Inspiration for a contemporary u-shaped separate kitchen in Other with flat-panel cabinets, white cabinets, wood benchtops, panelled appliances, medium hardwood floors, with island, brown floor and brown benchtop.

Horton Road

Finch London

Compact U-shaped kitchen in Hackney Matt Lacquer doors in Ceramic Blue by Sanderson Bespoke Handles and Box Shelves in American Black Walnut 40mm thick American Black Walnut worktops Scallop tiles by Mosaic Del Sur Copper Pendant by Nordlux Photos by Polly Tootal

CHIC HISTORIC SMALL KITCHEN

Molly J Littlejohn Design

Inspiration for a small traditional galley separate kitchen in Portland with an undermount sink, shaker cabinets, wood benchtops, marble splashback, stainless steel appliances, light hardwood floors and black benchtop.

PROJET D'OSLO, Architectes d'intérieur: Carla Lopez et Margaux Meza

Transition Interior Design

Shoootin
Inspiration for a contemporary single-wall separate kitchen in Paris with a drop-in sink, flat-panel cabinets, green cabinets, wood benchtops, white splashback, panelled appliances, cement tiles, no island, grey floor and beige benchtop.

AG House

Marcello Mariana

Design ideas for a modern l-shaped separate kitchen in Milan with flat-panel cabinets, black cabinets, wood benchtops, black splashback, black appliances, medium hardwood floors, brown floor, an integrated sink, no island and grey benchtop.

Traditional Kitchen

Spectra Design Build

Inspiration for a small traditional galley separate kitchen in New York with an undermount sink, shaker cabinets, blue cabinets, wood benchtops, white splashback, subway tile splashback, stainless steel appliances, marble floors and no island.

Modern, Masculine Craftsman

Kelly Martin Interiors

A bold, masculine kitchen remodel in a Craftsman style home. We went dark and bold on the cabinet color and let the rest remain bright and airy to balance it out.

LAUREL KITCHEN

Kate Roos Design LLC

Dark blue base cabinets anchor the space while the marble countertops and walnut island top preserve the light and history of this turn of the century home.

Interior Refurbishment

Resi Design Ltd.

Located in the up and coming neighbourhood of Forest Hill, this renovation demonstrates that being smart with your money doesn’t have to come at the expense of quality. For the first stage of the renovation, we opened up their ground floor space, creating an open-plan layout for both their kitchen, dining room, and living area. But there’s more to this space than meets the eye. Interior fans will admire the concrete floor used throughout, but rather than the real deal, these savvy homeowners have opted for concrete tiles. This slashed the price of flooring in half, and avoided a time consuming process of laying fresh concrete. On top of this, the tiles are easier to heat, meaning no cold feet in the morning. But this isn’t the only trick they’ve employed. One of the stand out features of this kitchen is easily the wonderful crittall style doors and windows - notice we said 'style'? That’s because this home opted for aluminium frames, rather than steel. Crittall steel is trademarked, and can only be produced by one company, this means premium prices and a long waiting list. By opting for a top notch fake, this kitchen still gets the WOW factor, but without the price tag. For the rest of home, we helped lay out new floor plans for each level. Moving the bedrooms and main bathroom from the ground floor and up to the top of the house. We added in recessed storage into the showers to save on space, and included a walk in closet for the master bedroom. And finally, for those rainy days, we created two open, yet separate, living areas. Perfect for when these homeowners want to do their own thing to wind down.

Treetop

Albert, Righter & Tittmann Architects, Inc.

