Transitional style is a highly coveted kitchen look, and yet many people don’t even know how to define it, let alone put it together on their own. This not-quite-modern, not-quite-traditional style has lots of room for self-expression, but there are common elements you can rely on to guide your design process. Take a peek at my design recipe to learn some of the most essential elements of transitional style, and you’ll be ready to create a formula all your own.<\/p>\n
The Basics: Mixing Old and New<\/b><\/p>\n
Fundamentally, transitional style is all about balancing traditional and contemporary elements to achieve an elegant style that doesn’t feel too stuffy or minimalist.<\/p>\n
Often this means taking evocative traditional shapes and applying a contemporary finish to them. For example, take a look at this beautiful bridge faucet. It’s a very traditional style of faucet, but when used in an au courant brass finish (as opposed to, say, a rustic blackened bronze), it feels quite contemporary.<\/p>\n
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Essential: Shaker Cabinets<\/b><\/p>\n
Perhaps the best example of this balancing of traditional and contemporary elements is the Shaker style cabinet front.<\/p>\n
These cabinet doors and drawers typically have a flat panel in the middle with a raised flat border at the edges and no “profiling” (i.e., no fancy curved molding). This gives a bit more richness than a minimalist flat-front cabinet without feeling fussy.<\/p>\n
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Cabinets in this style would have traditionally been wood<\/a> toned, as built by the original Shakers, but they achieve a nice balance of old and new when painted in a crisp, contemporary shade.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Palette: White and Gray with Neutrals<\/b>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/st.hzcdn.com\/simgs\/d8d17e4f098a1ff1_8-2679\/beach-style-kitchen.jpg?resize=500%2C334&ssl=1\")
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