A key design element to achieving a rustic yet refined European farmhouse style kitchen, we’ve long been admirers of statement ceramic sinks and the handcrafted appeal they offer to this provincial aesthetic.

Managing to be both clean-lined and rustic from apron-fronted to undermount styles, we round up our favourite traditional kitchen spaces featuring ceramic sinks that set the tone for a contemporary, yet distinctly grounded and homely, country-feel in the kitchen.

From a modern Flemish farmhouse, classic shaker style to an English country cottage we find inspiration in each aesthetic and how this essential hero piece adds a timeless and charming appeal to each.

Modern Flemish Farmhouse

Elegant and contemporary, you could be forgiven for thinking this Brooklyn brownstone kitchen was set in a Flemish farmhouse. Slope Townhouse is, in fact, a 19th-century Victorian brownstone that pays homage to its history and happening neighbourhood.

A collaboration between design studio Nune and fellow NYC studio Frances Mildred Architectural Design, Slope Townhouse’s kitchen design melds a classic sensibility with a warm, contemporary personality. It’s simple joinery, soft timber handles, freestanding cooker and oversized farmhouse sink all highlight a beautiful marriage between classic and contemporary.

Classic Shaker Style

As featured in our recent ‘From the Heart’ Issue #32 this Nordiska Kök kitchen is well and truly a firm favourite in the est office. Favouring function and form over decoration, this practical and communal space draws on a distinctly Nordic influence.

Finding beauty in simplicity, this shaker style aesthetic leans on a palette that is pared back, tonal and features a mix of utilitarian kitchen objects- but not without a refined and warm sense of style. Our highlights include the provincial tapware, family sized timber dining table and accents of brass throughout.

An English Country Cottage

On first glance, this tranquil kitchen (complete with scullery) seems reductive and simple but on closer inspection, there is plenty of character to be found in the finer detail. A Georgian classic, this traditional Plain English Design kitchen is both neutral and warm allowing the luxurious quality of materials such as marble, stone and timber speak for itself.

Handcrafted from a combination of knotted timber floors, classic hardware, immaculate joinery and ornate heritage details including the curved archway, ornate fireplace and cornices all makes for one traditional English style.