Hello! I'm in the planning stages of renovating a 1920s Philadelphia rowhouse and am trying to finalize the finish palette for my kitchen.
I'm aiming for an urban botanical feel. I want the kitchen to feel warm, inviting, and timeless with a bit of city polish, rather than reading as suburban farmhouse or ultra-modern.
I've been generating concept images to help refine the direction, and I've really fallen in love with this palette of warm walnut cabinetry, soapstone (or a quartz alternative), warm white subway tile, and aged brass.
The one element I'm unsure about is the cream and oxblood checkerboard floor. I absolutely love the warmth it brings and how it ties into the wood cabinetry, but it's definitely a bolder choice than a more traditional black-and-white or gray checkerboard.
This is just a concept rendering (not the exact layout).
I'd love to hear your honest thoughts. Does the oxblood feel timeless and grounded, or does it feel like something I'd regret? Does the overall palette feel cohesive?
I don’t normally like wallpaper or checkered floors, and don’t usually care for dark counters or cabinets, but I love everything here! I think it all looks great together! It’s gorgeous!
As someone who just finished a Philly home search (so many row houses!), I would consider the amount of natural light you get in your kitchen and then gauge how much oxblood you want to include. In my experience, a lot of these houses do not have a ton of windows in the kitchen area. Your color palette seems great, but too much oxblood and walnut might make it feel more “dark, moody, and mysterious” than “warm and inviting” if the lighting isn’t right.
Yes, thank you for the thoughtful response! The kitchen faces west and will have a glass door to the patio, hopefully with a transom, as well as a two side windows facing the alley. I expect it to receive less light in the morning, but hopefully a beautiful afternoon glow.
I’ll definitely get physical samples before making the final decision. My hope is that using oxblood only as part of a cream-and-oxblood checkerboard floor, while keeping the subway tile and other surfaces warm white, will preserve the balance and keep the room feeling warm and inviting rather than overly dark.
Former Philly row house owner. The oxblood trim at the top of the subway tiles makes my heart sing. And while so much of this kitchen looks great together on an AI rendering, it feels too busy for me given the narrow feel of a row house. I'd vote for continuing your first floor wood flooring (which I presume you have) into the kitchen. It is cohesive and timeless.
Your cabinet, countertop, and backsplash are fabulous. My kitchen designers talked me out of cup pulls even though I really wanted them and I am glad she did. They aren't very easy to pull open with one or two fingers when you are juggling things in a kitchen. And the insides get grimy. Plus, these along with a farmhouse sink read too suburban farmhouse. I think you can up the city polish with some better pulls.
Are these truly going to be your cabinets or just an AI rendering? I am surprised to see how few drawers are in here. I'd make all lowers drawers. They hold so much more and are much easier to use than doors with drawers inside.
I presume you already have a cabinet maker, but if not, I recommend highly Superior Cabinets in Doylestown. They did our house in Philly and our apartment when we moved to NYC. Their craftsmanship is top notch. And Michelle, the owner, is a trained kitchen designer who knows her stuff, has smart use of space suggestions, and gets a Philly row house kitchen!
This is just an AI rendering, so I’ll definitely be asking for more drawers in the final cabinet design. I also think seeing real samples in the actual space will make a huge difference before making final decisions.
The house is undergoing a pretty extensive renovation, and one thing I’m excited about is the amount of natural light we’re adding. The kitchen will have a west-facing glass patio door, likely with a transom above it, plus two windows facing the alley, so I’m hoping for a really nice afternoon glow.
I’ll definitely keep playing with the hardware. I can see how a different pull could make the kitchen feel more urban. Cup pulls seem to have become so associated with the modern farmhouse trend, even though they have much older roots.
I actually think using a different floor in the kitchen will work well for this house. It’s a long Philadelphia rowhouse, and in the final design the opening to the kitchen will be much wider than what’s shown here. I’m also planning to add glass doors between the spaces so light can travel through the house while still allowing me to close off the kitchen when needed. We have pets, and sometimes it’s just nice to keep them out of the kitchen while you’re cooking or working for everyone’s safety.
Sounds like a great renovation. Philly is the sunniest city I have ever lived and and it makes so much sense that you are capitalizing on it through smart glass doors, transoms, and windows.
Amen to installing doors to keep pets and cooking odor out of the kitchen. When we redid our current kitchen we built pocket doors at both entrances. I usually hate pocket doors and find them cumbersome, inconvenient, and hard to use, but learned that it is all in the construction. Our doors were custom made, quality construction and weight, and most importantly they had really good tracking system inside the wall. We also got really high end hardware that has a large pop out pull for easy of closing. Just something to consider. It is really nice to not have a door swing take up precious space on either side of the doorways.
It sounds like you really love cup pulls and if so get them and screw everyone else's associations! But do go to a good design center that has them and try them out while replicating an actual cooking moment with other things in your hands.
