Lori Littleton
Lori is a DIYer who got her start in the design world when her children were young and she was looking to bring in some extra income for her family. As a wife and stay-at-home-mom who homeschools her two children and has a “desire to create,” she jumped feet first into the world of furniture restoration, repurposing, and rebuilding. Lori started selling her creations at a booth inside an antique barn, and her DIY skills quickly grew. Today she builds everything from dining tables to entertainment consoles, and she’s constantly finding old pieces to paint, spruce up, and bring back to life. This kitchen renovation is her first kitchen design project, and Lori was thrilled to use Tru Cabinetry because of its quality plywood construction and affordability.
Simple & Clean –
Farmhouse Feel in Central Florida
The home of Lori and Clay Littleton might not look like a farmhouse from the outside, but take one step inside this 12-year-old ranch in Sanford, Florida and you’ve arrived in a simpler time, where clean lines, crisp white hues, and reclaimed wood are king. The modern farmhouse flavor is arguably the hottest design trend we’re seeing right now. But this trend is more than a look. It’s a feeling. It’s casual, it’s comforting, and it evokes Americana. As Lori’s own design style evolved, she and her husband slowly started to renovate their home to match up with the modern farmhouse look and feel, adding shiplap walls and rustic, antiqued decor. Their latest project, a kitchen redesign, was a complete renovation that included the removal of a wall and relocation of the sink.
The Dakota Profile
The Dakota door profile from our Simple & Clean line is the perfect choice for a modern farmhouse kitchen. In Lori and Clay’s kitchen, the shaker-style maple cabinet is painted Tru-White and is paired with honed Carrara marble countertops. The black hardware is a perfect contrast against the white cabinets.
Custom Touches
The focal point of this kitchen is, without a doubt, the antique hemlock custom range hood, which Lori also built. It is set against a backdrop of white subway tile that extends to the ceiling, and it’s flanked by a pair of symmetrical cabinet towers and custom open shelving. The lack of upper cabinets is classic modern farmhouse style and opens up the eye to more space.
An Inviting Home
A long island with seating for four provides more than enough food prep space, and vintage-inspired pendants give off the perfect amount of light. Lori’s goal was for family and friends to feel warm and welcomed when they’re in her kitchen, and all the elements she combined in her design mean they certainly do.
Improving Flow
As part of their kitchen redesign, Lori and Clay really wanted to improve the flow of the space. They did so by relocating the sink — and trenching the concrete slab more than 10 feet in the process — to the area in front of the window. They ripped up the existing tile floor but were lucky that the wood laminate in the adjacent living room was still available, so they extended that to the kitchen.
Tying It All Together
Plenty of deep lower drawers and cabinets in the island make up for the lack of upper cabinet storage in Lori and Clay’s kitchen. A reclaimed sliding wood door painted black separates the pantry from the rest of the space, and the former formal dining room adjacent to the kitchen was turned into a sitting area.