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Inspiration: Arched Doorways

arched door opening inspiration via BHG

As many of you know, last year we moved into a small 1950s house in Seattle. We spent the last twelve months planning the remodel of our galley kitchen. After a few twists and turns and big ideas and little ideas, we landed on a plan that I’m very excited about. Last week the work finally began! (UPDATE! The kitchen is complete! See our galley kitchen reveal and new arched doorways here!)

We aren’t tearing down walls or moving the kitchen to another part of the house or combining the space with other rooms. We decided that what felt right for this house, for our family and for our budget was to simply work within and enhance the existing size and space.

The interior of the room has been gutted to make way for new cabinets, flooring, counters and appliances, while the basic layout of the kitchen from the placement of the windows to the location of the appliances, doorways and walls will remain the same.

UPDATE 2019: Come see the transformation of our home with two new archways in the kitchen!

Inspiration: Arched Doorways

Arch Details / Kitchen Details

Inspiration: Arched Doorways

inspiration via Old Seagrove Homes

I am glad we lived with our kitchen for a year before the remodel because by taking the time to learn how the existing kitchen functioned, we had time to think about how we could improve the room while getting the most bang for our limited bucks.

I’ve always been a big fan of small houses, and particularly love the idea of working within existing spaces to make them as charming and inviting as they can be. We’ve had fun designing our kitchen and can’t wait to share it as it all unfolds and comes together. It’s still a real mess! It will be a few more weeks before we start to see the prettier parts going in.

This week the contractor removed the two existing interior doorways to our kitchen and began framing in what will be new arched openings to the space. The actual width of our doorways won’t change much due to space limitations, but we are still excited about the additional interest the rounded tops will add to the space.

Interestingly our interior wood doors have an arched moulding design, so the new arched openings will repeat an existing feature in the home.

Inspiration: Arched DoorwaysTRI Traci Rhoads Interiors

Doors can feel like a blockage between two rooms, but openings offer a graceful and intriguing invitation to flow freely between the spaces.

Today I’m sharing some inspiration photos for kitchens with arched openings.

While many of the inspiration photos in this post feature grand archways in dreamy kitchens, we are still inspired by these images to envision the character even more humble arched openings will bring to our small house.

Happy Remodeling, friends!

Inspiration: Arched DoorwaysClayton & Little Architects via Hooked on Houses

Inspiration: Arched DoorwaysBHG

Inspiration: Arched DoorwaysJonathan Raith Inc.

Inspiration: Arched Doorways
Country Living

Inspiration: Arched DoorwaysWightman Construction

Inspiration: Arched Doorways
Richard Hallberg Interior Design

Inspiration: Arched Doorways
BHG

Inspiration: Arched Doorways
Michael Penney / House and Home

Inspiration: Arched Doorways
HGTV / Fixer Upper

Inspiration: Arched Doorways
unknown source (anyone know it?)

Inspiration: Arched DoorwaysJessica Helgerson Interior Design

Related Posts:

Kitchen Ideas: 8 Showstopping Elements

Changing A Square Door to an Arch: Before & Afters in My Home

17 Comments

    • Gail

      Susan – are those pictures of YOUR house ?! :)

      • Susan

        Gail, Gosh, no! Melissa had asked about a source on one of the above photos…”unknown source (anyone know it?)” so I posted the link to answer her question :) It is a beautiful kitchen!

  1. Rose

    For the past few years I have been going back to my roots – grandparents etc how they lived.
    Arches are one of those memories.
    I love them – I would love to do the same in my place, but that means more dust – I am sitting still for a few more years.
    I can’t wait to see your new kitchen.
    Have a wonderful weekend.
    Much love,
    Rose

  2. Gail

    Yes, I arched three doorways leading into our family room which is sort of a central hub of our house. It made a big difference. I left our opening un-cased (I guess is the correct term?) meaning without molding. I like that look better, after seeing all the photos on this blog post. Less expensive too. :)

  3. sandyc

    It’s going to be beautiful and I’m so excited for you. I love my one semi-arch off the foyer into the short hallway – uncased and a bit lesser in arch than the Wightman Construction pic above, but still that arch plus my wonderful dark-framed wide pic windows/with sliders in back and mullioned windows in front and the vaulted ceiling in the LR are what give my little home that sorta Spanish/California bungalow look and feel that I love.
    I’m sitting here with my cup of coffee and calculating the days before your next post. It’s so much fun to be invited to share your dreams and their actualization.

