The McGee Home Kitchen Tour
03/26 Design

The McGee Home Kitchen Tour

All the details from our kitchen

Today we are talking about everyone’s favorite room in the home, the kitchen!

This is my favorite space to design because it sets the tone for every other space. It’s the heart of the home, and it’s where we all spend the most time together. We have a few sponsors that made this possible! We partnered with Kohler for plumbing throughout our entire home. We used their sister company, Kallista, in our kitchen!

We have custom cabinetry by Killowen Cabinet Company, our marble is from Bedrosians Tile and Stone, and our hardware is from Armac Martin! You can see Clé Tile on the backsplash of our kitchen, which we used throughout the home. We’re so grateful for our sponsors — working with people who understand your vision makes all the difference!

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The McGee Home Kitchen Tour

I had this idea of an English inspired kitchen but with modern functionality, so that’s where we took it. When designing a kitchen, I think it’s really important to list out your top priorities and then work from there. For me, having an unlacquered brass faucet was a non-negotiable.

The McGee Home Kitchen Tour

We partnered with Kohler for all the plumbing throughout our home, and we actually partnered with Kohler’s sister brand Kallista on this faucet so we could get that perfect unlacquered brass finish. I love that it will patina over time and that it ties in with our interior door hardware.

I love that the shape has this bridge details, but then it has this square arch here that makes it still feel modern.

The McGee Home Kitchen Tour
The McGee Home Kitchen Tour

I really wanted a big farmhouse sink in our kitchen, so we did the White Haven from Kohler. I love a drip-edge detail; this is something that we’ll do in wood often underneath a farmhouse sink. It catches any spillage that happens when you’re doing dishes and protects your cabinetry. I wanted to do this differently, so I actually did a marble drip-edge across the bottom, and I love how this turned out.

The McGee Home Kitchen Tour

We did the coordinating pot-filler back here, which I’ve never had in a kitchen, and I absolutely love it. It’s great for filling up pots for cooking but also to fill-up vases for flowers. This sits above my other dream list item, a Lacanche Range.

The Lacanche Range is a beautiful work of art, and it was a splurge, but for me, this was the focal point of the kitchen. It comes from France, and it took about 6 months to get here, and it was worth the wait. We went with the double oven, and we have a griddle that Syd makes chocolate chip pancakes on for the kids every single morning. We went with a color called Chantilly, which is a soft white, and it has the silver and the brass, tying in a lot of the metals we have working throughout our home.

The McGee Home Kitchen Tour

When designing a kitchen, we typically always start with the range and the hood as the focal wall, and then we build out from there. Tyler, with Killowen Construction, was awesome, and he drew our entire range wall to scale so I could see it and make changes before things got serious.

I knew I wanted a plaster hood that had a delicate slope to it and a really great texture. Then, I wanted to frame out the edges to create balance symmetry because we don’t have walls on either side. We ended up with these really tall cabinets with latches on either side.

When it came to the cabinetry design, I wanted a shaker detail, and then we added this little cove bead along with the profile of the cabinetry. We worked with Killowen on the build of our home, and they also do cabinetry, so he helped bring that custom detail to life.

The McGee Home Kitchen Tour

On our cabinets, we used the color Creamy White by Benjamin Moore.

From the beginning, I always wanted putty-colored cabinetry, meaning a creamy, off-white color on the surround. But we have this 13-foot island, and I felt like if I was to do the same color on everything, it would fall a little flat.

My original plan was to go with a light wood that matched our floors, but when we got into the space, and they put the island in, I just knew in my gut that it wasn’t right. We needed something that felt different, and a little bit more saturated. After going back and forth, we found the perfect stain that was a dark brown, rich tone that didn’t pull too warm or too black.

I wanted to add a little bit of a-symmetry, I just felt like with all of this symmetry happening around the focal point that we needed to add something to throw it off just a little bit. Things that get too perfect feel a little boring. So we created this piece at the end of our island to feel more like a piece of furniture. I wanted not chunky legs but very delicate ones, and I wanted them to be able to store plates and dishes and bowls and all of that good stuff. I love that its openness breaks up all the closed cabinetry.

The next item on my list was marble countertops. There was pretty much no convincing me out of this one. Syd could have tried to say, “we need something more durable,” and I wouldn’t have listened because I just love the look of real marble. We got this Calcutta Ora slab from Bedrosians, and it has this beautiful gray and gold veining throughout it.

