This post has been a long time in the making and a long time coming and for me, at least, it was worth the wait and the patience for that–this is it–feeling. With every project we tackle, I start with what I know and then add to it until it feels right and then it usually comes together pretty quickly.

With the cabin kitchen, the things we knew were 1. We were going to use our own cabinet line (that’s coming out in January!) from Semihandmade. 2. While we were in Atlanta earlier this year, we bought an island from etuHome (at Market price–so a great deal) that’s made from 100 year old reclaimed wood. It’s gorgeous and belongs in the cabin kitchen. The last thing we knew were the light white oak floors that we already installed (more about that here.)

With those three things in mind, wood, wood and more wood–I went to look for inspiration and came across three kitchens that really stuck with me.

The first was this kitchen by deVol Kitchens. The simple utilitarian style, shaker doors, textured backsplash, black countertops and apron front sink all felt well-loved.

We’re launching our cabinet line with three wood tones (more to come!) and at this point we were going full speed ahead on the lightest wood tone, but this deVol kitchen really gave me pause and had me looking twice at our more-gray driftwood option (in the middle in the photo below).

Shortly after, I came across this inspiration by Veranda Estate Homes and I was on board with our mid-toned gray doors more than ever. Chris was still pining for a darker backsplash but this is also the photo that changed his mind. The style felt a little more reminiscent to our own modern, traditional (and now we’re throwing rustic in there, too for cabin sake) which helped.

The last inspiration picture I saved from the Pearson Design Group helped me when I was trying to decide on lighting. There are so many examples of out-of-this-world statement lighting over an island and I was searching and searching to find the statement lighting that felt right. And then I found this photo and realized–simple is stunning. And I ran with very similar saucer-like pendants.

Here’s how the kitchen looked when we started (orange cabinets, floors and furniture will not-surprisingly make your whole kitchen look orange):

And here’s how it looks now:

There’s been a lot of progress, from demo-ing out the old kitchen (which was not even attached to any wall or surface. The cabinets were free-standing!), to tearing out the divider wall so we could expand the kitchen a bit. Adding new electrical, heating and plumbing and installing new floors. And then, just last week, Chris put together all the cabinet boxes from Ikea (Semihandmade door fronts work with Ikea boxes) and we documented the process in a fun video. Because of the a-frame walls, he had to make bases for all the boxes and we even caught on film the moment that we decided which cabinet front to go with. Watch it all below or here on our YouTube channel.

And now for the fun part. Here are our plans to put it all back together–

1. Accent Lighting for either side of the range hood. We’re still undecided whether or not we will add any shelves, but lighting over a counter is never a bad idea.

2. All that varied white, textured tile really got to us and we ordered this tile for the backsplash wall. Only one wall will have tile, but we have thought about wrapping the range hood in it, too!

3. Our winning cabinet front! We are working overtime to have this kitchen done by our soft launch at the end of December so you all can see the cabinet line in action (and we’re working with a few other influencers so you can our other Semihandmade doors in real spaces, too!).

4. We spent so much time trying to find the right hardware before landing on these ledge pulls. I think it will keep the design really clean.

5. Very cabin-y kitchen linens

6. I found these pendants on Etsy and plan to add a big round light bulb to each, like inspiration photo 3.

7. Way back when we were shopping for countertops for our bathroom, we came across this raw, honed black granite and I snapped a photo of it because I loved it so much and thought it would be great for the cabin. We called the stoneyard this week to see if it was still an option and they said, “yes!” It was the easiest countertop buying experience ever.

8. Here’s the etuHome island we bought a few months ago, although ours won’t be quite this long.

9. A couple years ago, before he stopped selling prints, I bought this 24×32 Defender print from my favorite artist Kai Samuels Davis. I am currently getting it framed to hang on the wall next to the fridge.

10. Because the island is open, I love the idea of putting a couple large baskets on the storage shelf to serve as a make-shift pantry.

11. & 12. Seeing these Cafe Appliances on Instagram was love at first site–for both Chris and I. We were always leaning toward black stainless for the cabin (it just felt right) but I loved that you could customize the handles (black and brass forever!) and Chris loved the double oven induction range.

13. Here’s our light oak flooring from Stuga Studio.

We’ve already ordered almost everything and can’t wait to see this vision come to life, with hopefully very few hiccups. It feels very much like us, but the cabin version of us–would you agree?

Like I said, our hard deadline for the kitchen is January when our cabinet line launches, but we’re working hard to get it usable by Christmas–which feels suddenly right around the corner!