Photos and Custom Home Tips: Kitchen Islands and Kitchen Peninsulas 

Kitchen Island or Kitchen Peninsula? Choose the style that fits your lifestyle - custom home builders can shape it your way

10 ways to design your Kitchen Island versus Kitchen Peninsula - more ideas for your custom home. Built by Stanton Homes in North Carolina. 

Click on images to see more custom home photos.

#1 Peninsula Kitchen idea: Freedom of Access  

This Peninsula Kitchen allows for wide open space to allow freedom of movement, accessibility, aging in place and lots of cooks in the Kitchen!

#2 Peninsula Kitchen Idea: Eating Bar

This Peninsula Kitchen has a convenient Raised Eating Bar with space underneath to tuck bar stools.

#3 Peninsula Kitchen Idea: Wrap Around

This Peninsula Kitchen provides a wrap around opportunity to spread out in every direction - with a high top seating bar looking over the countertops. 

#4 Peninsula Kitchen Idea: Boosting the Breakfast Nook

This Peninsula Kitchen provides a lengthy raised bar designed for seating adjacent to the Breakfast Nook.

#5 Peninsula Kitchen Idea - Minimalist 

This Peninsula Kitchen is designed to provide more open space for everything happening in the rest of the home. Great Farmhouse sink, too!

Your Kitchen design should take into account your activities, based on the work triangle between the sink, cook top, and refrigerator.  

Here are 5 Kitchen Island perspectives: 

#1 Kitchen Island Idea - Fun and Practical

This Island Kitchen is designed to have all the cleanup in its own space - with ample countertop for stacking and sorting.

#2 Kitchen Idea - Chef's Kitchen

This Island Kitchen is designed to be whatever you need, in this gourmet Chef's Kitchen with massive possibilities.

#3 Kitchen Island - With Tuck-under Seating

This Island Kitchen is designed for tuck-under seating, so chairs can be out of the way when not in use. Stained wood provides a formal effect.

#4 Kitchen Island - Casual Country

This Island Kitchen is the center of attention, with a striking natural wood, furniture look, and eating bar with its own special space. 

#5 Kitchen Island - Dual Purpose

This Island Kitchen doubles as an eating bar and buffet bar, with lots of surface for snacks on the ledge, within easy reach of the Great Room.

More Chatham County New Homes | Custom Home Builder NC Options

New Homes with Wrap Around Porches

Raleigh Wrap Around Porch Cost and Design Ideas

Wrap around porches are one of the most sought after new home exteriors in today’s custom home design trends in North Carolina.

Wrap Around Porch Styles

There are many different types of wrap around porches.

Wrap-around porches can be two, three, or four sided to wrap partially or wholly around the house.

Wrap-around porches can also be broken into multiple sections by adding several access points from alcoves in the home.

How much does a wrap around porch cost when building a new home in Raleigh?

New custom home wrap around porch build cost is based on:

 - Total square footage of porch space

 - Type of porch surface (choices include concrete, wood, brick, slate, tile, and more)

 - Type of railings

 - Type of support pillars (Hand built Craftsman stone columns are the most expensive, basic 4x4 support post are least expensive, with a wide range of options between)

 - Type of roof (standing seam metal, rounded, copper, dimensional shingles)

 - Height from the ground

Expect your wrap around porch to start at around $10K or more, depending on these factors as well as requirements specific to your homesite. Your builder should be able to tell you the precise cost for the wrap around porch that you would like, on the floor plan you have chosen, at your location.

Contact us information on building your new home in Raleigh - with a wrap around porch.

The Low Country Farmhouse is one of the most popular floor plans. It has an open layout, with well designed living space on the interior. But the most highly regarded feature is its expansive front porch, which can be wrapped around the side.

Here’s another version of the plan:

How to choose a wrap around porch style in Raleigh North Carolina

Before choosing your porch plan, take into consideration:

- The amount of space around your new home, which can determine how large the porch can be

- Does the architectural style you have chosen lend itself to a wrap around porch?

