HGTV Star Erin Napier's Out Of The Ordinary Kitchen Design Choice Is Truly Inspiring

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Not everything has to be trendy. Sometimes, a home renovation should be more about what a homeowner loves and less about what designers think is gearing up to become popular. That's especially true when you're dealing with a historic building where embracing the era of the home is going result in a room that is as timeless as it is beautiful. That's exactly what HGTV's Erin Napier did on Season 1, Episode 5 of "Home Town." Instead of light and bright, the norm for most HGTV home upgrades, Napier went moody and historic with her color choices, adding antique art to the range hood for an unexpected touch of old world drama.

The truth is, Napier is reviving historic kitchen features like sculleries, so it's no surprise that even early on she was keeping and enhancing historic charm. She achieved this look by working with what she had. Instead of ripping out the cabinets and replacing them, she repainted the uppers and stripped and stained the bottoms. To bring that historic charm into the 21st century, Napier replaced the countertops, and added a window to bring in more light to what was an otherwise dark room. Adding a white subway tile backsplash also helped brighten things up while keeping the historic, elegant feel of the rest of the kitchen. And how could we forget the vintage art on the range hood that adds extra personality?

We know what you're thinking. How do I get this feel in my kitchen? Well, there are few elements to key in on. The easiest is the historic color palette. You don't necessarily need to go with the same Charleston green that Erin Napier used. Browse historic color collections from Benjamin Moore or Sherwin Williams. Sherwin Williams even breaks it down by time period, so you can easily find Colonial, Arts and Crafts, or Victorian colors.

The next element to think about are your other finishes. While subway tile may be set to be dethroned by other more trendy options, the fact is they are classic for a reason. When you choose one that has a slightly handmade look to it, you can add even more historic charm. And if you're in the market for new countertops, be sure to choose a classic option, like marble — or at least something that looks like marble.

In this kitchen, though, it's the little things that count, like that vintage art on the hood. Raid your nearest antique shop or hunt through tag sales to find quirky art from days gone by. Pair it with gold or brass frames to enhance the antique feel, and consider placing them somewhere unexpected. If the hood isn't an option, try adding art behind the stove or along the backsplash.

There are a couple more things in this kitchen that make it special. The very tall ceilings allow for stacking cabinets on top of each other. You will only be able to achieve this if you already have very high ceilings. However, there are a couple of projects you may be able to undertake to get even closer to Erin Napier's inspiring kitchen design.

Do you have wood cabinets? Consider sanding and refinishing them to take them from dated to vintage. Stains like Old Masters' Early American aim to bring a colonial look to wood finishes. There are other options as well, just avoid these common DIY mistakes when redoing cabinets.

If the feature you want to mimic from this kitchen is the beadboard cabinet panels, you're not alone. Beadboard is a timeless kitchen cabinet upgrade, and it isn't as hard to DIY as you might think. You can remove the center panel from your cabinets and replace them with beadboard panels, or just start from scratch and replace your old doors. Learning how to build your own cabinet doors is simpler than many expect, but buying new doors is also an option. You can get them pre-painted or unfinished, which will make it easier to stain or paint the doors to match your new kitchen design.