Light and Bright Kitchen Blends Classic with Contemporary

Originally built in the 1920s, this kitchen was dated with dark finishes and inefficient storage. A new free-standing island and a mix of ultra-white and dove gray helps it stay bright from sunrise to sunset and offers plenty of space to prepare meals and tackle clean-up.

If you're stumped as to how to best spend your budget on classic countertops, consider wood over solid stone. Much more affordable and even available in ready-made styles, butcher block is forgiving, timeless and also turns the entire kitchen into useful, easy to clean preparation space.

Keeping your sweets displayed on the counter is a great way to add charm to your kitchen. Invest in classic mason jar style cookie jars and group them together in different heights, mixing up the cookies from jar to jar.

Since crystal and fine china are both used mostly for special occasions, consider keeping them out year-round for decorative purposes by displaying them on open shelving.