The heart of the home is undoubtedly the kitchen. See how designer Kelli Ellis transformed our once dark kitchen into a dream white kitchen with gold accents, pops of pink and plenty of space for entertaining, in partnership with The Mine!
Shall we get right to it and start with the before?
It wasn’t bad. In fact, it was brand new, as the people who flipped the house before we bought it had just remodeled the kitchen. But it wasn’t us at all. Like many, my dream kitchen has always been a white kitchen. Something light, bright and airy with marble (looking) countertops.
I say marble-looking because we are not careful and have heard that real marble countertops stain easily. We messy!
Also, similar to the disproportionately small master closet (which then became The Cloffice), for the size of the house, the scale of the kitchen wasn’t quite right. We wanted space for four bar stools around the island and a pantry (which the previous kitchen seen above did not have) But we didn’t know how to go about adding what where and making our dream kitchen a reality.
Enter celebrity interior designer Kelli Ellis! She came to the rescue when designing the kitchen for The Christopher Kennedy Compound: Modernism Week Show House, presented by Traditional Home.
Our first conversation went something like this:
Me: As long as it’s white with marble-looking countertops, I’ll be happy.
Fred Baby: I want two dishwashers, two refrigerators and a huge, powerful range.
Can you tell which one of us actually cooks?
One of us might have been obsessed with function, the other form. Luckily, this is why we make a good pair. (Speaking of form, how cool is that chandelier?!)
The whole reason we bought a new house to begin with was to have a fun place to cook and entertain (since my food restrictions prevent us from dining out much) — a place to have the party come to us.
Mission accomplished!
I love how Kelli added in everything Fred Baby wanted for function, including that huge Thermador range, two Thermador refrigerators (hidden by the cabinetry) and two Thermador dishwashers (all via the wonderful people at Ferguson), but made it feel like my own little Bottega Louie with lots of white with gold accents and marble-looking countertops. Plus, how crazy is that marble farmhouse sink and that custom hood?!
I also love how she added in a pantry in a dead area, gave us a wine fridge, and extended the kitchen island to have room for four barstools. She also relocated the microwave (unseen) to be a built-in drawer microwave that resides directly across from the range above. Right next to it is the pull-out garbage and recycling bins, if you’re wondering. I might have to do an Insta Story one of these days to show you the bells and whistles because there’s a lot of fun things going on BEHIND THE CANDELABRA CABINETS.
We ended up with these beautiful quartz countertops by DuPont Zodiaq via Willis that look like marble but are easy to keep clean (they don’t stain if you spill a glass of red wine — we tested it!).
At first we worried the marble sink might be too precious, but we’ve not yet stained it, even though turmeric has taken a tumble in it several times. Plus it looks SO pretty.
The backsplash sparkles and reflects light so beautifully. It’s from Kelly Ellis’ own tile collection for Tilebar. You could lay it horizontally or vertically. We went with horizontal and love the look.
Here’s a peek inside one of the Thermador refrigerators with Eggersman cabinetry mounted on the doors. Fred Baby flips for the amount of storage space and I die for those gold handles!
We’re on a champagne diet, clearly.
Okay, perhaps not, but it certainly makes for a pretty shot!
#ourkitchenwokeuplikethis
These wine fridges are actually where we keep the bubbly.
Um, and the almond milk. Gosh, that sounds SO California. But it’s the truth. A girl needs her daily smoothie!
Oh, and of course the marble flooring made a HUGE difference (it’s Avalon Classic Polished Marble via Country Floors). At first, we worried we might have too much marble going on, what with the floors, countertops, sink and backsplash, but as Kelli Ellis said when we called her in a panic before renovations: Impossible!
What do you guys think? Do you love it? What does your dream kitchen look like? If you have any Qs leave them in the comments and I’ll do my best to answer them!
We’re over the moon with how it turned out — so much so that even I cook in it…well, sometimes. 
I’ve included all of the source below, including the bar stools and accessories from The Mine, who we partnered with on the Show House.
A huge thank you to Kelli Ellis for making our dream kitchen a reality — and for being SO fun to work with! — and to The Mine for partnering on this post, as well as all of the other vendors who made this room a reality. You can shop items from The Mine to get the look below.
GET THE LOOK:
Sources:
Cabinets: Eggersman
Appliances: Thermador via Ferguson
Custom Hood: Modern-Aire Ventilating
Countertops: DuPont Zodiaq quartz ‘Zodiac London Fog’ via Willis
Carrara Marble Sink: Stone Forest ‘New Haven Farmhouse Sink‘ via Ferguson
Faucets + Pot Filler: DXV via Ferguson
Undercounter Lighting + Switches: Legrand
Chandelier: Currey & Company 9515 ‘Shelly 6-Light Chandelier’ via The Mine
Backsplash: Kelli Ellis Collection ‘Alexa’ from Tilebar
Hardware: Emtek
Bar Stools: The Mine {recovered in Jim Thompson berry fabric}
Gold Flatware: The Mine
Gold Glass Tumblers: The Mine
Gold Straws: The Mine
Gold Tray: The Mine
Gold Vase: The Mine
Gold Decanter: The Mine
Large Soap Dispenser: The Mine
Small Soap Dispenser: The Mine
Blue Agate Coasters: The Mine
Pink Agate Napkin Rings: The Mine
Turquoise Plates: The Mine
White + Gold Plates: The Mine
Art: Alexa Ellis
Art Above Wine Refrigerator: Holla print via Etsy (others old + no longer available)
Gold Pineapple: similar from The Mine
White Pineapple: similar from The Mine
Flooring: Avalon Classic Polished Marble via Country Floors
Paint: Dunn Edwards Whisper white
Be on the lookout for the kitchen in an upcoming issue of Traditional Home magazine!
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