Kitchen Charm with ILVE Ranges

If you’re wanting to add cottage charm to your kitchen by choosing old world appliances, then you will love this post. I’m going to share all of the details of our ILVE range that married beauty and function.

As you know, there is a difference between a house and a home.

A home is full of life and comfort and memories.

It is more than a shell with four walls and it takes time to create a home.

As a home cook, one area that I focus on is our cottage kitchen.

I spend most of my time there fixing easy dinners for my family or make ahead breakfasts to fill hungry bellies in the morning.

And with the time spent in there I am willing to spend some money on making it beautiful.

Beauty isn’t everything, but I do think it is something to notice and appreciate.

If you can add beauty and function to a space, you’re in the sweet spot.

For our kitchen, we have made both beauty and functional changes.

It’s always evolving as we chip away at each area that needs attention.

Today, I’m sharing one of the most impactful changes we’ve made yet- our new ILVE range!

How to add English charm to a modern kitchen

If you find yourself in a modern kitchen and want to add charm there are ways to do that.

• Open kitchen shelving– Open shelving isn’t just a new thing. It’s been adding old world charm for centuries.
• Vertical Kitchen Shiplap– This adds detail and a simple design to a space.
• White cabinet pulls– We are considering switching up our cabinet knobs and adding white wooden knobs.
• White kitchen cabinets– Layering white paint colors in your space is how you create historic home charm without it looking sterile.
• Charming Kitchen sink– Mark reframed the windows behind our corner kitchen sink so that would have a charming window sill to set things on and it made such a difference!

Adding Old World Charm with appliances

Appliances are where beauty can meet function.

There are appliances available that create a special look to your kitchen and it’s worth searching them out.

Our electric stove was going out on us and one area we added charm was by adding in a range that would bring in superior design.

Why I chose an Italian Range

I want my kitchen to be inviting and cozy, but also have a style of its own.

Most ranges on the market look similar and are offer very little, as far as style and colors.

Italian ranges harken back to a time when the kitchen was both beautiful and functional.

They are the workhorse in a from scratch kitchen and bring character and a timeless appeal to the space.

What are ILVE ranges?

ILVE is an Italian born company that got its beginnings in magnificent Venice in the year 1952.

Two men created these ranges for local restaurants and their focus was on making a beautiful range with supreme features.

Interest among the public piqued and soon the ranges began being produced for regular kitchens.

ILVE Gas Range

If you’re investing in a range, make sure you get the most bang for your buck!

A gas range is one area that is worth spending a bit more to get something that brings warmth and character to your space.

After a lot of research and deep diving into what would work for our space, I gladly landed on the ILVE USA ranges.

French and Italian ranges have a design that goes unmatched.

Plus, the ILVE brand has a professional series of ranges that use premium materials and a shining design that sold me.

The only issue I had was that my kitchen didn’t have gas, so we had to have a line put in.

ILVE Options for their High-end Range

Whether you have a gas line for your range or not, ILVE has options for you.

Regardless of what you choose, the quality of the ranges is amazing.

You also get lots of design options whether you opt for a gas range or their electric option.

• Gas Ranges- The gas ranges feature all gas for both the gas burners and large oven. Or, you can go with the dual fuel option (this is what I ended up choosing) that offers a matte graphite gas burner with an electric oven. When going with their gas ovens, you can choose natural gas or liquid propane. I chose the natural gas since that is what we have in our home. It really is beginning to feel like a dream kitchen now that our gas stove is in place.
• Electric Range– I was so close to going with their electric range just to make things easy on ourselves. ILVE makes a beautiful range that has a smooth induction cooktop and an electric oven. The induction range is electric but you still get the impeccable design and a stylish range. The electric range has an induction cooktop. If you aren’t sure about what that is, I have an entire post dedicated to cooking on an induction stove.

ILVE Oven Design

The ILVE oven design offers modern design amenities with the old world charm you want.

Besides the array of colors they offer, the brass knobs were the first thing that drew me in.

I ended up going with a gas range from the Majestic II series in antique white, which paired like a dream with the brass handle and knobs.

The warmth of the antique white changed the entire feel of my kitchen in the best way.

The Majestic II range has big ovens like what we are used to here in the States, but with all of the charm of a European range.

Depending on the size of range your kitchen can hold, they have single ovens and double ovens.

My kitchen could hold the 30″ ILVE majestic single oven, so that is what I bought.

ILVE Majestic Range

There are two different range series, or options, from ILVE.

The ILVE Nostalgie Series is a more classic European range. The total oven capacity on the smaller ranges was a bit too small for what I was wanting, but it is beautiful.

Since I wanted the convenience of a larger oven with the design I ordered the Majestic range.

It has a classic design and the powerful engineering you’d expect in a professional range.

The gas cooktop has continuous grates that will make it so nice when I’m cooking with my cast iron.

Some of the design features you can choose with this line are:

• Brass Burners
• Viewing window for oven
• Trim- chrome trim, brass trim, bronze trim, copper trim
• Oven Color- stainless steel, white, antique white, blue grey, glossy black, custom color
• Oven feet- there are different options for your oven feet or you can go without all together

ILVE Majestic II Range Review

I have had the Majestic II range in my kitchen for several weeks now and I am enjoying it so much.

There is a learning curve when it comes to cooking with an electric stove and moving to a gas stove.

I have both baked and used the gas cooktop. Both have created amazing dishes and I’m excited to keep using the stove.

The ILVE range has added so much warmth and charm to our little cottage kitchen.

I look forward to spending many years making delicious food on this range.

What you should know about the ILVE range

• Grates– The grates come off easily making it easy for clean up.
• Installation– Italian ranges have a metal frame across the back on the bottom making it a bit tricky to push completely against the wall. American ranges are open on the bottom in the back, making it seamless when you want to push it into place. They make room for the electric and gas lines that are on the floor. Italian ranges are different. We adjusted the gas line and outlet and everything worked out fine, but it’s worth knowing so you can prepare.
• Design– The brass trim, brass knobs, and brass handle add incredible charm and they are easy to clean and get shiny.
• Cooking ability– So far, the oven and stovetop have exceeded my expectations. The oven capacity is a tad smaller than my old oven, but it works great and I have been very pleased with its performance.
• Oven Drip Pan– The Majestic II comes with a built in drip pan in the bottom of the oven making for easy clean up!