Modern White Kitchen Ideas: Details and Sourcing of Our Renovation

By Amanda Paa – Updated April 23, 2023

Sharing design details of our modern white kitchen renovation, including sconce lighting, reclaimed wood shelving, cabinetry, and paint colors, and styling additions. This u-shaped kitchen was centered on a modern kitchen backsplash and matte white range.

Photos by the talented Sage Imagery, styling by the interior godess’, Francois Et Moi and Creekwood Hill!

If I’m being honest, I’ll say that the current status of “quarantined at home” in our renovated kitchen has been quite lovely. I’m cooking for us a lot more, rather than just the blog, and that has brought me so much joy.

And I’m keeping up with keeping the kitchen a clean – a feat in itself.

Many of you had questions about the more intricate details of the kitchen after I shared the full reveal, and where we sourced things like lighting and shelves. I’m grateful for a lot of local Minnesota/Wisconsin makers and artisans that we worked with, and companies from farther away too, creating some really unique products.

For details on the backsplash, appliances and countertops, take a look at this post.

U-Shaped Kitchen Ideas and Sources

Paint color on the kitchen walls: Alabaster, by Sherwin Williams

Sink + Faucet

Sink: Elkay
Faucet: Delta

In our old house, I learned that white porcelain sinks (farmhouse style) are certainly beautiful, but they are a PAIN to keep clean. I vowed to go stainless steel from then on. Elkay has the best quality stainless steel sinks I’ve found, and they are continually innovating. Brian installed this It measures 30-1/2″ x 18-1/2″ x 11-1/2″, which means it’s extra deep, which makes it much easier to clean sheet pans and larger items.

Single or double basin sink? My vote will always be single. Since most of us have a dishwasher, I don’t think it’s necessary to have the separation, where one side is typically used for drying. Having a single basin sink gives you uninterrupted space for cleaning and stacking.

We installed this Matte Black Delta Faucet. I’m obsessed with its touch activated on/off water stream. I can bump the faucet with my elbow or back of my hand instead of my dirty hands. It also has a little light on the bottom of it that turns from blue to red as it warms up, so you know when the water is hot.

Cabinets for a U-Shaped Kitchen

Color: Raindance by Benjamin Moore
Bases: IKEA
Fronts: Semihandmade
Hardware: brushed brass knobs and pulls by Forge Hardware

IKEA bases were used to build the cabinets, which we then completed with DIY Shaker Wood Cabinets from Semihandmade, that we had painted. Several custom fronts were also made by a local cabinet maker, like the super thin ones next to the stove, and the two pull out vertical storage fronts.

One of my favorite parts of the kitchen is the pull out vertical spice cabinet, and vertical storage cabinet. The Minnesota husband/wife team of Scott and Linda of Vertical Spice came up with the amazing spice rack units, that you can put into cabinets. They have several sizes and configurations to fit what you need. One of ours is very skinny, the other a bit wider where I’m able to store oils and mason jars with goods.

Storing things vertically was a way to use leftover spaces that a standard cabinet face didn’t fit into. Rather than just using a filler piece to cover them up, we were able to transform them into efficient storage, which is very helpful since we do not have upper cabinets.

Vertical Spice and Storage Unit slides out in a modern kitchen
woman pulling out vertical spice cabinet, green kitchen cabinets

Open Shelving in a U-Shaped Kitchen

One thing that was very important to us during this renovation was to preserve as much of the original house as possible, being built in 1908. We were able to restore the beautiful red birch floors that were covered with mountains of glue and 4 layers of tile.

And we used the beams from the wall we took down (!) to create all the open shelving. Mark Arneson, who owns Nordic Builders here in Hudson is a phenomenal woodworker, and did an amazing job building the shelves.

reclaimed wood shelving on white walls with styling of items
reclaimed wood shelving with florals and dining ware

Lighting

Above window: Schoolhouse, gold sconce + black metal bell shade
Hallway: Bellacor, gold mounted drum

frameless window in kitchen with flowers on a wooden cutting board
white u-shaped kitchen with modern tile backsplash and white blue star range
White Kitchen with mounted drum lighting and beko refrigerator, vertical spice rack

Wall Art and Accessories

Wall Clock: Target
Kraft Paper Roll Display: Rettel
“But First, Coffee” Flower Print: Sister Golden Shop
Wood Framed Abstract Art: Ashtyn Sibinski Art

kraft paper roll mounted on wall, underneath wall clock
picture of girl holding coffee in breakfast nook

Let me know if you have any other questions about this renovation!

I’m happy to share everything that Brian and I learned throughout the process.

Did you make this?

tag @heartbeetkitchen on instagram and hashtag it #heartbeetkitchen

March 23, 2020

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15 comments

  1. Irina Stiles

    Gorgeous and so inventive!

    • Amanda Paa

      Thank you, Irina!

  2. Alicia

    I love many things about your kitchen and the layout resembles ours. How did you handle the storage cabinets in the corners? Are you happy with that aspect of the design? They are tricky for me and I see lots of options online that I’m evaluating.

    • Amanda Paa

      Hi Alicia! The one corner cabinet has a lazy susan set up. The others are deep and I’m also looking for a solution. :)

  3. Bob

    Totally agree on the single bowl sink. I am intrigued by the touch faucet idea. I am looking for the most accurate and stable wall oven. I can’t tell from the photo what oven you chose. We have had terrible Jenn Air and have always great baking performance with GE. I’m debating whether Wolf is any better and worth the extra $$ over a high end GE Cafe.

  4. Rachelle

    Can you give the details of your kitchen window?

  5. Erica

    What is the color of your cabinets? Love them!

    • Amanda Paa

      it’s raindance by benjamin moore!

  6. Crystal

    Love this! We’re wrapping up selections for our new place and I’m sooo glad I found your page! It inspired us to try an Aloe cabinet (closest color included in our builder’s options, hopefully gives a similar effect) and the Et Statuario quartz, it’s such a soothing, clean look!

    • Amanda Paa

      Oh, i bet that’s a beautiful combination! Congratulations on wrapping things up. I’m sure it will be so wonderful to be in the space!

  7. Lyndsey

    Hi! This kitchen is amazing! Can I ask where the handles are from or what their name is. Beautiful page!

    • Amanda Paa

      Hi Lyndsey! The cabinet pulls are from Etsy, you can find them here!

  8. Jenny

    Stunning! Can you provide details on the countertop and tiles?

  9. Sarah | Well and Full

    This is the kitchen of my dreams! I love the color of the cabinets – so zen!