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Should family room cabinets match kitchen cabinets?

soonerhouse2007

16 years ago

I posted this on the Decorating Forum and rec'd only 4 responses. I know this must be a question that many people have because of the "open" floor plans so many people are using these days.....

We are planning a very open kitchen/family room design. The only thing separating the two is the kitchen island. My kitchen cabinets will be stained/glazed, and my trim will be an off white everywhere in the house. Should my entertainment center in the family room and fireplace surround be the same as the trim or should it match the kitchen cabinets? The family room will have wood floors and the kitchen will have tile. Thank you for any ideas an suggestions. I love the idea of this big open space, but coordinating the decorating part has been very difficult.

Featured Answer

springbabes

16 years ago

soonerhouse2007 I totally understand your issue. I have spent so much time talking about wood finishes with the cabinet company and our builder it is crazy! Anyhow, I did decide to do many different finishes in our open floor plan. Most of our cabinets are now installed and I'm very happy I used a mix of woods. I think it defines each room in an open floor plan and adds interest. That being said, I would follow your gut, if you are a matching person - you might want to match. I'll post a picture of our great room built-in's (they are cherry with an espresso stain) and it is open to our kitchen that has a black stained island and bordeaux (brownish) stained with a black glaze on clear alder. The floor is hickory that I hope will be stained a shade or 2 lighter than my kitchen cabinets. The baseboard is birch and will be stained the same as the kitchen cabinets. All the casing and crown molding on the main floor is dover white. Probably more than you wanted to know, but I understand your issue - I never knew I would spend so much time on wood type and finishes! Good luck,
Tara

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Comments (7)

pattiem93
16 years ago
Well, I like the idea of matching them to your kitchen, BUT, it also seems to me that if you have them stained and glazed, you can always paint them later if it seems dark to you. If you paint them first, you'll have a HORROR of a time stripping and trying to match your kitchen. I don't know the size of your room, window placement, light conditions, etc., so this seems the best option.
Good luck!
Pattie
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User
16 years ago
Sooner, as Pattie said. stain them to match your cabinets. If you don't like the look after you live with it awhile it is easy to paint.

The other way around it is heck to remove paint and try to get stain to match.
soonerhouse2007
Original Author
16 years ago
Tara, Thank you for taking the time to post the pics. Your woods are beautiful and helps to inspire me to mix it up.

I would love to see more pics and opinions. This is a very big decision, and I'm not good at envisioning my options.
carolyn53562
16 years ago
I was just in a new home last night that had white glazed kitchen cabinets and white painted trim but the fireplace surround and cabinets flanking the fireplace were dark stained wood and it looked great and helped give a feeling of divided function in that space.
jojoco
16 years ago
I did not want matching cabinets--I thought it would look to matchy and would seem like our great room cabinets were kitchen cabinets. Our kitchen cabinets are a burnished maple and our built ins are white, the same color as the trim work in the great room.
It does a great job dividing the space.
Joanne
oruboris
16 years ago
FWIW, I'm not sure even kitchen cabinets should match kitchen cabinets...

There are so many cool possibilities, its tough/pointless/sad to limit yourself to just one.

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