- Covered porches can be one of the most expensive elements in a custom home. How much do you want it to wrap?

- What type of flooring, hand railing, columns, balusters, or posts are appropriate, given the style of the home?

Some custom homes are centered on wrap around porches to the extent that there’s almost as room on the porch as there is inside the home, like the McCoy:

This wrap around porch floor plan was built in the middle of town, so that the home buyers could feel involved with everything happening around them, with a wide expanse of space for outdoor entertainment all day long.

Raleigh Wrap Around Porch Benefits

Home buyers seeking wrap around porches like outdoor living space because they like to:

- People watch

- Enjoy nature

- Have ample room delegated to rocking chairs or porch swings

- Elicit welcoming curb appeal

- Express the warmth of modern country farmhouse style

The Daniel is another wonderful example of a wrap around porch modern country farmhouse style:

This luxury custom home focuses on the wrap around porch as the focal point of the design.

Other Important Considerations for Raleigh Wrap Around Porches:

Talk with the builder about your lifestyle, and other elements you may want to have built in as your new home is constructed, including:

- Electrical outlets
- Overhead lighting and fans
- Screening
- Door access into the home from multiple locations
- Pass through bars for food and other items
- Steps into the property from various locations
- Upper wrap around porches for the second level of the home

The Gershwin’s wrap around porch features custom designed rails that add some pop to the traditional columns:

Talk to your Raleigh home builder about what it will take to bring home your new wrap around porch.

New Home Trends from Raleigh Custom Home Builder Stanton Homes

What's the best ceiling height for a great room? [Photos and Dimensions]

Multigenerational New Homes Raleigh [with floor plans]

Main Floor Master Plans for Raleigh Craftsman Homes

Best mudroom designs, sizes, and layouts [Mudroom Drop Zone Photos]

No tub for the bath? [Master bath floor plans with no tub]

7 Corner Pantry Ideas [with Floor Plans] for Chapel Hill New Homes

9 House Plans with Flex Space [With Floor Plan Layouts]

11 Window Styles for New Homes [Window Style Guide Photos]

Stanton Homes builds new custom homes throughout the Triangle area of North Carolina – tell us your favorite floor plan, and we’ll walk you through you next steps to build your custom home. 

Top Trends You'll Find in 2017 New Home Kitchens:

Kitchens will continue to be gathering places in 2017 new home designs. Here are home builder predictions for the most popular kitchen trends in 2017.

(Click on any photo below to see a gallery of the entire custom Stanton Home.)

Kitchen Trends for 2017 #1: Shaker Style White cabinets

White cabinets are have been a top request in kitchens for the past few years. However, you're going to find more kitchens with clean, crisp Shaker style cabinets.

What do shaker kitchen cabinets look like? The term "shaker" refers to the cabinet door style. A shaker style cabinet door uses a five-piece design, with a recessed center panel.

This Chapel Hill custom home kitchen uses two styles of drawer fronts with the shaker cabinets: slab and shaker. The "slab" drawers in this photo are white and the "shaker" drawers are stained wood. 

Kitchen Trends for 2017 #2: Islands with Seating

Oversized islands are huge in Raleigh new homes. The more seating, the better, for many floor plan designs. 

Seating at the island connects the kitchen and great room spaces, like the seating overhang in this Chapel Hill custom home kitchen: 

Kitchen Trends for 2017 #3: Windows Above the Sink

New home floor plans are integrating more natural light into the kitchen, with windows above teh sink as a key area where more light comes in handy.

This one story custom home, a version of the Dahlberg floor plan, uses two large picture windows above the corner sink:

Windows aren't always placed above the sink, though. When the sink is in the island, kitchen layouts can add windows on the perimeter walls, like this design with windows on each side of the range cooktop, These windows are designed to give 360 degree views of the Raleigh river front homesite.

