We are still anticipating the go-ahead to head to Lucca, to put the finishing touches to our ground floor apartment. We still have to sand and stain the wooden floors, paint the walls, and place the kitchen. And let's not forget, decorate! The paint tins are calmly waiting next to the door. But in the meantime, I'm finishing up the kitchen scheme.
I am so thrilled with the tiles we put in by CottoD'este; I am obsessed with the combination of grey tiles/wood kitchen. The U-form kitchen looks out on our breakfast nook, sitting under an arched wall. The nook has Terrazzo flooring. The perfect spot for a narrow table and bench, so they don't cover too much up of the gorgeous flooring.

The Inspiration:

What I like about the combination of wood and grey, is that it's a blank slate. Have we chosen a bolder look, the accessories would have been an afterthought. Here they'll steal the show. Selecting the backsplash, countertop, and hardware with a white or a wood kitchen more of a big deal.
I always start by considering the most classic option: a marble countertop, backsplash, or neutral tiles.  The crips white butt down and jeans of the kitchen world.
The apartment will be rented out, so the top has to be practical. Marble is out of the question. And if we use a composite, we have to be careful not to make it too contemporary and clash with the century-old house. We could go bold, with black. We had a black soapstone countertop in our home in France, where the kitchen was white, and for the 13 years we live there, my love never wavered. Matching it with grey tiles will balance the flooring. But, but you need a lot of light to pull black off. Brightness and room. I don't think this combo will look good where there's no direct natural light. I also like a green/wood combo, it's mid-century, very California, optimistic. But again, no natural light, so I have to be careful with it.




The palette:
In the end, the inspiration served more to guide me towards what I don't want. I let the apartment itself inspire me: the flooring goes throughout, into the bathrooms, the bedrooms have hardwood floors in a fish grate pattern, and there are a lot of stone colors. The patio walls are yellow. The facades all through Lucca are golden, cream, light grey. Lucca doesn't have the candy-colors of some Italian towns. And in the end, this was the primary influence for the kitchen.

I want something that matches the town and brings some softness mixed in with the masculinity of the rest of the house.
I adjusted the green, a bit softer on the walls, (here I use Farrow and Ball's Chromatry as the example). I will probably try to find tiles in those muted tones. If you've read this blog before, you know I adore concrete, but I want it sand-colored, again to connect in with the shades of the facades in Lucca.
Add some heft with black pendants: steel appliances, and wood accessories.

Once I'm allowed to go to Lucca and will stand in the space, I could change my mind, but for now, this is the plan. And now we wait.