Call Them Rustic, Call Them Country, These Kitchens Put You In a Relaxed Mood
The country style in American home design is not just one thing. Just when you have it in your head that "country" means roosters on the wall and hammered copper cabinet faces, you look at a kitchen like this one, above, and see how malleable the concept really is.
Country does not mean unsophisticated or crude or barren. It can translate to spare and clean, dominated by simple shapes that do the job without much fuss.
It can translate to: lots of white of differing shades. White on white style usually signifies rustic.
It can translate to: a hearkening back to the past, without using actual antiques (What about that modern farmhouse/apron sink? Or those too-hip-for-you Edison bulbs?).
Tossing a rocking chair into the mix doesn't make anything "country" or "rustic." But those roughly hewn raw, unpainted, unstained, unsealed shelves are rustic.
Rustic-Floored Country Kitchen
Everything in this kitchen shouts "country!" Let's start with the cabinets. It's a Portland door style in Maple finished in Oatmeal. Floor: rustic beech or cypress. Vent hood: copper. Even the ceiling is tongue-and-groove natural wood.
Featured cabinets are from Starmark.
Cherry-Finished Country-Style Kitchen Cabinets
Here you'll notice that about the only thing that gives this kitchen a distinct country style is the cabinetry: featured company Starmark's Glendale door style in Cherry finished in Nutmeg with Chocolate glaze. Everything else is decidedly modern.
Yellow Is The Color of County Kitchen Style
Check out this very sunny country color for the walls of this kitchen: Valspar/Eddie Bauer Daffodil EB13-2.
The diagonal tile behind the stove, hanging pot rack, and open shelves also contribute to the country/cottage look.
White Cabinets For a Sophisticated Country Style
White cabinetry always gives kitchens a country flair--especially paired with glass insets, crown molding at the top of the cabinets, hanging pot racks,
Black granite countertops and stainless steel appliances take the "rustic" edge off of this country kitchen and give it a touch of sophistication.
Featured cabinets are from Canyon Creek Cabinets. Winterset White Thermofoil.
Cherry and Maple Country-Style Cabinets
For this unique country kitchen idea, a pairing of two types of kitchen cabinet wood species--cherry and maple.
To give this kitchen even more of a country look: a fancy valance; bent-wood chairs; glass-inset cabinets; and rustic 16" x 16" floor tile set diagonally.
This look is from featured cabinet company, Canyon Creek. Charleston cabinetry.
Maple and White Country Style Kitchen
Maple is always a great choice when looking for country kitchen cabinet ideas. It's a clear-grained, creamy wood that takes paint well or looks super on its own.
Featured company is Shenandoah Cabinetry. McKinley Maple. Butterscotch Glaze with Cherry Chocolate Island Square.
Innovative Breakfast Bar in Country Kitchen
White kitchen cabinets, lattice wine rack, baskets atop the cabinets--very homey and country.
The diagonally-situated breakfast bar gives the kitchen a fresh, unique look.
Cabinets come from Quality Cabinets. Sterling in white finish.
Farmhouse Style Sink Signifies Country In This Kitchen
One surefire country kitchen idea is to add what is commonly called a farmhouse-style or, to make it sound more inclusive of all styles, an apron sink. This attractive, smooth-aproned (or fronted) sink requires special installation methods, but gives you far more washing room than ordinary sinks.
This sink is made by Franke.
Compare Prices: Franke MHK-110-20 Single Basin Fireclay Kitchen Sink
Blue Painted Cabinets for a Euro-Country Feel
A great country kitchen idea from Kraftmaid. Glass insets in the cabinets give the kitchen an open, airy feel. The tall vent hood over the stove draws the eye upward. Cabinets are a Dove White finish on square recessed panel solid maple doors.
Wrought Iron Chandelier In Country Kitchen
No better way to give your kitchen the look of a French country kitchen than cabinets painted Delft blue, decorative tile backsplash, hanging copper pans, and ceramic roosters.
