24 Best Victorian Kitchen Ideas Fit for Modern Life

Whether you are drawn to historic architecture styles or you simply want to design a kitchen to fit your antique home's aesthetic, there are many Victorian kitchen features that are worth considering today.

The Victorian era (roughly 1837-1901) was a period of invention and advancement.

New technologies such as the stove and the icebox transformed the idea of the kitchen and helped redefine its style and layout.

Add some Victorian style to your kitchen or renovate a period kitchen to make it feel more current by mixing freestanding vintage, antique, or reproduction furniture with modern appliances or adding detailed trim work and hand-crafted details that will give it a Victorian feel.

Get inspired by these Victorian kitchens in a range of historic and modern spaces that will inspire your renovation or remodel.

Freestanding Kitchen

One of the main features of a Victorian kitchen is that, unlike our modern kitchens where everything is built-in, the focus is on freestanding cabinetry and furniture.

While you may not opt for a fully freestanding kitchen, we love this little sink unit from The Olive Branch Kitchens.

It's a great additional workspace that can be placed wherever you have room and lends a vintage feel to your kitchen.

Blue Cabinets

This kitchen from blakelyinteriordesign feels modern but incorporates some Victorian-era elements, such as the elaborate molding and the oversized range cooker.

Victorian kitchens didn't skimp on the flourishes, and the design was often grand and elegant.

Kitchen Facing Inward

Whereas modern kitchens focus on the perimeter of the room, with open space in the center of the kitchen, Victorian-era kitchens faced inward, with the primary workspace centered in the middle of the room.

This traditional kitchen from citrineliving proves that this is a Victorian-era design we should definitely bring back.

Eat-In Victorian Kitchen

Victorian kitchens were often larger, with more space to entertain and host groups for dinner.

This beautiful example from Jackson Design and Remodeling features a dining table in the center of the space, perfect for hosting family and friends right where the action is happening.

Range Cooker

While you would have expected to see a clothing pulley system above the range cooker in the Victorian era, an antique range cooker is a great way to bring in a Victorian feel to any modern kitchen.

Whether you opt for a cool green version, like this one, or something a little more rustic, range cookers are usually oversized and perfect for cooking for large families.

Butler's Pantry

Here's a Victorian-era element we can definitely get behind. Most Victorian kitchens included a freestanding butler's pantry for food prep away from guests.

While this stunning version from Kitchen & Beyond is built-in, it's a beautiful reminder that what's old is always new again.

Antique Sink

The Victorian era brought with it the introduction of indoor plumbing, a modern amenity we can all agree was one of the best inventions of the past 200 years.

Most Victorian sinks were porcelain, like this one from Tap Warehouse, and featured brass or iron faucets.

Open Kitchen Shelving

Since kitchens were freestanding and homeowners in the Victorian era had less to store in the kitchen, you often saw a lot of open shelving.

While this kitchen from Project Forever Home is a bit more modern, it embraces the open kitchen shelving look you often see in Victorian kitchens.

Victorian-Style Kitchen

This kitchen from Historical Concepts features the inward design and the grandeur of Victorian kitchens.

Between the leaning antique ladder and the oversized elegant kitchen island, we can't decide what we love most about this vintage-inspired space.

Semi-Freestanding Cabinetry

This vintage kitchen from Showtime Essential Kitchens features built-in cabinetry that lends the same look and feel of Victorian-era freestanding furniture.

Because the cabinets do not sit flush with the ground, the kitchen feels rustic and antique.

Freestanding Furniture

While Victorian kitchens were often large enough to hold a full-sized dining room table in the center of the space, modern kitchens can be on the more compact side. But that doesn't mean you can't bring in a smaller vintage wood table.

Victorian Wallpaper

Add a period touch to your kitchen with wallpaper. This space from deVOL Kitchens is decorated with wallpaper illustrated with images of Victorian cakes of various shapes and sizes for a charming throwback feel.

Victorian Farmhouse Kitchen

In this renovated Victorian 1879 farmhouse outside of Boston, Finding Lovely framed the kitchen sink with rustic beams that look like they've always been there for a rustic feel.

