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A memorable kitchen does not require a complete remodel. Designer Grace Mitchell’s test is more personal: “What do you want to be memorable to someone when they visit and see your kitchen?” Her ideas range from a new set of cabinet pulls to a salvaged island, but they share one principle—let the room reveal something about the people who use it.
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Mitchell, the designer behind @astoriedstyle and host of One of a Kind, treats color, lighting, storage and collected objects as parts of one story. Use the 11 approaches below individually or combine a quiet backdrop with one unmistakably personal feature.
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Choose the scale of change before you choose the feature
Character can come from a reversible detail, a finish that changes the room’s mood, or a structural piece that becomes the kitchen’s anchor. The choices below are aesthetic guidance rather than a tested ranking, so select the level of work your home and schedule can support.
| Approach | Visual effect | Scope and permanence | Primary role |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hardware | A concentrated detail that sharpens the cabinet style | Small, finish-level change | Decorative punctuation and daily touch points |
| Cabinet color | Changes the room’s dominant field of color | Medium project; repainting is more involved than a hardware swap | Atmosphere and visual balance |
| Backsplash or hood surround | Creates a focal plane behind the work area | Medium to renovation-scale, depending on material | Protection plus a strong visual statement |
| Lighting | Adds mood, emphasis or a sculptural object | Fixture changes are moderate; wiring can increase the scope | Ambient, decorative and task illumination |
| Storage and furniture | Introduces architectural shape and visible collections | From a shelf addition to a substantial built-in or adapted piece | Organization, display and work surface |
Start by naming one memory or feeling you want the room to create—lively, collected, nostalgic, calm or useful. That answer keeps several interesting ideas from competing for attention.
1. Hunt salvage yards for a one-off piece
Mitchell recommends visiting salvage yards and looking for an object that can be adapted to kitchen duty. Her examples include retrofitting vintage fixtures, refinishing a salvage sink and converting an industrial table into an island. A reused object carries marks, proportions and materials that are difficult to reproduce with a coordinated new set.
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Evaluate a find for its actual job before falling in love with its appearance. An industrial table may work as an island if its height, depth and circulation leave comfortable room to move. A vintage sink needs a realistic plan for refinishing and connection to the existing plumbing. Fixtures may require a safe retrofit rather than a purely decorative installation.
Mitchell calls repurposing vintage finds “a great—and green!—way to have something in your kitchen that no one else has.” That is her design rationale, not a measured environmental claim. The practical payoff is individuality: one salvaged element can keep a new kitchen from looking like a showroom set.
2. Paint with a color you already love
Instead of choosing a neutral simply because it is fashionable, Mitchell suggests starting with a color you have liked for years. Cabinets occupy a large visual area, so a familiar hue can make the room feel intentional rather than trend-driven. If the cabinetry is bold, she pairs it with quieter countertops such as white marble or quartzite to give the eye a place to rest.
For a DIY cabinet repaint, Mitchell prefers a sprayer to a brush for a smoother, more durable finish and recommends satin-finish cabinetry enamel. Her feature does not provide a full preparation schedule or product test, so treat those recommendations as finish guidance, not a guarantee of performance. The result still depends on sound surfaces and careful application.
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Balance the rest of the palette
Use the countertop, wall color and floor as supporting players. A strong cabinet color can stand on its own when surrounding surfaces are restrained. Conversely, muted cabinets leave room for a more expressive backsplash, hardware combination or light fixture.
3. Treat knobs and pulls like jewelry
Hardware is a small intervention with an outsized ability to change how cabinets read. Mitchell compares knobs and pulls to jewelry: they can make ordinary doors feel collected and furniture-like. Try one style on wall cabinets and another on an island, or mix finishes deliberately rather than matching every metal.
Before ordering, map each door and drawer so the proportions stay comfortable in the hand. A long pull can emphasize a tall pantry door, while a compact knob may suit a narrow drawer. The visual goal is a pattern that looks gathered over time, not random.
Because hardware is a detail-level change, it is a sensible first move when the layout works but the room feels anonymous. It also lets you test a finish—such as warm brass or a dark metal—before committing it to a faucet or light fixture.
4. Add a botanical note through color
Mitchell describes blue and green paint as a way to bring a romantic, botanical feeling into a kitchen. The shades she names include Benjamin Moore Kittery Point Green, Acadia Green, Buxton Blue and Newburyport Blue, along with Farrow & Ball Breakfast Room Green. These are examples she likes, not a universal palette or a statement about current availability.
You can use a botanical color on cabinets, a pantry door, an island base or a single wall. Repeating the hue in a small object or textile can connect the choice to the rest of the home without turning the room into a theme. If the color is deep or saturated, keep another major surface quiet so the kitchen remains legible in both daylight and evening light.
5. Make the backsplash the room’s story panel
A backsplash can do more than protect the wall behind a work surface. Mitchell’s examples range from stamped stone and mosaic tile to painted beadboard. She also describes a painted wall decorated with botanical pages from a gardening book and protected by an acrylic panel.
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Choose the backsplash after deciding whether the cabinets should lead or support. Bold cabinetry can be balanced by a calmer backsplash; restrained cabinetry can support a highly patterned tile or an illustrated panel. Carrying a backsplash material over the vent hood is another way to turn a practical zone into a focal point.
