Open Concept Kitchen Appliances
Choosing appliances for an open-concept kitchen can be tricky because they are seen from the rest of your home! Get tips for choosing the best open concept kitchen appliances as seen in this beautiful rustic modern kitchen.
This post is sponsored by The Home Depot. All images and opinions are my own.
For years, we’ve been dreaming of a little house out here in the Texas hill country – a place for our extended family to gather. About a year ago, we found the perfect little ranch house on six acres. And one looooooooong renovation later, we’re finally about ready to put this home and its open concept kitchen to good use.
Excuse me while I laugh/cry/happy dance…
I just shared the full story on the cabinets here, but today I want to cover the other major kitchen staples: appliances.
This post contains affiliate links. Click here to read my full disclosure.
Choosing Kitchen Appliances for an Open Concept Kitchen
I shared a few months ago which appliances we chose for the space and our process of doing so (feel free to check out the full post here for practical tips on choosing appliances!). We found the selection and online shopping experience at The Home Depot to be amazing: plenty of choices, but also plenty of filters to help us narrow down the options and find the perfect appliances for our space. But for today, I’d like to focus on the aesthetics of it all. In short, I think it can be boiled down to two major factors:
- Consider sight lines.
- Prioritize clear counter space.
White Kitchen Appliances
Since the full kitchen is not only visible from the main living and dining space in this house but is practically the central focal point, I wanted appliances that blended in and kept open sight lines as much as possible.
Dramatic, stainless appliances can be beautiful in some settings, but as the gathering point in this little ranch house, this kitchen seemed to need something more understated. Instead of stainless, I went for this white KitchenAid fridge.
The white refrigerator panels blend into our white cabinets beautifully, while the substantial stainless handles still lend a subtle touch of gourmet, industrial feeling.
Panel Front Dishwasher
This panel front dishwasher was perfect, as well, allowing that appliance simply to blend in with the rest of the cabinetry.
A pretty dishwasher helps makes washing dishes *almost* fun. 😉
Island Range Hood
Even the range hood – though bold in black – was chosen over stainless for its classic appeal.
And to be honest, I struggled with that decision a lot… The placement of the range in the island was key to our open concept design because we had to remove two of the original kitchen walls. And given the open design, a high-powered vent hood was important to avoiding cooking odors throughout the home. I originally thought I wanted a white hood to blend with the cabinetry, but when I saw this beautiful black one, I decided to give it a try. And it turned out so. much. better. than I had even imagined.
I love how it draws attention to the black windows (which are original to the space).
Microwave Drawer and Island Range
The stainless appliances I reserved for the more hidden side of the island.
Although open to the other spaces and thus feeling rather large, the functional space of the kitchen is really just the galley shape on the one side of the island. All three parts of the “kitchen triangle” are there: the fridge, the sink, and the range (see more about different kitchen layouts and designs here). And though there is obviously lots of countertop thanks to the large bar at the island, the working counter space is rather limited – just a few feet on either side of the range and sink. So this microwave drawer was the perfect option to preserve counter space and sight lines in this open-design kitchen.
But the 30″ commercial style range is truly the piece de resistance.
It not only has incredible commercial-grade, dual fuel power, but it marries the microwave drawer (which only comes in stainless) with the white refrigerator. And since they are both KitchenAid, the fridge and range handles match beautifully.
I’ve always preferred gas cooktops (but it wasn’t in option in our other kitchen), so I’m going to thoroughly enjoy putting this one to good use.
Rustic Modern Ranch Kitchen
And that’s it! By prioritizing non-stainless appliances that would blend into the cabinets and/or hide under the countertops, we’ve created a modern, functional kitchen with an old-world appeal. A rustic modern space perfect for our little ranch house… and we couldn’t be more excited.
What’s your favorite part? I’d love to know. You can read more about our cabinet choice and design here, and I promise sources for the rest of the space soon!
I acknowledge that The Home Depot is partnering with me to participate in the promotional program described above (the “Program”). As a part of the Program, I am receiving compensation in the form of products and services, for the purpose of promoting The Home Depot. All expressed opinions and experiences are my own words. My post complies with the Word Of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) Ethics Code and applicable Federal Trade Commission guidelines.
The combination of white, black, and the wood tones in this kitchen are superb! You are right, that black hood creates lots of drama in the space. And that white range would be exactly what I would put in my kitchen when we renovate! Off to read the post listing the other sources!
Hi Jane! I love all those features. I wanted it to feel different and rustic, true to the area! I hope you find the sources helpful.
I am happy to see some of my favorite Home Bloggers are getting sponsored.You all deserve it. I am much more influenced by your presentations than any commercial. What a beautiful job you did with your kitchen,
Laura, that is such a kind thing to say! We definitely work hard to share the best we can with our audience so that you all can use it to translate into your own home.
Your home looks like it is in The Parade of Homes that we have each year here in Col, OH. The houses make you want to stow away in them until everyone leaves. I enjoyed doing that 4-5 Your kitchen and the rest that I can see is as close to PERFECTION as one can get!! I pray that you and the family have a blessed time every time you are there. TFS
Thank you so much, Juanita! We are so excited to share many family memories here.
Rachel, as a fellow Texan I have loved and followed your blog for a while. Once again you have done an excellent job with the ranch house. I am in awe of this kitchen! I trust that God will bless you with many happy memories and a place you can pass down through the generations!
Thank you, Sherry! I hope you can see the “Texas Hill Country” style inspiration in our new home! 🙂
I love this look! I am wondering if you were worried the white appliances wouldn’t match the cupboards white color? How did you know it would work??
Hi Nancy! Great question! I had a sample of the cabinet color to compare with the appliances in person. I think warm whites would be ok on any cabinet color.
I love this tone on tone look. I’d like to do this in a more modern way at my cabin. Could you kindly share the color of white you chose for your cabinets? It’s so hard to find white appliances in the stores for comparison.
Hi! Yes, you can read all about my cabinet choices (Dove White) here: https://www.maisondepax.com/kraftmaid-cabinets-design-order/
Hi, what color/brand are the floors? I am recreating this kitchen in my new home!
Hi Jaclyn! You can read more about all of the sources in this post, but the floors are engineered wood floors by Greenworld Industries in Rivera.
https://www.maisondepax.com/rustic-modern-farmhouse-kitchen-reveal/
Hi again, I see that Rustic Alder is the wood type, but what is the stain color?
It’s rustic alder with a natural suede finish. I hope this helps!
LOVE YOUR KITCHEN. we are about to remodel our kitchen and to make our kitchen larger we will take down a wall. This gives us more space but will also leave our island in front of the stairs. Like in your kitchen. Does this bother you? or does the walkway to and from the stairs etc. seem to work ok?
Thank you so much, Esme! We actually added the stairs to the home (it was previously one story), and we went around and around about the best place to put them. I didn’t want it to feel crowded in the kitchen area, but I also didn’t want the stairs to feel like an after thought to the home (which I think it would have if we had put them at the back of the house coming off the laundry room, which was our only other real option). I don’t regret the choice! The only downside is that noise from the open living at the top of the stairs and noise from the kitchen tend to compete with one another… but the access to the stairs and that walkway have been just fine. I hope this helps!