I loooove your place. Your cabinets look in pretty good shape, you are going to replace them?
The floors have a lot of green and brown but if your cabinets are dark brown you don't want to go with another dark color laminate I wouldn't think. Too bad because those are usually my favorite colors in the laminates.
The tiles are big, the kitchen smaller.....hm
Maybe start by deciding whether you want something with a small pattern vs. a larger pattern vs. a solid. For example Butter Rum, large pattern, busy, Riverwash, small pattern. Then start to narrow it down.

Here is a link that might be useful: Formica River Wash

Your view is fabulous. I am just wondering if you are totally committed to stained cabs. I am no decorator - but you have a lot wood going on there.
I looked in the finished kitchen blog to find some that I remembered that you might like - they are mostly painted and I think would set off the wood that you do have and not compete with it.

Have a look and see what you think.

Here is riverrat's it is the one that first came to mind when I saw your space. There was another with red cabs but I can't find it - it may have been in a magazine.

What about copper sheeting for the backsplash? It's an easy DIY. I have it in my kitchen and laundry room. Fairly inexpensive and would look great with your floor. Wilsonart, et al have laminate sheeting that looks like aged copper you could use also.

I like the idea of darker cabinetry too. Wilsonart has some wonderful laminates that would go well in your space.

Your view is wonderful, btw! So is the stone.

Are you going to paint the walls? imo, the yellow/gold color drains the paneling/wood. Washes it out. A few rugs would also help warm up the spaces.

Your view is absolutely beautiful!!!! To die for beautiful!! With all those windows and the lighting you can easily go with a darker cabinet.
I think you could put glass cabinets above the fridge (if you keep the floorplan). It's kind of a goofy space in my place but you could accentuate yours with something nice to display with lighting too. Do you have the option to take out that little piece of wall going into the DR? That might help to open up the kitchen a bit. Maybe glass cab there?
You may not have granite where you are but I'd venture to say you probably have soapstone : )
Have you considered painting the pine wainscotting & behind the bookcases, then staining the mantle darker to match the kitchen cabs your planning on: )
Keep your options open.........a white/cream cab with dark glaze is pretty nice also. I was never much for white cabinets until stumbling upon this site!

saskatchewan_girl, I live in a pretty remote area so soapstone is also out of the question.

I do love the look of painted cabinets but I was thinking that with the feel/style of the house that they might not tie in very well.
The cabinets are in pretty good shape but the base is much to high for me I don't really like the style of the doors anyway.

AS far as the cedar wainscotting goes, I hate it. To me it looks very 80's. I would like to get rid of it, at least the stuff in the bookcase, but husband agree. What is it with men and wood? But, back to my kitchen.

So, do you think that I should add a glass cabinet door wood break up the wood? Would I be better off using those upper corner cabinets rather than the shape I have (blind corners)
I'm thinking about a tumbled porcelan tile backsplash, fairly light, perhaps with some green in it to tie in with the floor. What do you think of that? Maybe 2" tiles?

I'm afraid I won't have any "WOW!" factor and my after will look like your "before".

We're building a house with a lot of wood and currently live in a house with a lot of wood. My main change in the new house is going to be painted cabinets. Have you considered that? You could maybe even keep some of what you have (where you can live with the height) or just the uppers if you decide to paint.

I really work hard at down playing the rustic too. My husband loves it but if he gets his wood walls he doesn't care what else I do. I've found that trying to bring more of a farm house or cottage style into the house works and makes the rustic parts seem less obvious.

If you painted the cabinets you could choose a laminate that goes with the floor browns or greens. If you stick with wood you will probably want to go lighter so the kitchen isn't too dark and heavy compared tot he rest of the house.

its not helpful but I'd just have a chair and a microwave and a coffee maker next to that big window and I'd never move.!! Who cares what the rest looks like. lol..

what a gorgeous gorgeous space you have!