Our client, with whom we had worked on a number of projects over the years, enlisted our help in transforming her family’s beloved but deteriorating rustic summer retreat, built by her grandparents in the mid-1920’s, into a house that would be livable year-‘round. It had served the family well but needed to be renewed for the decades to come without losing the flavor and patina they were attached to. The house was designed by Ruth Adams, a rare female architect of the day, who also designed in a similar vein a nearby summer colony of Vassar faculty and alumnae. To make Treetop habitable throughout the year, the whole house had to be gutted and insulated. The raw homosote interior wall finishes were replaced with plaster, but all the wood trim was retained and reused, as were all old doors and hardware. The old single-glazed casement windows were restored, and removable storm panels fitted into the existing in-swinging screen frames. New windows were made to match the old ones where new windows were added. This approach was inherently sustainable, making the house energy-efficient while preserving most of the original fabric. Changes to the original design were as seamless as possible, compatible with and enhancing the old character. Some plan modifications were made, and some windows moved around. The existing cave-like recessed entry porch was enclosed as a new book-lined entry hall and a new entry porch added, using posts made from an oak tree on the site. The kitchen and bathrooms are entirely new but in the spirit of the place. All the bookshelves are new. A thoroughly ramshackle garage couldn’t be saved, and we replaced it with a new one built in a compatible style, with a studio above for our client, who is a writer.

Audrey et Romain

Charlotte Fequet

Design Charlotte Féquet Photos Laura Jacques
Design ideas for a small contemporary l-shaped separate kitchen in Paris with a single-bowl sink, beaded inset cabinets, green cabinets, wood benchtops, white splashback, subway tile splashback, black appliances, cement tiles, no island, multi-coloured floor and brown benchtop.

Shady Canyon

Richard Krantz Architecture Inc

Design ideas for a large mediterranean separate kitchen in Orange County with with island, a farmhouse sink, recessed-panel cabinets, medium wood cabinets, wood benchtops, brown splashback, stone tile splashback, coloured appliances, grey floor and brown benchtop.

Small Rustic Farmhouse Kitchen

Laura Medicus Interiors

The small 1950’s ranch home was featured on HGTV’s House Hunters Renovation. The episode (Season 14, Episode 9) is called: "Flying into a Renovation". Please check out The Colorado Nest for more details along with Before and After photos. Photos by Sara Yoder. FEATURED IN: Fine Homebuilding

Contemporary Kitchen

This is an example of a mid-sized contemporary galley separate kitchen in New York with an undermount sink, recessed-panel cabinets, black cabinets, wood benchtops, white splashback, stainless steel appliances, with island, brown benchtop, subway tile splashback, light hardwood floors and beige floor.

North Wales Stately Home

Harvey Jones Kitchens

This is an example of a transitional u-shaped separate kitchen in London with a farmhouse sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, wood benchtops, stainless steel appliances, with island, beige floor and brown benchtop.

Studio parisien avec un air de maison de campagne

Parisdinterieur

Paris d'intérieur
Photo of a scandinavian u-shaped separate kitchen in Paris with a drop-in sink, flat-panel cabinets, green cabinets, wood benchtops, black appliances, a peninsula, beige floor and brown benchtop.

Living Small

Rick & Cindy Black Architects

shiplap walls Benjamin Moore 'Bavarian Cream' Dunn Edwards 'Hay Day' reclaimed pine shelves on steel brackets John Boos maple butcher block Access lighting custom cabinetry

Компактная кухня с яркими фасадами

Valery Faensa

Photo of a small contemporary single-wall separate kitchen in Saint Petersburg with flat-panel cabinets, green cabinets, wood benchtops, white splashback, stainless steel appliances, laminate floors, no island, beige floor, beige benchtop, a drop-in sink and ceramic splashback.

Kitchens

Bella Home Design

Photo of a large modern galley separate kitchen in DC Metro with a drop-in sink, flat-panel cabinets, black cabinets, wood benchtops, grey splashback, black appliances, porcelain floors, with island, beige floor, glass sheet splashback and brown benchtop.

RDPT ripadiportaticinese

Tommaso Giunchi Architetti

Vista della cucina. Grande vetrata di separazione con la zona giorno.
Photo of a mid-sized modern galley separate kitchen in Milan with flat-panel cabinets, wood benchtops, timber splashback, porcelain floors, with island, grey floor, a single-bowl sink, white cabinets, brown splashback, panelled appliances and brown benchtop.

