13 Modern Farmhouse Kitchens Where Table-Like Islands and Pot Racks Rule

Modern farmhouse kitchens have become so popular that they’re probably the first thing you picture when you think of any kitchen these days. And it’s clear that subway tile backsplashes and wrought-iron pendant lights aren’t going anywhere anytime soon: The New York Times recently dubbed the modern farmhouse “the millennial answer to the baby boomer McMansion” and RubyHome Luxury Real Estate uncovered that it is the biggest decorating trend on Instagram with more than 4.8 million posts. We aren’t here to argue the style’s longevity, but we will present a different point of view—one that doesn’t involve word art and reclaimed-wood everything. Ahead, we’ve rounded up 13 modern farmhouse kitchens that exude the rustic, warm vibe we all appear to be after without getting into kitschy territory. 

The Upcycled Modern Farmhouse Kitchen 

In Leanne Ford’s former Pacific Palisades home, the designer opted for traditional kitchen cabinets by Lauren Liess & Co. for Unique Kitchens and Baths almost everywhere except underneath the sink. For that spot, she tasked her friend Matthew Deters of Deter Fabrik to cut apart her favorite table and turn it into a cupboard front. “Repurposing something well loved offers that extra bit of character,” she says. 

The High-Contrast Modern Farmhouse Kitchen

Fashion stylist to the stars Dani Michelle was largely inspired by Ford’s work when she remodeled her Los Angeles kitchen. (Fun fact: the designer actually helped her with some of the reno.) So she embraced Ford’s love of black and white by combining white Caesarstone and leathered soapstone for a high-contrast moment. 

The British Modern Farmhouse Kitchen

DeVol is the ultimate authority on authentic farmhouse and country kitchens. One thing you’ll almost always find in the brand’s spaces? An island that looks like a piece of furniture. Peep how the end of this one has legs, open shelves, and a copper countertop that matches the vent hood. 

The Mexican Modern Farmhouse Kitchen

When designer Alex Boudreau and her family are at their Todos Santos, Mexico, home, their days begin and end in the kitchen. All their goodies from the market get sprawled out on the concrete countertops and the open shelving is stocked with vintage crockery. But to ensure there was a spot to hide away baby bottles and other unsightly dishes, Boudreau tacked on a surprise: a single rosa morada wood cupboard to the right of the window.

The Glam Modern Farmhouse Kitchen

There was only a cow barn, silo, chicken coop, and pond on Virginia Smith and Patrick Robinson’s New York property when they bought it in 2003. But where there were once stables, there is now an eat-in kitchen complete with a chandelier and Scandinavian-style slingback chairs by Zaha Hadid. 

The Small Modern Farmhouse Kitchen

Having spent seven years in a city railroad apartment surrounded by tchotchkes, writer and florist Lisa Przystup and her husband, Jonathan, knew they wanted to keep their upstate home minimal. In the kitchen, every pot and cutting board has a hook, and a simple sheet of brass serves as the backsplash to the cooktop.

The Open-Layout Modern Farmhouse Kitchen

Kelsey Duda may have built her Elk Rapids, Michigan, home from scratch, but you’d never say it lacks character. After the drywall was installed, she warmed up the interior with Color Atelier’s limewash paint and worked with local maker Wolf Wood Co. to bring a paneled white oak island to life that she can admire from the comfort of her sofa.   

The Scrappy Modern Farmhouse Kitchen

Maryline Damour skipped Home Depot when shopping for her cabinetry and went right to Big Reuse in Brooklyn. Given the deeply discounted cupboards were secondhand, Damour had to reconfigure the boxes in a way that made sense for the room’s U-shaped layout, like stacking the ones with glass fronts. Then, once everything was in place, she painted everything in Benjamin Moore’s Stonington Gray.

The Rustic Modern Farmhouse Kitchen

Jenni Kayne bid adieu to classic subway tile and embraced a painted brick backsplash in her Lake Tahoe home. For a double dose of texture, she let the reclaimed lumber you usually see as an accent take center stage as cabinet fronts.

The Galley Modern Farmhouse Kitchen

By taking advantage of (almost) every inch of available wall space, Emily Bowser, a contributor at Emily Henderson Design, was able to fit even her extensive cutting board collection in her narrow kitchen. Her storage secrets? A floating shelving unit framed in metal from Etsy vendor Iron Abode and a similarly industrial wine bottle rack above a skinny stretch of extra cabinets.

The Squared-Away Modern Farmhouse Kitchen

Analisse Taft-Gersten’s husband, James, works in the hospitality industry, so he naturally wasn’t keen on replicating the restaurant-grade subway tile look at home. By simply going with extra-large handmade squares, they kept it classic while giving the traditional kitchen backsplash a second life.

The Breezy Modern Farmhouse Kitchen

Raffia-wrapped lights, landscape paintings, and a vintage runner bring beach vibes to Montreal-based interior designer Luke Havekes’s farmhouse. The original terracotta floor tile (which he simply buffed out) also adds to the country space’s coastal energy. 

The Modern Farmhouse Kitchen That’s Actually Really Old

Alastair Coomer and David Breen’s Suffolk, England, home started out as a forgotten 17th-century barn, but it did have two things going for it: the ceiling beams (one of which now slices through the vent hood) and original brick. In the end, with the help of DeVol’s design team, they proved that as long as everything is a natural material and the palette is cohesive, you can pull off an aesthetic mishmash.