Kitchen Trends for 2017 #4: Debates over Columns or No Columns in the Kitchen

Columns in the kitchen are a debated trend in our home building experience. Some love the fully open kitchen concept, with no barriers between the island and great room; others want the columns as a decorative touch (or for framing things like a raised eating bar).

Here are two photos of the same kitchen, built from the Low Country Farmhouse floor plan. The first version has no columns; the second has columns in the kitchen:

Which is your favorite, the columns or no columns in the kitchen?

Kitchen Trends for 2017 #5: Two Islands in the Kitchen

As kitchens get bigger, they tend to include a second island between the kitchen and great room. 

In this home, a version of the Statesman, the second island is framed with columns and three archways:

Here's another way to add a second island. In this home, the second island is table height, designed as an eat-in space with seating on all sides:

Kitchen Trends for 2017 #6: Oversized Islands in the Kitchen

When we say islands are getting bigger, we mean it! This island is about 10'x5'!

To give you a scale of how big this island really is:

• Our most popular "small laundry rooms" are typically 6'x6' to 6'x9'
• A typical mud room with storage can be in the 5'x5' to 5'x7' range
• And a mud room that doubles as a laundry room is usually around 7'x10', only two feet longer than this island!
  

Kitchen Trends for 2017 #7: Prep Sinks in the Island

Prep sinks in the island - and pot fillers above the stove - are both popular kitchen design features we expect to see more of in 2017 new homes.

Here's an example of a prep sink:

And here's what a pasta pot filler faucet looks like:

(See more pot filler photos in our Ideabooks on Houzz, click here.)

Kitchen Trends for 2017 #8: Butler's Pantry in the Kitchen

This tucked-away butler's pantry is located under the stairs, between the kitchen and formal dining room.

Adding a butler's pantry, or closet, under the staircase is a great use of space, adding efficiency to your floor plan!

A butler's pantry usually includes upper and lower cabinets with a counter top area.  In most floor plans, the pantry is located in a "secondary" space - somewhere between the kitchen and eating areas - to help spread out entertainment areas during large events. These storage areas are also used as long-term spaces (for holiday platters and less-used large items).

Kitchen Trends for 2017 #9: Beam Ceilings in the Kitchen

While we're used to seeing beam ceilings in the great room and living room, kitchen ceiling beams are quickly growing in popularity. We're certain you'll find more kitchen beams in 2017 Raleigh custom homes: 

Let us know what kitchen layouts, designs, and features you like most. We’ll listen to your ideas to design and build a custom new home just for your family.

More 2017 New Home Trends:

Why do main floor master homes cost most?

11 Multigen Homes for 2017 Buyers

Best Gray Paint Colors for 2017 - SW Agreeable Gray

Best Gray Paint Colors for 2017 - SW Knitting Needles

• Behind door pictured
• Through the hallway to the laundry room (see the built in shelves past the wall oven?)
• In the form of a butler's pantry (located in the hallway to the formal dining room)
• Click here for more photos from this home 

   

Walk In Pantry Kitchen Design Idea #2 - U Shaped Walk in Pantry

This floor plan includes an oversized walk in pantry tucked between the kitchen and laundry walls. 

Inside, there's wrap around shelving with plenty of storage space for the kitchen.

 Get a sense of the pantry size, in the floor plan view: 

The hidden pantry doesn't detract from the open "L" shaped eating bar/island.

• Click here for photos of The Mastrosimone. 
• The Coventry offers a very similar pantry style, in a slightly smaller home (2807 sq ft, Main Floor Master).

Walk In Pantry Kitchen Design Idea #3 - Hidden Room

The "hidden" walk in pantry is located between the garage and dining room.

The pantry door blends with the arched opening to the dining room.

Click here to see more photos of the Linda. 

Walk In Pantry Design Idea #4 - Under the Stairs

An "under the stairs" location can allow the architect to really maximize the pantry space - in some cases creating a walk in pantry that's six to eight feet deep. 

