Kitchen of the Week: Stylist Brittany Albert’s Cosmetic Kitchen Upgrade, Trade Secrets Included

Brittany Alberts’s lament is a familiar one: “If budget hadn’t been a consideration, we would have loved to expand the footprint of our kitchen. And we would have loved to put in new cabinets and appliances. Instead, we had to stick with—and enhance what—was already in place.”

The wrinkle? Brittany is a stylist who works with interior designers and home design brands, so she approached her own home with a ready arsenal of accessories and tricks.

The narrow kitchen in question—an L-shaped galley probably last updated in the 1990s (scroll to the end for a Before shot)—was built as an addition to an 1880 farmhouse in Litchfield County, Connecticut, that Brittany and her husband, Sanders Witkow, a lawyer, bought as a retreat from their base in Brooklyn.

Taking a cosmetic tack made sense: the couple had a whole house to pull together and the existing kitchen, if not exactly to their taste, was in good working order. Come see how an interior stylist makes do—and where she ponies up.

Photography by Kate S. Jordan (@katesjordan), courtesy of Brittany Albert (@britt_albert). See disclaimer at end.

the kitchen is situated just off the living room, which has its original hearth 9 — Above: The kitchen is situated just off the living room, which has its original hearth and beehive oven, and is likely where the kitchen was originally situated. As a link between the old and new—and an extra work surface—Brittany introduced an antique pine table from Plain Goods in New Preston, Connecticut, and hung a catchall Shaker peg rail over it.

For peg rail inspiration, go to our posts Instant Order and 16 Design Ideas to Steal from the Shakers

Above: Brittany simply painted the cabinets and kept the existing dishwasher and other appliances. But she splurged by replacing the sink with a Shaws fireclay basin and deVol bridge faucet: read about the one she chose in our post Found: The Perfected Aged Brass Kitchen Faucet. Equally significantly, she swapped out the red granite counter.