The cabinets are from Artistic Cabinetry, Smithtown, NY. Be sure to check out their excellent portfolio, linked below in our list of cabinet manufacturers.
Unique Touch With Dry Sink Stand
This is a country kitchen for a duke and duchess: tons of space accommodating a big eating/prep island; a graceful arch over four double-hung windows; exposed plate caddies; glass-front cabinets; and a gorgeous wrought-iron chandelier.
Star of the show is the cabinet work from Artistic Cabinetry.
Fresh, Clean, Unsullied:The All-White Country Kitchen
If you want a true country look for your kitchen, consider adding a dry sink stand (dry, meaning that it's unplumbed).
No reason, though, you can't add a farmhouse style (apron) sink and plumb it.
More likely, you'll use it off to the side as a decorative piece with a copper wash pan. On the top shelf is some room for cookbooks. Underneath, you can store kitchen implements that you use infrequently.
This comes from Touches of Country.
Country Kitchen With White Cabinets, Hardwood Floor
For reasons I've never been able to fathom, all-white kitchens seem to convey a country feel.
Here we've got white cabinets, white trim, white crown molding, white fixtures, white walls, and a few other white accessories.
Cabinets are from Black Cove Cabinetry, based in Scarborough, Maine.
Let Colors Help Define Your Country Kitchen
What are the elements of this kitchen, from Black Cove Cabinetry, that make it "country?"
For one, it has a solid hardwood floor, and the three bar stools at the island do look very country. But again, it's those clean, spare, white cabinets that do the trick. Note how even the refrigerator has a cabinet panel on front to disguise it. No stainless steel here, mister!
One of the best and cheapest country kitchen ideas is to focus on color. Simple earthen- and primary-based colors work best when trying to achieve a down-to-earth kitchen style.
Add in a natural-wood mobile kitchen island/table and you've got country-style.
Featured paint is from Dutch Boy. Colors: Yellowtail Dam, Rich Georgia Clay, and Regal Red.
The country style in American home design is not just one thing. Just when you have it in your head that "country" means roosters on the wall and hammered copper cabinet faces, you look at a kitchen like this one, above, and see how malleable the concept really is.
Country does not mean unsophisticated or crude or barren. It can translate to spare and clean, dominated by simple shapes that do the job without much fuss.
It can translate to: lots of white of differing shades. White on white style usually signifies rustic.
It can translate to: a hearkening back to the past, without using actual antiques (What about that modern farmhouse/apron sink? Or those too-hip-for-you Edison bulbs?).
Tossing a rocking chair into the mix doesn't make anything "country" or "rustic." But those roughly hewn raw, unpainted, unstained, unsealed shelves are rustic.
Rustic-Floored Country Kitchen
Everything in this kitchen shouts "country!" Let's start with the cabinets. It's a Portland door style in Maple finished in Oatmeal. Floor: rustic beech or cypress. Vent hood: copper. Even the ceiling is tongue-and-groove natural wood.
Featured cabinets are from Starmark.
Cherry-Finished Country-Style Kitchen Cabinets
Here you'll notice that about the only thing that gives this kitchen a distinct country style is the cabinetry: featured company Starmark's Glendale door style in Cherry finished in Nutmeg with Chocolate glaze. Everything else is decidedly modern.
Yellow Is The Color of County Kitchen Style
Check out this very sunny country color for the walls of this kitchen: Valspar/Eddie Bauer Daffodil EB13-2.
The diagonal tile behind the stove, hanging pot rack, and open shelves also contribute to the country/cottage look.
White Cabinets For a Sophisticated Country Style
White cabinetry always gives kitchens a country flair--especially paired with glass insets, crown molding at the top of the cabinets, hanging pot racks,
Black granite countertops and stainless steel appliances take the "rustic" edge off of this country kitchen and give it a touch of sophistication.
Featured cabinets are from Canyon Creek Cabinets. Winterset White Thermofoil.
