A Timeless Kitchen With High Resale Value

An outdated kitchen gets a timeless update with authentic materials and classy authenticity in Franklin, Tennessee.

The Details

• Project type: Kitchen renovation
• Location: Franklin, Tennessee
• Year built: 1978
• Square footage: 3,350
• Photographer: Leslie Brown Photography, Zillow
• Holly’s favorite design feature: The best thing about it is that it feels organic with the rest of the house.

The Story

This house was built in 1978, has a colonial exterior façade, and architectural details that feel historical. The kitchen, on the other hand, felt like an early-2000s renovation and didn’t match the rest of the house. The homeowners wanted to make their kitchen look more authentic and historic, and raise the home’s resale value.

They decided not to change the room’s footprint, but instead focus on updating the materials so the space looks, feels and functions as a timeless kitchen with historically-minded details. Those details included a marble slab backsplash, marble countertops, custom cabinets, and high-quality hardware.

Creating History With a Timeless Kitchen

The challenge was to create historic authenticity in a space with new materials. High quality always helps with authenticity, so marble was used as a focal point for the timeless kitchen. Since the house is over 50 years old, not everything was level or had corners with right angles. Holly and her team had to be careful when designing the custom cabinets to make sure they would work in the existing space. The cabinetry had to be designed around existing duct work, which had to be worked around for the fridge and freezer.

The homeowner wanted the range hood to be part of the cabinetry, so Holly and her team custom made it out of a normal cabinet box and added modifications, including an arched valance, to create the exact look the homeowner wanted. She also requested seating on two sides of the island, so Holly’s team added an overhang on two sides with extra corbels to provide structural support. For hardware, they chose weighted polished nickel to provide a high quality feel for everyday use.

While it’s a challenge to create a new, timeless kitchen that looks like it’s always been there, this new kitchen fits the bill. Between high-end materials like the real marble slab and custom cabinetry, combined with more historic details like the cabinet colors, hardware finishes and inset cabinet doors, the result fits well into the rest of the house. The renovation helped the couple sell the home shortly afterward, which goes to show how an updated yet timeless kitchen can add to the resale value.

---

Follow along with Holly Thompson Design on Instagram and Pinterest more more inspiration and design ideas!