Separate Kitchen with Wood Benchtops Design Ideas

There’s a lot to consider when it comes to planning your kitchen design. Where do you even start? Gathering some inspiration in a photo gallery is always a good starting point, as looking at different kitchen designs often brings up ideas you haven’t even thought of yet.

Browse Photos of Kitchen Designs for Inspiration and Collect Your Ideas

You can browse through photos of all kinds of kitchen styles, layouts and sizes on Houzz to get started before jumping into any design software or contacting a local professional for help. Here’s a few considerations to keep in mind when planning your kitchen.

1. What Makes a Good Kitchen Design, and Why is it Important?

For starters, you want to find a balance between aesthetics and function. You may have heard of the ‘kitchen work triangle’, which refers to the space between your fridge, sink and stove. You want everything within easy reach when you’re working in the kitchen and look beautiful at the same time. It’s a good idea to take note of both when browsing our photo gallery.

2. Consider Your Space to Determine Your Kitchen Layout

Firstly, consider the space you have, and the limitations that come with it. Do you have a small kitchen and need to maximise your workspace and storage? Can you allow yourself some more space and a big island with seating? Are you designing your kitchen from scratch or renovating an existing design? Which appliances do you already own and what are their measurements? Are there windows you need to take into consideration when planning cabinets? How do kitchen, living and dining areas connect? Depending on your space and needs, you want to use a shape that suits you. U, G, or L-shaped kitchen, with or without island or peninsula? Know your dimensions, plan cabinetry carefully and consider the placement of your appliances. You don’t want to end up with a finished design, only for your significant other to question where the fridge is supposed to go. Consider from the start where your fridge, oven, microwave and sink goes to save yourself from starting again from scratch - remember the kitchen work triangle! You also want to plan the layout of your cabinets. Maybe you’re planning for a pantry and can do with less storage space in your kitchen, so that your design can be one without upper or lower cabinets for a different look. A corner cabinet can be a smart storage solution if you want to keep the look clean and simple.

3. Decide on a Kitchen Style, But Don’t Forget Practicality

You want the style of your kitchen to reflect your personality and taste. We have curated a large array of kitchen styles here at Houzz, from traditional to contemporary to transitional and everything in between. Consider what your cooking style is for a start - Italy is known for its cuisine, so italian kitchen designs are generally popular. Also consider ergonomics - depending on how much time you spend in your kitchen, the height of your counters can make a big difference to your overall health. You also want to consider colour and finishes of cabinets, countertops and splashbacks. Which colour do you want your cupboards to be? Simple, timeless white or rather making a statement in black? Maybe rather a rustic wood? Also consider the colour of your floor - if you have dark floors, you may want to keep cabinets lighter. You could also go for an all-white look and choose black appliances for contrast. Once you know which style you fancy, don’t forget how you will be using the space. You want to keep cooking in mind, as well as how easy to clean and maintain the space will be. How many cooks do you need to accommodate? Do you have kids around? How much storage do you need? Maybe you want to go for open shelves rather than cabinets and allow for easy reach of key items you use when cooking. Again - remember the triangle! Lastly, choose lighting that both enhances the look of your kitchen as well as your cooking performance, providing light in all the right places.

4. Be Conscious of Your Budget

No matter what you plan for your kitchen design, cost is always a big factor. Be sure to plan with your budget in mind. It may make more sense to go for a modular kitchen design rather than custom build. You can save a lot of money if you get at least 3 estimates from professionals before locking in the job. And don’t forget to allow a 20% buffer for emergencies. Once you are ready to hire a pro, our directory will help you find one, no matter where you are. So whether you're looking for an Interior Designer in Melbourne or an Architect in Sydney, you can be sure to find a qualified expert for the job!