  4. Judy

    Hi Melissa. Love the inspiration photos! We too live in a 1950’s house and have a small arched opening that leads from the living room to the kitchen area. There is no casing around it, but I love the look of the moulding around the arch. Our house is new to us so I am letting it “talk to me” about what it needs to function well for us. Looking forward to your kitchen reveal. Ps. I purchased a lidded basket for “hide out in the open” storage. What a simple and fantastic idea!! Thanks so much!

  5. Richella Parham

    What a cool detail to add, Melissa! We have a number of arches in our house and they always get admired–they really are lovely.

    Bravo to you for letting your house speak to you before you jumped in to make big changes. Very wise!

  6. Jo Jo

    I love an arched opening! We had the opportunity to do this while building our home. Our kitchen and dining area is one large open space and we have a large opening ( open concept) off that space into our living room. That is where we wanted to put the arch…but we didn’t. We went for a large cased opening…and though it looks good, we’ve regretted not doing an arch. ? Did I happen to mention I LOVE ARCH OPENININGS?!? lol. Yours will look amazing! ?

  7. Leah @farmastyle

    Holy smokes, these inspiration photos are gorgeous….

  8. Taste of France

    Arches aren’t something you can do unless you move into a place with them (well, actually, I’ve seen them done, but you need to be a SUPER handyman). But if you have them, play them up, by all means!
    You are smart to have waited before renovating. Choices change when you actually use the space. Some thoughts:
    –Arches keep the space open while delineating the kitchen. Without knowing the size or layout of yours, I would say that if your dining area is on the other side of the arch, arrange to have a counter for mess that is out of sight of the dining table. Ours is completely open plan, and I hate that dishes stack up in full view between courses. I regret not doing a breakfast bar that was higher that would have blocked the view from the table.
    –If you don’t have a ton of space, get kickboard drawers. We have almost no upper shelves/cupboards, and have a lot of stuff in the basement. YES! I have informed my husband that if he wants to stay married we need kickboard drawers. Soon.

  9. Christi from Charm & Grace Cottage

    I have recently gotten your The Inspired Room book and am loving it! I am also returning to blogging and so am visiting those that I connected with early on in my adventures in blogging. Facebook has been a wonderful tool for connecting with old friends and new, but it just doesn’t allow for the ability to look back at others’ old posts easily… something I just love about blogging. I am grateful to find that many I connected with all those years ago are STILL at this blogging thing! And, you are among those. Thanks for always sharing beauty with us, Melissa. You truly are an inspiration.

    Blessings,
    Christi

    • Melissa @ The Inspired Room

      Hi Christi! Welcome back! I’m so glad you stopped in for a visit, it’s nice to reunite and connect through blogging. I agree, there’s something special about blogging that just isn’t there with other social media. Thanks for getting the book and for reconnecting here :).

  10. Carolyn

    Has it really been a year already? Boy, does time fly! I don’t have any arches, but absolutely love them. Can’t wait to see yours!

  11. Ruth

    I was overjoyed to see the arches in your blog! When my husband built our home in 1989, I asked him to put arches over the entrances to the kitchen and dining rooms and down the hallway. I still love them! So glad you love them too. Love your books, any more in the works?

  12. Kim B.

    These are beautiful inspiration photos and it’s so exciting that your arches are becoming reality! That’s fantastic that you have lived in the space to see what it needed. I wish I had a small little house in Seattle!! Excited to see the transformation.

  13. Joni Webb

    the unknown source is a Texas kitchen by Carol Glasser. It was featured in Veranda years ago.

 

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