For this upstate New York farmhouse, a wonderful couple asked us to create a larger, more functional kitchen for cooking and entertaining. We reimagined the home’s small U-shaped kitchen by combining it with the adjacent dining area, opening the space up and giving it a stronger connection to the rest of the house.

At the heart of the new kitchen is a 12-foot handcrafted utility table, built by Catskill Farmhouse, the millwork branch of Christienne Dobson Design. It provides generous countertop space for prep work, casual meals, or large gatherings and feels like a natural extension of the original house.

Working within a thoughtful, cost-conscious budget, we paired IKEA cabinet frames with semi-handmade doors and drawers, then added custom shelving, a refrigerator surround, and a crown-molded vent hood. This approach gave us a highly customized look while still being budget-friendly, and it allowed us to invest in beautiful appliances and a timeless faucet to elevate the entire space. The result is a kitchen that feels both seamless and special—authentic to the age of the house rather than an obvious add-on.

Our goal was to make the kitchen feel as though it had always belonged here: timeless, practical, and sympathetic to the farmhouse’s character—yet ready for modern living and memorable meals.