Kitchen Design Ideas for Your Muskoka Cottage
You’ve been dreaming of your custom cottage in the Muskokas. You can see yourself on the water, soaking up the sun, and crowding around the campfire to spend quality time. Your new cottage shouldn’t be a carbon copy of your primary home because you’ll be using your space for different purposes and in different proportions. You need unique features, personalized creature comforts, and thoughtful details in every area of your custom cottage.
Never was this more true than in your custom cottage kitchen. Ballantyne Builds designs custom cottages in the Muskoka Lakes area, and our passion is creating recreational and vacation homes that elevate their owner’s experience.
What’s Different About a Cottage Kitchen?
A few things make a cottage kitchen unique because you eat, cook and assemble in special ways when up at the lake.
Built to Entertain
You will likely host gatherings at the cottage more often than you might at home. Whether you’re a cookout champion or all about a family-style meal, your cottage will likely need room to serve and seat the extended crew, whether that's family or friends. This means extra counter space, built-in seating, and room to put a leaf and extend the dining room table.
Less Formal, More Fun
Vacation homes tend to embrace more whimsy than their primary home counterparts. Playful shapes, custom pull-outs, built-ins, and personalized touches make cottage life a breeze.
Nothing Clashes at the Cottage
Cottages are often passed down or shared within families. They can often be home to relics of bygone eras or household items demoted to secondary use. Because cottages are often eclectic, you can get away with a more extensive array of vintage elements from different periods or styles.
Storage Matters Even More
You’re here to relax, not to dig through the pantry. Intuitive storage is essential to easy living at the cottage. You may keep a broader range of items but use each a little less often, which means you’ve got to keep your pull-outs and cupboard organization on point.
Cottage Kitchen Design Theme Ideas
Capturing timeless style is essential for your successful custom cottage kitchen. Here are some of our favourite ideas for cottage kitchen design to help you establish a cohesive theme.
Rustic Cottage Kitchen
Farmhouse kitchen style is a cottage staple. Distressed wood, subway tile, shaker cabinets, exposed beams, live edge surfaces, reclaimed materials, and more, weathered rustic-inspired style is a perfect fit for the cottage.
Coastal Decor for Your Cottage Kitchen
Use wicker, whitewashed wood, warm neutrals, and nautical blues to give your kitchen the right vibe to channel the fun your family has on the water at the cottage. Though it may be a little on the nose, consider maps of your local body of water or photographs or mementos from local standouts (e.g., a lighthouse or a sign for a popular beach).
Timeless and Modern Cottage Kitchen
Many people choose to keep their design choices classic to ensure their kitchen design ages with grace. Quartzite countertops, natural stone or classic ceramic tile, sleek lines, and classic colour combinations create spaces that don’t speak about the year they were built.
Vintage Eclectic Style Cottage Kitchens
Cottages hold family history, memories, and often their stuff. Decor and elements that channel vintage styles such as brass plumbing or mullioned kitchen cabinets lend the air of history, even when you haven’t made any yet. Consider including upcycled or reclaimed vintage elements like antique cabinet pulls to borrow a little authentic historic credibility.
Cottage Style for Kitchen Cabinets
Classic styles are always popular for cottage kitchens. We often see shaker-style cabinets or other slab doors with thick lines in our custom cottage kitchens. However, cottages tend to channel a more informal vibe and are great places for a foray into playful cabinet doors. Beadboard cabinets, louvred cabinet doors, glass-fronted cabinets, or other custom styles are right at home adorning the face your kitchen presents to the world.
Colour Palettes for Cottage Kitchens
White- Clean white kitchens are popular in cottages for a great reason. They reflect natural light and support an airy space for your holiday home.
Blue- Nautical blues are great choices for cottages on the water. Bringing the natural colour palette inside is a surefire way to get your coordination just right.
Grey- Classic grey pairs well with many other colours and offers a neutral backdrop if you expect to change up your decor or textile details in the kitchen.
Natural Wood- Wood elements are popular for cottage kitchens and more. If your property is nestled in the forest, or you wish to provide the impression that it is, natural wood is a great choice for your cottage kitchen.
Ensure Your Cottage Kitchen Captures Your Vision
Ballantyne Builds creates beautiful cottages in the Muskoka Lakes area. We can’t wait to discuss how our construction expertise can serve your vision. Reach out today to tell us about your custom cottage project.