Repurposed Dresser

This Victorian kitchen from deVOL Kitchens includes a repurposed dresser topped with a custom stone countertop that follows the curves of the furniture for an authentic feel.

Antique Kitchen Accessories

Give a period home kitchen a timeless feel with exposed brick and colorful tile.

This Victorian-period home in London renovated by Emilie Fournet Interiors includes a colorful kitchen with antique and vintage accents for a timeless feel.

Freestanding China Cabinet

Instead of a wall of built-ins, choose a freestanding china cabinet to store dishware, tableware, and other supplies.

This space from deVOL Kitchens has a painted black glass-front china cabinet with a painted blue beadboard backing. Dishes are stacked casually for a modern feel.

Victorian Kitchen Reno

Many Victorian homes featured tiny kitchens where household staff prepared food while staying out of sight in cramped quarters.

Modern homeowners often move the kitchens to a brighter and more central spot.

Studio Peake relocated the ground floor kitchen in a Victorian terrace house in west London and moved the cramped Victorian kitchen to the back of the house, modernizing it with marble finishes, a narrow island, and modern painted cabinets.

Vintage Window Treatments

Bring a Victorian feel to the window above your kitchen sink with window treatments.

This Victorian kitchen in the U.K. from deVOL Kitchens includes a fixed lace-trimmed window panel that delicately filters light and enhances the period feel.

Celtic Cross Tile Walls

Update a Victorian home kitchen with modern tile based on a traditional pattern.

Tyler Karu Design + Interiors tiled the backsplash of this historic Victorian home kitchen in Maine with a Celtic cross pattern that adds a sense of history to the renovated space.

Curtain-Front Cabinetry

Recreate the feel of a Victorian kitchen in a large space with freestanding furniture like a central work table, like this space from deVOL Kitchens.

A line of base cabinets with countertops and storage beneath fronted by curtains hung from brass rods and a large wooden dishrack painted in the same dark red as the base cabinets adds authentic charm.

Victorian Flat Kitchen

You don't have to decorate a Victorian home with antiques and period-appropriate furniture.

Emilie Fournet Interiors outfitted this London apartment converted from a Victorian home with midcentury modern and global furniture and accessories to reflect the taste of the clients that complements the classic bones of the space.

Cozy Victorian Kitchen

This English Victorian villa kitchen from deVOL Kitchens has a casually elegant and timeless feel.

Decorated with a mix of freestanding pieces, modern and antique furniture and fixtures, and black-and-white marble checkerboard flooring, the space is inviting and cozy, made for living in from day to night.

Rustic Wood Touches

Simple finishes and rustic beams mix old and new in this Victorian home flat in London from Emilie Fournet Interiors.

The cozy space is decorated with a mix of tiles, exposed wood ceilings, rustic beams, and open shelving.

The rich emerald green backsplash tile adds a modern feel while highlighting a color that was popular during the Victorian era.

Black-and-White Victorian

Renovate a Victorian home kitchen with shades of black and white for a timeless feel.

Leanne Ford Interiors tiled the walls of this spacious Victorian kitchen with white subway tile and black grout, with a black-and-white penny tile mosaic floor with a border for a classic finish.

What is a Victorian-style kitchen?

Victorian kitchens were small spaces devoted to cooking only, where household servants prepared meals out of sight.

These utilitarian spaces were accompanied by a larger, multipurpose room called a scullery that included both a water source and a large central workspace for doing food prep.

Because Victorian kitchens were smaller than the kitchens of today, those who live in period homes often relocate the kitchen to a more central location, combining the concept of a scullery into a modern kitchen design that includes some period elements like the use of freestanding furniture and a large central work table or kitchen island.

What colors did Victorian kitchens have?

While Victorian interiors were decorated in dark, ornate, decorative finishes and rich colors such as emerald green and burgundy, authentic Victorian kitchens were located out of sight and decorated simply.

The walls were whitewashed plaster that sometimes included a hint of blue to keep flies away and create a cooling feel.

What flooring did Victorian kitchens have?

The flooring in an authentic Victorian kitchen was more utilitarian than decorative. It may have been covered with unglazed tiles, stone slabs, or wood depending on the layout of the home.  

Read the original article on The Spruce.