen/dining and all the light you could ever hope for with existing skylights. The volume of the space could have easily carried an intense colour or wood tone but what we were after was to bring the outside in: their lush green back yard was to play centre stage in the renovation. In order to do this we needed a kitchen that was almost transparent so we selected an opaque white stain over solid wood cabinet doors for this large L-shaped kitchen and tried something a little different: glass-backed cabinets over windows! The first thing you see when walking into this space is the light and the greenery beyond – the kitchen acts as a frame to the view.

White = Texture

White allows for texture… with Melissa & Josh’s home (a 100-year old adorable apple shack) texture was important as it was a reflection of the history of the home: the exposed 100-year old wood beams, the new heritage-inspired wood flooring, the playful 2-tone backsplash…. the white kitchen allows for all these textural pieces to work together as it lends visual rest to the whole space and all it’s elements.

White kitchens will never go out of style because of the versatility the colour – or absence thereof – has to allow a designer and homeowner to layer, add, subtract and contrast elements with it – play with your white kitchen and enjoy it!

A big thank you as always to Janis Nicolay for the gorgeous photos!!

Visit the W Network for more of our favourite Love It Or List It Vancouver kitchens from this season or click here!!!!

Francesca Albertazzi