Finished kitchens: Is there anything you regret doing/not doing?
ck_squared
11 years ago
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angela12345
11 years agock_squared
11 years agoRelated Discussions
do you regret a windowseat in the kitchen?
Comments (6)Thanks for the lovely photos and descriptions of kitchen life with a windowseat! We won't have much of a view from ours (read: neighbor's porte cochere and trash cans, at least until the landscaping matures) and the window itself for design coherence is backsplash height, but it contributes to that Susan Susanka "thick wall" feeling without bulking up the short western wall with still more base cabinetry, and beneath the seat of the loveseat is becoming a favorite terrier hangout, and it's a good spot for perusing cookbooks. Lynn...See MoreDo you regret your desk in the kitchen?
Comments (38)**Since we have about 30" to work with, I'm wondering if it makes sense to design it as a "hutch" look so the papers can go behind cupboards up top. There could still be a countertop for the phone, a notepad and misc paperwork. I loved the idea of drawers with outlets so the cellphones can be charged out of sight.** That totally makes sense. We're actually ripping out a small closet that's in the passageway between foyer and kitchen and turning the closet space into a built-in hutch that will be about 36" wide, so that there's a surface to drop things on (like mail) and a place to charge phones, etc., that isn't in the way of anything. I think a hutch style works really well for this purpose because it's versatile (it could also be used to store dishes and such), it can fit in a smaller space since no chair is required, and unlike a desk it can store things underneath. **So for those people without desks in the kitchen, where does your phone, day planner, papers go?** Phone: we only have cell phones. If we had a phone, it would live on the hutch described above. Day planner: when we have one (I'm sure we'll need one with older kids), it will either hang on the wall like a calendar or it will live on the hutch; we'll see what works best. Papers: mail goes into baskets that live out of sight in a corner beside the couch. One basket for each of us. We deal with mail in the living room, like so: junk mail is recycled or shredded (e.g., credit card applications are shredded), so we toss it into either the "recycle" or "shred" basket--those are fairly flat baskets about 4" high that live under the couch--and then deal with it (put it out for recycling or shred it) every couple of weeks. Non-junk mail gets opened, with envelopes and other throwaway bits tossed into the recycling basket and the important bits either dealt with immediately or put into folders that live in our mail baskets. This is hard to explain without a photo, but our mail baskets are just wide enough and tall enough for a manila folder to stand up in them, so there are a few folders standing up at the back of each basket, behind where the mail goes. I have a red folder for bills and anything else that needs to be dealt with urgently, a green one for financial stuff other than bills (e.g. bank statements), and so on. I suppose there will be a folder for mailings related to each child's education when the time comes. Periodically we take the mail baskets to our office filing cabinets and put away the papers that have collected in each folder, and then the whole process begins again. It works for us and all these baskets let us deal with stuff downstairs without taking up much space, and then carry stuff up to the office for filing. It also keeps our kitchen recycling from filling up too quickly, since all the paper from junk mail, flyers etc. is put in a recycling basket that hides under the living room couch, instead of into the kitchen recycling....See MoreDo you regret doing your island in a different color or wood?
Comments (13)Actually, "almost seems" is the important part of what Shanghaimom said. The vast majority do not do their islands in a contrasting finish. They're just more noticeable and more likely to read this thread. It has been trendy recently, and that's probably where the seems like comes from, but by far the majority do matching. I agree that contrasting is as normal as anything else, though. What I'm hearing from you, Gsmama, is that it's not so much that you want a contrasting island, but that you're unsure of having too much white. Regarding the bench, if you intend to put cushions on it, I'd reconsider making it wood. I think it would have more continuity if it was all one tone, with a vibrant cushion to set it off. If the bench area is open to another room, however, I do see the point of doing the wood to ease the transition, and delineate it as separate from the kitchen proper. Before I saw your elevations I thought matching the island to a contrasting bench might be a mistake. As it is, I think it would look fine any of the four possible ways: all white, all white with wood bench, white perimeter with wood island and wood bench, or white perimeter and bench with wood island. Any of these would really look fine!! What do YOU like best? Not which do you think will do this or that to match whatever, but which makes you happiest? Because, really any of them would be nice. (Or you can just wimp out and say wood, because it's a lot easier to refinish wood with paint than vice versa.)...See MoreDo you regret your kitchen cabinet color?
Comments (1)Sometimes. The color looked more greenish, and more dirty in The lighting we had when I picked it out and painted it. Now it‘s quite blue. Sky blue, baby blue..sigh. Eh well, it’s not god awful or anything, just would’ve been nice if it weren’t such a clean color....See Moreginny20
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