When my husband and I bought our home last year, we quickly determined that the kitchen was not going to work, even though we thought we liked it at first. I was thrilled when my husband told me to redesign it. I've designed kitchens for other people, but this was the first time I was designing for myself (okay...and for my husband).

During the month we were waiting to close, I was able to research and spec exactly what I wanted. Traditional French Farmhouse with an Urban Twist.

This is the after. The cabinets are custom made by an Amish cabinet maker that a friend hooked us up with. You are not going to believe this my the cabinets for 10x10 kitchen cost $1,890 to have made...ALL of them. Now that didn't include paint, knobs or countertops, but who gets custom cabinets for that price anywhere????

This is the before picture, and how it looked when we first viewed the house before putting in an offer.

This is how that corner of the kitchen looks now.

Here's a close up of the sink area now.

The 2x4 subway tiles go all the way to the ceiling. My husband wasn't sure he'd like it, but it's one of his favorite things. He's the one who said it gave it an Urban feel, and I hadn't thought of it that way, but he was right.

I'll just say now that I love my butcher block countertops! They're walnut and finished with Waterlox, and much more durable than one might expect. We don't use them for cutting though, even though Waterlox is food safe once it's dry.

To save costs, we kept most of the plumbing where it was, except we did move the dishwasher. Since it didn't require new waterlines and the drain could be tied into the sink, moving it didn't really add to the budget at all.

The kitchen also has a breakfast nook where we eat most of our meals since it's just the two of us. The dining room is used when we have company. Here's a before of the breakfast nook with the previous owner's furniture.

This is what that corner looks like now.

Eventually, I plan to have banquette seating with storage built in the corner, but for now, the small table with three chairs is working perfectly for us. You might not be able to tell, but that chandelier is the same one that came with the house. I spray painted it to match the pendants over the sink and replaced the shades with seeded glass. I wanted to replace it, but couldn't find anything that I really liked that fit the budget.

Now a before of the other side of the room.

The oven was more in the breakfast nook than in the working part of the kitchen, and the refrigerator felt like it was closing in the room. We won't even talk about the wallpaper...not horrible, just a bit dated.

This is how that side of the room looks now.

The china cabinet tends to steal the show. It's sitting where the wall oven used to be located. I love using free-standing furniture in kitchens. It gives them a quaint rural feeling. My husband is building a more rustic stand for the toaster oven that sits under the pegboard. This is a cabinet that we had, an it's working fine for now.

I love my pegboard. My dad made it for me when I was living on my own in an apartment and needed storage for my pots and pans. I've taken it with me everywhere we've moved since then, and it is the workhorse of my kitchen. It keeps everything I use all the time right within reach.

One more before picture.

See, it really does look like it would be a workable kitchen. It had a LOT of storage. I honestly don't know what I would do with that much storage, except collect stuff that I would never use.

Here's that corner now.

The dishwasher is out of the corner, and I have a large pantry with pull out shelves an a spice drawer.

The cabinet handles are vintage glass handles from the 1920 that I've been collecting. The knobs are new, but also glass. There a satin nickle latches on some of the doors. The faucet is solid brass with an oil rubbed bronze finish. The appliances are stainless steel. The sink is a Kohler porcelain on steel that was given to us by a friend.

I'm very happy with the way it turned out. There's really nothing that I would change.