Cherry and Maple Country-Style Cabinets
For this unique country kitchen idea, a pairing of two types of kitchen cabinet wood species--cherry and maple.
To give this kitchen even more of a country look: a fancy valance; bent-wood chairs; glass-inset cabinets; and rustic 16" x 16" floor tile set diagonally.
This look is from featured cabinet company, Canyon Creek. Charleston cabinetry.
Maple and White Country Style Kitchen
Maple is always a great choice when looking for country kitchen cabinet ideas. It's a clear-grained, creamy wood that takes paint well or looks super on its own.
Featured company is Shenandoah Cabinetry. McKinley Maple. Butterscotch Glaze with Cherry Chocolate Island Square.
Innovative Breakfast Bar in Country Kitchen
White kitchen cabinets, lattice wine rack, baskets atop the cabinets--very homey and country.
The diagonally-situated breakfast bar gives the kitchen a fresh, unique look.
Cabinets come from Quality Cabinets. Sterling in white finish.
Farmhouse Style Sink Signifies Country In This Kitchen
One surefire country kitchen idea is to add what is commonly called a farmhouse-style or, to make it sound more inclusive of all styles, an apron sink. This attractive, smooth-aproned (or fronted) sink requires special installation methods, but gives you far more washing room than ordinary sinks.
This sink is made by Franke.
Compare Prices: Franke MHK-110-20 Single Basin Fireclay Kitchen Sink
Blue Painted Cabinets for a Euro-Country Feel
A great country kitchen idea from Kraftmaid. Glass insets in the cabinets give the kitchen an open, airy feel. The tall vent hood over the stove draws the eye upward. Cabinets are a Dove White finish on square recessed panel solid maple doors.
Wrought Iron Chandelier In Country Kitchen
No better way to give your kitchen the look of a French country kitchen than cabinets painted Delft blue, decorative tile backsplash, hanging copper pans, and ceramic roosters.
The cabinets are from Artistic Cabinetry, Smithtown, NY. Be sure to check out their excellent portfolio, linked below in our list of cabinet manufacturers.
Unique Touch With Dry Sink Stand
This is a country kitchen for a duke and duchess: tons of space accommodating a big eating/prep island; a graceful arch over four double-hung windows; exposed plate caddies; glass-front cabinets; and a gorgeous wrought-iron chandelier.
Star of the show is the cabinet work from Artistic Cabinetry.
Fresh, Clean, Unsullied:The All-White Country Kitchen
If you want a true country look for your kitchen, consider adding a dry sink stand (dry, meaning that it's unplumbed).
No reason, though, you can't add a farmhouse style (apron) sink and plumb it.
More likely, you'll use it off to the side as a decorative piece with a copper wash pan. On the top shelf is some room for cookbooks. Underneath, you can store kitchen implements that you use infrequently.
This comes from Touches of Country.
Country Kitchen With White Cabinets, Hardwood Floor
For reasons I've never been able to fathom, all-white kitchens seem to convey a country feel.
Here we've got white cabinets, white trim, white crown molding, white fixtures, white walls, and a few other white accessories.
Cabinets are from Black Cove Cabinetry, based in Scarborough, Maine.
Let Colors Help Define Your Country Kitchen
What are the elements of this kitchen, from Black Cove Cabinetry, that make it "country?"
For one, it has a solid hardwood floor, and the three bar stools at the island do look very country. But again, it's those clean, spare, white cabinets that do the trick. Note how even the refrigerator has a cabinet panel on front to disguise it. No stainless steel here, mister!
One of the best and cheapest country kitchen ideas is to focus on color. Simple earthen- and primary-based colors work best when trying to achieve a down-to-earth kitchen style.
Add in a natural-wood mobile kitchen island/table and you've got country-style.
Featured paint is from Dutch Boy. Colors: Yellowtail Dam, Rich Georgia Clay, and Regal Red.