This staircase, behind the kitchen, wraps around above the pantry:

See more photos of the Country Manor here.

Walk In Pantry Idea #5 - Convert the Laundry Room

For this home, a standard pantry just wouldn't do.

The Laundry Room was originally next to the Kitchen.  We designed a "Home Hub", moved the appliances there, and converted the entire former Laundry Room into a huge walk in pantry.

And here's the "home hub": 

This gorgeous kitchen is ready for anything - with a pantry that can handle it all.

Click here to see more photos of the Carwile floor plan.

Can't find a walk in pantry plan you like?  Let us know, and we’ll email you more ideas, gathered from tens of thousands of plans to match your specifications. You can also work with our design team to create a brand new plan with everything just the way you want it. Request more floor plan ideas here.

*All Floor Plans Copyright Architect.  Photos Copyright Stanton Homes.  All rights reserved.

More 2017 new home trends:

Shaker Style Kitchen Cabinets - Popular Styles for 2017

Most Popular Gray Paint Colors - with Photo Examples

Color Trends for 2017 - with Options other than Gray

Best Main Floor Master House Plans for 2017 New Homes

New Custom Homes in the Raleigh Area - and throughout central North Carolina 

Stanton Homes makes building your new custom home easy!  We'll guide you through the entire process - select from thousands of different floor plans, and hundreds of different locations.  Your custom home is going to be extraordinary when you create it with one of the nation’s top fully involved builders and the high quality materials and craftsmanship that our reputation is built on.

Call 919-278-8070 to find out more about new homes in the Raleigh area today. 

Best Sizes for a Kitchen Sink - How to Choose Between One or Two Bowls

Get up to speed on the debate over one versus two bowl kitchen sinks - with a few of the most common "pros and cons" of each style.

Single Bowl Sinks

Single bowl sinks are perfect for those who love to cook with large pots, pans, and baking sheets - which require deeper and wider sink spaces. 

The three most popular colors/finishes for kitchen sinks are black, white, and stainless steel.

In this version of The Avonstone Manor, an under mount black one bowl sink contrasts with the white, black, and grey granite counters.

While single bowl sinks come in a wide range of shape and sizes, many are designed to fit in a 36 inch base cabinet.

Apron front (farmhouse) sinks, like the one pictured here, are usually designed as a single bowl sink. (See photos of a white apron front farmhouse sink here.)

Double Bowl Sinks:

For many home buyers, the allure of a double bowl sink boils down to one primary design functionality: Each bowl can be dedicated to serve a different purpose.

One bowl can hold dirty dishes, while the other can remain open for use. Typically, dual bowl sinks come in ratios of 50-50, 60-40, or 70-30.

When working with two bowl sinks, one bowl (usually the smaller one) can include a garbage disposal. This helps keep small items separate (and away from the disposal).  A disposal may not be available if your home includes a septic system - a very common occurance in North Carolina. 

And one bowl can hold fragile items - such as delicate wine glasses - while the other holds sturdier dishes.

You can fit a dish drying rack into one bowl, and keep the other clear.

More 2017 new home trends:

Shaker Style Kitchen Cabinets - Popular Styles for 2017

Most Popular Gray Paint Colors - with Photo Examples

Color Trends for 2017 - with Options other than Gray

Best Main Floor Master House Plans for 2017 New Homes

New Custom Homes in the Raleigh Area - and throughout central North Carolina 

Stanton Homes makes building your new custom home easy!  We'll guide you through the entire process - select from thousands of different floor plans, and hundreds of different locations.  Your custom home is going to be extraordinary when you create it with one of the nation’s top fully involved builders and the high quality materials and craftsmanship that our reputation is built on.

Call 919-278-8070 to find out more about new homes in the Raleigh area today. 