We used that across our entire island, on the backsplash, and even on these floating shelves here. Yes, it gets a little bit of etching and scratching, but I don’t care. It’s been in Italy for thousands of years, and it is worth every little hassle.

The McGee Home Kitchen Tour

I wanted a mix of hardware throughout the kitchen, so we worked with Armac Martin. They are an English company, and they have this beautiful unlacquered brass knob that is such a heavyweight, I just love it. So we did knobscup-holds, latches, and then these really long pulls on our integrated refrigerator.

The McGee Home Kitchen Tour
The McGee Home Kitchen Tour
The McGee Home Kitchen Tour

Across the back of our island, we integrated all of the functional things that you need in a working kitchen. So the trash can is hidden behind what looks like two drawers, and then the ultimate luxury in this kitchen is that we did two dishwashers, one on either side of the sink. They are also integrated into the cabinetry.

Adding character and materials with history was an important part of designing a new kitchen that still referenced the past. A few years ago, I was on eBay at like 1 am and looking for pocket doors because I thought, how cool would it be to have these symmetrical pocket doors on either side of the range?

The McGee Home Kitchen Tour
The McGee Home Kitchen Tour

We actually built the framing of our kitchen to fit these 100-year-old beauties. We left them raw, and they tuck in, so we can hide our pantry and our mudroom when they get really messy. Or, we can open them up like we do most days so we can go in and out.

The McGee Home Kitchen Tour
The McGee Home Kitchen Tour

I actually did two different backsplash materials in our kitchen, so we did the slab on the range wall, but on the refrigerator wall, we did this beautiful Cle tile, I love the texture and the movement.

It also ties into the backsplash that we did in the pantry and really brings the two spaces together. We will share more of the pantry here soon!

To roundup the finishes in this space, I had my heart set on these beautiful green leather and gold pendants. I loved the angular shape, the scale, and I feel like that little touch of green goes a long way. We also did these great stools from McGee & Co., I wanted them to feel a little industrial, I love that they have a swivel, and so do my kids.

For the finishing styling touches, we finally got to use a lot of the vintage I’ve been collecting over the years. Some of my favorites are the white vintage vase I’ve had for years, the dough bowl, and this tiny painting on an easel. I think all of those little details are what bring a kitchen to life.

Miller Laurel Farmhouse Crock
Stoneware Wheat Pot
Somerset Bread Board
Johan Counter Stool
Scarlett Pendant
24" Cabinet Maker's Picture Light
Kallista
Deck-Mount Bridge Faucet
Kallista
Sidespray
Kohler
Whitehaven
Armac Martin
Queslett Pull
Armac Martin
Cotswold Ball Knob

Thanks for following along with our McGee Home tours! To see more of our house and our projects, visit our Youtube channel for some virtual tours, and behind the scenes looks. We’ll be back soon with more next week!

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50 Comments
Studio McGee
      1. I sampled the Swiss Coffee @ 75% strength which I absolutely love! However, the creamy white on my paint sample foam board is looking more yellow than putty next to the Swiss Coffee. We’re rebuilding our home and the kitchen will have south facing windows. What I am hoping for is more of a putty color and less yellow. Do I need to adjust the strength of the creamy white or try another Color? Please advise. Thank you for sharing your kitchen, so beautiful and timeless!

        1. Hi Linda – I’m confused – it says “On our cabinets, we used the color Creamy White by Benjamin Moore.” but then the 75% Swiss Coffee as a reference below…. is that the Wall color?
          thanks,
          Lisa

  1. This is simply lovely. You say early on that you were going for an ‘English-inspired’ kitchen and being English myself, I wonder what exactly makes this English-inspired for you? What defines this kitchen as ‘English-inspired’ as opposed to American? Sorry, I’m not explaining this very well but I’m curious as to what it is about your kitchen that for you says ‘English’ – I didn’t realise we had a style, to me, it just looks like a very nice kitchen!

    1. I think the flush inset shaker style cabinetry, materials that patina (Americans often want everything perfect), and latch hardware… it’s definitely a blend of styles!

  2. I love your English inspired kitchen. Please share the paint colors for the cabinets and the wall color. Thank you!
    Necolle

  3. Thank you for sharing another beautiful room! Under the current circumstances, these webisodes provide a lovely break.
    I’d love to understand your process for the placement and organization of kitchen necessities. What should we place where and why? Many thanks and blessings 🙂

  4. Hi! You just told someone that the color of the cabinets are BM creamy white but isn’t it BM Swiss coffee? Can we see how you organized the inside of the cabinets please! This is the best kitchen ever!

