Your Weekly Voilà: Designing a Timeless Unfitted Kitchen 👩🏼‍🍳💕🇫🇷

What is the goal? A house that is like the life that goes with it, a house that gives us beauty as we understand it - and beauty of a nobler kind that we may grow to understand.

- Elsie de Wolfe

Almost 2 years ago, Tim peered behind a stack of old chairs to discover an ancient stone sink the size of Montana. (Really big.) He knew that once I saw it, the house would have to be ours. He was right.

This sink is not any ordinary sink. It's honed out of a giant block of granite. At some point in its lifetime, part of the front rim was chiseled out to make it easier to reach in. A good move because the alternative is to stand on a step stool to wash your dishes. Being that the sink is incorporated into the exterior wall, it is not going anywhere. It will be a task to plumb since the house has never had running water. Plus, it takes a lot of real estate in the room to just serve as a decorative catchall.

The entire sink is impractical.

Yet, it's my favorite feature in the house and I can't imagine living without it.

We have managed to dig a channel in the stone wall to the right of the sink to allow access for the cold and hot water pipes. I've selected a simple faucet with a long neck that will mount in the center back wall, bringing the water closer to the front of the sink.

Directly opposite the stone sink is the large fireplace or cantou. This was the center of the home for centuries as it was the heat source and where food was prepared. It will continue to serve both of those purposes. Rather than an open fire, we'll install a new and efficient wood cookstove and add storage and counter space to either side. I think we have this part of the kitchen design figured out.

Some things are totally impractical yet worthy of living with.

We finally made our cooker decision. While I love the large English enamel cookers with multi-ovens, we decided on the Esse Ironheart. It will fit the space better and is more in line with the rustic aesthetic of our little stone house. Our hope is it will arrive before the first frost.

Designing a kitchen is a personal process. Everyone has different ways of cooking, ideas of storage that suit their needs, and of course aesthetics and budget. For me, there are three elements that drive my design:

One. I love an unfitted kitchen whereby pieces of furniture meet my storage desires and add character to the space.

Two. I'm not an open-concept girl. I like to keep my kitchen prep separate from my dining. While I do clean as I go, there are always pots and pans sticking out of the sink (well . . . maybe not my sink ;) and I don't want to eat or entertain in the middle of a mess.

Three: While I enjoy the extra prep space that an island provides, I prefer an old farmhouse table repurposed as a dairy or prep table over a large, box plopped in the middle of the kitchen. (For an archived Weekly Voilà on dairy tables, click here.)

To inspire and help guide my design decisions, I have an enormous collection of pins on my Pinterest boards. (Sources and design credits for the included photos can be found there.)

I have always been attracted to "unfitted" kitchens. It must have something to do with my love affair with mismatched culinary spaces. The perfect example of a simple design and living with less.

With an unfitted kitchen, you can create your space with pieces of furniture you already own. You might be surprised at how well the elements come together. Flexible and functional.

Never underestimate both the beauty and the storage capacity of an old piece of furniture repurposed in the kitchen.

A Welsh dresser or cabinet can provide a great deal of dish storage. You can find all sorts of options at your local thrift stores. Maybe add a top that you find to a bottom that you already own. Voilà. A wonderful new piece to transform your current kitchen. (Note that fabulous AGA enamel cooker in the niche. I had one in the 1990s and loved cooking with radiant heat.)

Think of the storage in this linen press. All your napkins and tablecloths are neat and tidy, ready to dress your table. Silverware and baking tools organized. I cannot wait to unpack my boxes and find just the right place for all my everyday kitchenwares.

There are options for mixing both open storage and built-ins. This way your kitchen doesn't look like you purchased everything at one box store. Think about adding a full-height pantry for loads of storage. It will help to offset not having a lot of upper cabinets. In the end, you'll have the sense of more space.

A prep or dairy table reminds me of the humble kitchens in old farmhouses in rural France, England, and Italy. If you use fitted cabinetry in the rest of your kitchen, perhaps an old table with a marble top will add that European element you desire.

A small kitchen doesn't need a lot of small cabinets. A few sensible-sized pieces of furniture can serve all of your storage desires. Plus, you'll have everything you need right at your fingertips.

I like to discover clever ways to store my kitchen wares and display the pieces I truly love. Inexpensive fabric skirting can make quick work of hiding those items you prefer to be out of sight, such as small appliances, garbage and recycling cans, and cleaning supplies.

Sometimes an awkward space can become a focal point in your kitchen. Skirting can replace outdated cabinet doors without having to invest a fortune or remove the base cabinets. We inherited a number of old armoires that were in pieces in our cellar. Tim will repurpose the wood to be doors and shelves in our new / old kitchen.

There are all sorts of simple solutions to add more storage to your kitchen.

I like open storage. I want to see everything. But I'm not a fan of clutter so I need to make the arrangement useful and attractive. Open shelves are not for everyone. There is something to be said about hiding clutter and not having the dusting issue.

Even the addition of a simple bookshelf can add both storage and French style to your kitchen.

Adding storage to your kitchen doesn't have to be expensive. There are all sorts of simple ways to add a decorative element that is also functional.

Magnetic boards can help store often-used utensils to have at the ready.

Beautifully authentic, different, imperfect, and filled with vintage wares that carry a story, I love unfitted kitchens. I understand that this style might not suit everyone's taste, but if you're looking for something different with old-world charm, this might be a good option. Kitchens don't have to all look the same. They can be beautifully decorated and carry the owners' sense of personality.

We spend a lot of time in our kitchens; thus, we deserve a space that is calm, ordered, and peaceful. Even if you prefer a more streamlined, fitted style, you might find inspiration to add something unexpected to your current kitchen. Maybe you decide to take down a wall cabinet or two to add open shelves. Or do something small such as clean off the counters, add a lamp, artwork, or pull out Mémé's favorite batter bowl and fill it with fruit. You just might find that these small changes give the space a whole new feeling.

Take some time this weekend to decorate your kitchen,

Karen 🇫🇷