How To Design A Kitchen With Old-World Charm

Traditional wooden cabinets, copper pots and pans hanging decoratively from a rack, and a barrel ceiling making the space feel warm and homey. There are many ways, and reasons, to bring Old-World charm to your kitchen. Whether as an ode to a home owned by an ancestor or just for a love of European interior design, you can easily create a kitchen that represents the essence of the past, with all the modern features available today.

Traditional Kitchen CabinetsRTA-Vintage-White

Start with your cabinetry, choosing either a Mediterranean or French Country style. Our French Vanilla Glaze Collection from TheRTAStore is the perfect provincial look, with its cream color and raised paneling. For an even more dramatic selection, go with our Vintage White ready to assemble cabinets. Constructed of solid maple, this beautiful collection is hand glazed and features a unique dark cream finish that adds to its antique appearance. For a warm wood tone, our Glazed Praline kitchen cabinets are a natural choice for any Old-World kitchen.

Simple Flooring

To capture that picturesque European style, floors should be simple and feel almost bare. Dark hardwood flooring or warm stone tiles are both excellent choices to enhance the look of your Old-World kitchen, while maintaining the ambiance of this traditional theme. Avoid modern materials, like bamboo, laminate, and rubber, which can hinder your theme by making it appear too contemporary.  
 

RTA-Glazed-PralineOld-World Accessories

Don’t forget to look up. Old-World kitchens are known for their architectural grandeur, high ceilings, and ornate top to bottom detailing. When designing your new kitchen, be sure to include building a barrel or coffered ceiling, or expose the beams in your plans. Ornate molding above your cabinets can also bring attention upward. What lies above is just as important as what is at eye level.

Find ways to make your kitchen design Old-World authentic, such as constructing an arch above the oven range as a modern adaption of traditional wood-burning hearths. A mural backsplash or vintage appliances could also offer the boost you need to take your theme from somewhat Old-World to spot on. There’s no exact amount of influence that should be present, so let your imagination run wild and incorporate the elements that inspire you most.

Accessorize purposefully. The details of your cabinetry speak volumes on their own. There is no need to take away from these elements of your kitchen design by adding too many additional decorations. Instead, add color to the walls in a classic color like pewter or gold, and pick a strong central focal point such as a chandelier or kitchen island.

Your Old-World kitchen design should blend seamlessly with the rest of the home so it feels as though it was part of the original construction — not a new renovation inspired by the style of generations before. Keep colors natural, and limit modern additions to appliances, to maintain that antique essence while remaining up-to-date. 
 
At TheRTAStore we help make your dream kitchen a reality with RTA (Ready To Assemble) cabinets, Pre-Assembled cabinets, and accessories with the same (if not better) quality you would find at any retail store but for a fraction of the price. Stop by our website or give us a call and let one of our friendly kitchen designers help make your kitchen dreams come true!