    1. I believe she mentioned before, the wall is BM Swiss Coffee at 75% strength while the cabinets are BM Creamy White.

  5. I’m a little late to the game with my questions! LOVE your work. I know you used creamy white on the cabinets…what white did you use on the hood? And what is your trim/wall color in the kitchen? Thank you!!! Paint is HARD!

    Love,
    Rachel In St. Louis

  6. Just love your kitchen! Which Cle subway tile is it you used in the kitchen and pantry. There are so many variations.

  7. Your work and style are amazing!!! Simple, elegant and organic. The design, and attention to the details is impeccable!!! I am always curious… for cabinets that do not extend all the way to the ceiling, do you use simple decor or not?!?! Looking forward to more of your designs!

  8. Hello. Absolutely beautiful kitchen!! Love everything! Very curious how you decided to do what kind of hardware where (cup pulls, knobs, latches)??? This is very tough for me- I’ve been trying to figure this out for years and am hoping you can share some insight!!! Thanks:)
    Jes

  9. Your fashion sense is as impeccable as your home decor…might you tell us where you picked up this adorable top/sweater?

  10. What colour light switches and plugs did you use in the kitchen? Do you use aged brass to match the handles/tap etc

  11. Love every detail in your space. In the video you say there are more details about the pantry on your blog. I’ve searched and can not find it. Can you point me in the right direction? I’d love to see in the pantry!

  12. I love everything about this kitchen! I saw that the island is 13 feet long…I would love to know the width?

  13. What a beautiful kitchen! I have been saving for a Lacanche range, because I also want to splurge on one.

  14. Love your kitchen! Wondering which knob, and latch did you use in the Armac Martin collation. Have looked on there site and actually ordered some samples but can’t tell and love the styles you did.

  15. Hi Shea! I wanted to know if you did honed or polished marble? I have checked everywhere and haven’t seen a reference to it. Thanks so much! Dream kitchen!!

  16. Where is the can/recessed lighting in the kitchen? It seems the ceiling would be dark without some light up on the ceiling since the pendants over the island are down lights. I do not have any recessed lighting in my kitchen. I had to buy pendant lights for my island that allowed some light on the ceiling or it just felt so dark. Do you have a secret for using down lights without having any additional ceiling lighting?

  17. Beautiful kitchen! Could you please tell me what type of wood you used for your kitchen island and also what type of wood the pocket doors are?

  18. Beautiful kitchen! Could you please tell me what kind of wood you used for your island and also the beautiful pocket doors?

  19. Hello! I love that you added two different thicknesses for your marble counter tops. Is the thin counters 2cm or the standard 3? I also noticed that your island has a mitered edge to get the look of thicker countertop, which I thought was a great idea to save cost but not compromise on the look! Brilliant!

  20. I am also designing a kitchen for my forever home. Is there any chance you would be willing to share a floor plan/room dimensions for you kitchen/mud rm/pantry?

  21. What finish in the BM Creamy White did you use on the cabinets? I absolutely love everything you all design!!

  22. I am dying to know what size fridge you used in this beautiful kitchen. It looks like maybe 60"? Also, do you run into any issues with the door since it’s in the corner and against a wall? I’m looking to do the same but want to avoid any issues with ability to fully extend internal drawers. Love, Love, Love your whole house and design style!

  23. I ordered these kitchen stools about 6 months ago, One broke as my 11-year old daughter was sitting on it and she spilled to the floor. I contacted the company and was informed that they would not provide a replacement. I spent $100 a month for a stool that should have lasted a lifetime and only lasted 6 months. The company’s response was disappointing, I do not recommend ordering their stools

  24. Hi Shea, we are fortunate enough to be able to get Arnac Martin in Ireland. I love the Cotswald collection but was wondering which long drawer pull you choose for your fridge door? I can’t tell from your photos. I wish you were in Ireland. I love your style and would love to shop your store!
    Cathriona x

  25. Could you tell me where you got your fridge handles? I’m wondering if my fridge handles need to be the same style or if I could get away with just matching the color

  26. Hi Shea just love your kitchen. We are currently building a home and your kitchen has certainly been an inspiration. Can you please tell me what material you used in the interior of the kitchen cabinets for the shelving?

    Thanks so much

  27. Ive been binge watching your netflix show and i think its the most calming show for me right now. Even just the way you talk is just like music to my ears! I am looking at the flooring on yoyr home and i love it! We cant afford a custom built home but hey whatever is inside we can decide! 😆 and i am dying to know where is your flooring from!

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