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6. Look beyond stainless-steel appliances
Mitchell favors colored appliances when the goal is a memorable focal point. She names Big Chill and BlueStar as sources she likes, while also describing white appliances for a vintage feeling and black appliances for a deeper, richer look. These are aesthetic preferences, not comparative claims about performance, reliability or value.
Use one colored appliance as an anchor rather than scattering unrelated colors across the room. A range can establish the palette, with cabinet hardware or a small accessory quietly echoing it. White appliances can support a light, nostalgic scheme; black appliances can give pale cabinetry more weight.
Check the exact dimensions, ventilation requirements and finish availability for your location before designing around a specific model. The feature does not establish current stock, prices or regional programs.
7. Turn heirlooms into visible art
At least one object should be “totally and uniquely you,” Mitchell says. In her examples, serving utensils, love letters, children’s art, family photographs, a first-restaurant menu and vintage plates become part of the kitchen’s visual language.
Group related pieces so they read as a deliberate collection. A menu can sit in a frame near the dining side of the room; plates can occupy a plate rail or glass-front cabinet; children’s art can rotate in a simple display area. Keep treasured paper away from splash zones and direct heat, and use a protective frame or glazing where appropriate.
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The point is not to fill every wall. One meaningful object can carry more character than a dozen generic signs because it gives visitors a real story to ask about.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.8. Layer lighting for day and night
Mitchell separates decorative impact from useful illumination. She likes flush or semi-flush ceiling fixtures, large-scale lights over an island, a pendant over the sink, sconces beside cabinets and LED strips inside glass cabinets. Together, these layers let the kitchen function during preparation and feel atmospheric when the work is finished.
Give each light a job
- Ambient: A flush or semi-flush ceiling fixture establishes the general level of light.
- Statement: A large island fixture or pendant gives the room a recognizable silhouette.
- Task: A sink pendant, cabinet-side sconce or other focused source helps illuminate a specific work area.
- Display: LED strips inside glass cabinets make collections visible without adding another large object.
Plan scenes for both daylight and evening. A fixture that looks balanced at noon may feel too weak or too harsh after dark, while a dimmer, where compatible with the installation, can let one layer serve more than one mood.
9. Give the vent hood a point of view
The hood is often treated as a stainless-steel necessity, but Mitchell sees it as another architectural surface. A wood or tile surround can connect the hood to the cabinetry or backsplash. She also describes adapting a scalloped copper piece and carrying backsplash tile over a hood surround.
Because the hood sits above heat and cooking vapors, coordinate the decorative treatment with the appliance’s installation requirements. The visual move is most successful when the surround looks integrated rather than like an afterthought. Repeating a backsplash tile on the hood can create that continuity; a contrasting material can make the hood the intentional centerpiece.
10. Rethink the sink and faucet as a pair
A sink can be a character feature rather than an invisible basin. Mitchell discusses colored sinks, including a vintage sink refinished in jadeite, and says colored finishes can be special-ordered from American Standard and Kohler. Those names are examples from her feature; availability, lead times and finishes vary by market.
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She also favors built-in drainboards and pairs a sink with a bridge faucet, preferably in unlacquered brass or polished nickel. The drainboard adds a visible, useful form, while the bridge-faucet silhouette can reinforce a vintage or furniture-like direction.
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Coordinate the sink, faucet, counter edge and backsplash before ordering. A colored basin is most effective when its hue relates to the room’s palette, not when it is an isolated accent. Confirm cabinet dimensions, faucet-hole requirements and plumbing compatibility with the installer handling the work.
11. Make storage useful and personal
Mitchell’s storage advice begins with a simple filter: keep what is loved and used, whether it is displayed or tucked away. That principle avoids the common problem of open shelving becoming a stage for objects no one wants to maintain.
Choose the right type of visibility
- Statement shelving: Use it for frequently handled pieces or a small collection that benefits from being seen.
- Glass-front cabinetry: Protects contents while still allowing plates, glassware or keepsakes to contribute to the room.
- Small pantries: Concentrate supplies in a defined zone instead of spreading them across the counter.
- Sliding doors: Mitchell notes them for narrow pantry shelves where a hinged door would obstruct circulation.
Repurpose the structure itself
Her examples include using refrigerator doors as cabinet fronts, mounting metal shelves on salvaged boards and adapting a workbench as a chef’s table. Each move combines storage or work surface with a material story. Check that an adapted piece can carry its intended load and be cleaned where food is prepared; the visual character should not compromise daily use.
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Choose one primary statement—perhaps colored cabinets, a patterned backsplash, a salvaged island or a distinctive hood. Add two or three quieter echoes through hardware, lighting or a keepsake. This hierarchy lets the room feel layered while preserving a clear focal point.
Mitchell’s broader message is that character is not a single style. It can be a favorite color, a family object, a practical light, a reused material or storage arranged around real habits. Her advice is intended as a menu of possibilities, not a prescription for every floor plan. Ask what should be memorable, then spend effort on the feature that answers that question most honestly.
For the complete examples and quotations, see Jennifer Kopf’s January 9, 2025 feature in Country Living: 11 Fool-Proof Ways to Add Character to Your Kitchen.
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