Carrie Underwood and her husband, Mike Fisher, are designing their 'dream' home in Franklin, located just south of Nashville, Tennessee. The 400-acre estate has a host of notable amenities (from a chicken coop to a sprawling walk-in closet storage area) – but now, it's time for her kitchen to take center stage.
Inevitably, the singer's country kitchen offers much to be admired – rustic stone backsplash and chef-style appliances included. However, while it is hard to pick a favorite feature, we admit that the kitchen's color scheme comes out on top – and design experts agree.
'What a fun girls’ day,' Carrie says in the monochromatic space – featuring off-white cabinetry and matte black countertops. A large black kitchen island sits in the center of the space, offering ample room for food prep, dining, and socializing, as she demonstrates below.
'Veggies were chopped, soups were stirred, wine was sipped and laughs were abundant as we tried something new! Now I have a way to preserve all my garden goodness…I can’t wait to can some more goodies for the pantry,' Carrie says.
The singer's photo carousel explores the kitchen from several angles – showcasing the juxtaposition created by the black and white color scheme, along with the country-style exposed beams (on the ceiling) and dark gray exposed brick behind the cooker.
Black and white kitchens are, of course, timeless – but their enduring qualities don't make them immune from existing among current 'color trends' – especially when they are used to create a contrast such as Carrie's.
'It is clear that designers are embracing color and contrast in 2023,' says Anna Popov from Pacific Northwest-based firm, Interiors by Popov.
Anna Popov is an award-winning designer and creative force behind her PNW-based firm, Interiors by Popov. She is an expert at uniquely integrating vibrant hues into spaces that can simultaneously read as neutrals and/or be beautifully balanced out with more neutral shades.
Anna draws attention to Behr's neutral Color of the Year for 2023 (Blank Canvas), after using a similar off-white in a recent project – to create a contrastable kitchen similar to Carrie's.
'Trends come and go, but neutrals never go out of style,' Anna says. In her work, she has used clean, warm white cabinetry (like Carrie's) that blends seamlessly with the wood paneling and gold hardware to create a nuanced tone. 'Neutral backgrounds are a clean palette for designers to introduce fun colors, patterns and accents easily.
Clara Ewart, Kitesgrove’s head of design, agrees. 'Neutrals, including off-white, black, brown and grey are vital to any palette due to their versatile nature,' the designer says. She recommends using shades of gray and brown 'as a calming backdrop' before adding 'some dark drama with black.'
The look is timeless, but it is Carrie and Mike's forever home, after all. 'My husband, Mike, and I are designing our forever home', she told Country Living in 2016. 'My must-haves are a wood-burning fireplace, a porch swing, and rocking chairs.' We're looking for more Carrie-approved decor asap.
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