Craftsman House Plans for Raleigh NC Custom Homes

Craftsman homes continue to be one of the most popular design requests for Raleigh NC custom homes. Classic and contemporary craftsman homes have similar design features, such as: 

Architecture that emphasizes simple lines, but with detailed accents

Stone accents, especially on front porches

Decorative cross hatches on eaves

Square or horizontal rectangular windows

12 Ideas for a Craftsman exterior:

From traditional designs to exteriors with contemporary modifications, these Raleigh NC custom homes will give you exterior paint color ideas:  

Exterior Style #1: English Country Craftsman Exterior Paint Colors

Exterior Style #2: Two Story Craftsman House Plans

This craftsman home includes tons of windows to take advantage of the wooded, acreage lot views. 

Craftsman ideas include: beams in the cross hatches, metal roof accents, stone accents, craftsman style wood and stone porch column, and white trim details. 

Exterior Style #3: Country Craftsman Estate

Although craftsman home exterior colors have historically emphasized complementary earth tones (you'll see several examples below), many contemporary Raleigh custom homes are starting to incorporate brighter and bolder exterior paint colors.

This version of The Horse Country Estate blends natural earth-colored stone accents with brown garage doors and trim, alongside earthy orange/brown tone siding.

Exterior Style #4: Urban Craftsman

Craftsman exteriors often incorporate natural materials, including stone siding and exposed wood details.

Historically, rafter tails were literally rafters that extended past the roof for structural support. Today, rafter tails are often added as decorative pieces designed to increase curb appeal by "exposing" more of the home structure. 

Below is an example of a subtle use of exposed rafter tails (added to accentuate the front porch roofline): 

Exterior Style #5: Traditional Craftsman

Complementary vertical and horizontal lines -- particularly in the roof peaks -- are common craftsman touches found in traditional exteriors.

Exterior Style #6: Craftsman Ranch

This ranch style (single level) craftsman home features a blend of earthy tones that reflect shades akin to fields and forests.

Exterior Style #7: Contemporary Mountain Craftsman

Check out the windows on this contemporary craftsman exterior. Square windows are more common on craftsman homes, as well as linear rectangle windows (like the ones located above the garage).

Note how wide and short -- rather than thin and tall -- several of these windows are:

Exterior Style #8: Contemporary Craftsman

White and grey exteriors are popular contemporary color combinations. This home is equal parts urban contemporary and craftsman.

While round columns replace square tapered columns, stone bases blend in a touch of traditional craftsmanship.

Take a look inside this home to see more craftsman details in the floor plan layout, staircase design, and efficient use of space.

Exterior Style #9: Country Craftsman

Tapered square wood columns paired with stone bases are a staple for many traditional craftsman home exteriors. 

Deep eaves are another common arts and crafts touch.

Exterior Style #10: Cottage Craftsman

As a bungalow style home, this exterior emphasizes a contrast between dark brown finishes and neutral green siding. Stone column bases and steps lighten up the front porch.

A low pitch roof stands out as a common craftsman exterior design.

Exterior Style #11: French Country Craftsman

Dark red, a bold choice for a craftsman home, follows the French design of this craftsman home.

Another traditional French country home design addition is the non-symmetrical front with a single curved roofline accent.

Exterior Style #12: Hillside Craftsman

This Raleigh custom home highlights the craftsman trend of incorporating windows arranged in groups, often with a simple geometrical design. 

More Info On Craftsman Style Homes and Floor Plans: 

- What is an Arts and Crafts home?

- Where to find Craftsman house plans

- 10 Popular Craftsman floor plans

Raleigh, North Carolina Craftsman Homes:

When building a custom home in North Carolina, you can choose which craftsman details you love, and which to leave out. For instance, craftsman floor plan elements include:

Limited hallways in the floor plan

1x4, 1x6, and 1x8 interior trim treatments

Built-in storage including bookshelves, cabinets, or niches

Staircases with (wood) square balusters and newell posts

What do you love about these popular home exterior styles, and what would you change? Tell us about your new home ideas -- click here to get started on building your new home.