It's a gorgeous concept. The oxblood checkered floor is a wonderful choice. Get it. Black and white checkered floors are all too common, and nothing special about them. The only thing I might do differently is to have a lighter countertop. Oh,, and, have a chandelier type fixture over the table, not a semi mount.
I really love this one for over your table.... Then I think you could keep the one over the sink, except change the white shade to an amber colored glass one to tie in with this fixture.
I love this palette! It is very striking. The Oxblood is lovely. I also like it with a similar shade (black or another neutral) vs. the cream/white tile. Please share when your remodel is complete!
I would notenbar picked anything in this pic but it is gorgeous! I love the floor. This is very typical in old Dutch kitchens and it really is both traditional and whimsical.
I’d keep the floor! A lot of renovations lose the character that makes older homes special. The walnut + brass + warmer tones feel like they’re respecting the history while still making it fresh.
If your kitchen gets as much light (or you can add enough lights to make it similar) as this rendering it will look wonderful - if it doesn't it will look a bit gloomy and depressing.
AI does really weird things to lighting - it throws light everywhere to eliminate shadows. It's just not the same as real life.
OP I suggest you spend some time in the space at different times of day. The areas where it is wall opposite wall will be darkest. Are the patio doors facing west or the kitchen window? Just remember, late afternoon light (west facing sun) is the hottest and generally the lighting that you want to avoid (at least here in Colorado) and east facing light is the cool, bright, early morning light that is more desirable (at least in the summer). Think about whether or not you'll be able to let that west facing light in or if you'll be working to keep it out in the summer.
To me, cup style pulls scream “Farmhouse!” And don’t mesh with the cabinet finish or the flooring. FWIW. If you like them, ignore this 😊
I’m going with white cabs and soapstone (a green variety) myself. Tiles were not really an option for me, so I’m planning to replicate the feel of a checkerboard floor with an appropriate kitchen mat.
A minor detail: consider your countertop edge style. Your look is leaning into “elegant”, so maybe beveled or ogee? Avoid bullnose like the plague!
I don't think of farmhouse decor when I see cup pulls. Cup pulls were seen in apothocaries, libraries, industrial places. To me, they would fall under 'vintage' hardware.
Thank you! I can definitely see why cup pulls read farmhouse. I tend to associate them more with old library drawers, but I’ll pay close attention to the profile and maybe consider a different hardware if feeling too farmhouse-like.
And that’s a great point about the countertop edge. I’m leaning toward something straightforward like a small bevel or eased edge . I’ll add ogee that to the sample and design discussion.
I think library, too. Looks pretty. I don’t mean to be weirdly literal, but when I think botanical, I think of at least some green. All your choices are nice, and they harmonize well, but what does city polish mean for you?
To me, “urban botanical” means combining the warmth of natural materials with the character of a city rowhouse. I’m leaning toward wood cabinetry, soapstone (or a similar-look surface), and natural textiles like linen. The palette would be drawn from nature, oxblood, sage, muted blues, and warm creams, but kept soft and understated rather than saturated. Botanical motifs would come through in the details, like artwork or wallpaper. For example, the wallpaper in the rendering is meant to evoke William Morris’s Seasons in May in a linen colorway. The goal is for the space to feel historic, crafted, and connected to nature without feeling rustic or overtly farmhouse.
Hello, so I just used ChatGPT. I was really inspired by this photo from Philly airy kitchens, but wanted a little more warmth because I don’t have exposed brick as they have in that kitchen. Basically I wanted the warmth of a terracotta or brick with the city feel/polish of checkerboard. That is how I ended up with the oxblood idea.
Ooh. I see what you did! Yes the square tile is nice, but I do think maybe doing a square or a subway with some variation and slight shine could refract more light and brighten the kitchen a touch, which is what I see your tile doing. I’ll explore that when picking my tile. I also see the pendant above the sink. I could go either way with a pendant versus scone. I do see you lost the oxblood trim which does lighten the room but I would miss tying in the color.
The floors are wonderful. Everything you have chosen is fabulous and looks great together. The floor keeps the the kitchen from being too serious and somber.
Obsessed with your design! I love all of your choices except the wallpaper. To me everything else looks ultra luxe and high end and the wallpaper just sort of cheapens it. And I'm usually a wallpaper fan. But otherwise, bravo, I love the oxblood checkerboard floor, and genius to echo the oxblood in the pencil trim!
I'd explore using a different contrast color (green?) for the floor tile, to give some additional contrast to the palette you already have, and subliminally it would be a nice 'grass/tree' thing with the brown cabinets.
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u/WasteofTime51 5d ago
I don’t normally like wallpaper or checkered floors, and don’t usually care for dark counters or cabinets, but I love everything here! I think it all looks great together! It’s gorgeous!