Breathtaking view!! At first I thought that was a mural. Too beautiful to be real!
I love your stone FP. I Dream of that in our new home..
I agree that you could use some glass uppers, maybe the two on each side of your sink. I'm trying to picture rustic/zen??? I can see dark cabs in there to break up the light wood. If you put stainless steel/pewter hardware on the cabs that will give it a nice look. I see a light brown with some dark brown laminate on the counters. To bring in the Rustic you could purchase a nice chandelier from your area. You seem to have enough light in there so that it won't be dark. You have a lot of options.

If you're remodeling/redecorating, the first thing that needs to be done is to turn all of the den furniture around to face that window.

What a stunning view! Who cares what the kitchen looks like as long as I can have pancakes and hot coffee on chilly mornings. You'll find me parked in front of that view.

Sorry susan2008 I wasn't very clear when I posted : ( I was meaning that in Canada and north we 'produce' a lot of soapstone, and actually a previous poster wrote about a Sstone manufacturer that was from Canada that shipped pretty much anywhere. Also I wouldn't keep the old cabs & paint, because of your height issue, I was thinking replace.
Personally I LOVE dark cabinets too, so my vote is for dark! Still take a look at white or cream with a dark glaze.
Another question, can you open up your U kitchen to face the family room? This might help to open it up more & make you able to put in a peninsula? Just a question.
Here are a few pics to inspire........
{{!gwi}}
Above is from a log home site I visited
{{!gwi}}
I'd put in a dark glaze on them : )And darker countertop. They look prety nice in a log home :)
{{!gwi}}
I think these would look wicked with a stone vent-hood to match your LR fireplace

an idea if you openned up your 1 wall
HTH

Wow, thank you all for your suggestions. I've got some great ideas to sort through.
I can open up my kitchen to the living room as saskatewan girl suggested. I don't want to because I don't like looking at my sometimes messy kitchen! I think I may be the only person who leaves dishes drying on the counter in a dishrack.

I appreciate all of your ideas and am printing this thread so I can go thru each one.Thanks again

Hi Susan. I agree with everyone in that your house is absolutely amazing and what a fabulous space to work with! Breathtaking views!

That said, I would be worried that the dark wood might not blend well with all of that light wood. It's just a WHOLE LOTTA WOOD. You said your DH likes the wood, but would he be open to painting it? If you could paint it (all the paneling) and then have stained wood in your kitchen, that would look great. Esp. if you stained the wood on the living room ceiling a wee bit darker (it might blend better with darker cabs in the kitchen).

If your DH is against painting the wood, then I would probably go with painted cabs in the kitchen. They don't HAVE to be white. You could even go with yellow or some other more fun color (red?) and really make a statement! If it were my house I would want one or the other though...either painted in the kitchen and au naturel elsewhere or vice versa.

Also, I've heard soapstone isn't impossible to DIY. In fact, others on this forum have done it (great sources of advice!). I think soapstone would look incredible in there.

Just a couple quick thoughts...

I wouldn't paint the cabs white. I don't care for thatlook at the best of times, but I think they'd read like an igloo in those long months when the veiw outside your window will be mostly white, anyway [winter is my favorite season, but I'd just as soon have it ourdoors, not inside the kitchen].

>First, I'd rearrange the furniture so the window was the #1 thing in the house.

>Second, I'd get those solar blinds that cut the light but leave the veiws intact.

>Third, I'd replace the bright brass hardware in the kitchen.

>Fourth, I'd replace the formica [or is it wall paper?] backsplash and walls in your kitchen with a slate or quartzite tile.

>Fifth, if keeping the cabs, I'd DIY some stone tile countertops-- easier and cheaper than you'd think, and you can keep the grout lines narrow enough that they function about like slab granite. I'd clean the cabs and use a gel based stain to darken them a shade or two. The color isn't inheirently bad, but in combination with the general shapes and bright hardware, it's reading very early 80s to me. Its not the amount of wood in your home that would bother me, its the fact that it's all in the same tonal range.

In fact, there's a bit of a 'bowl of oatmeal' effect-- most of the colors are in the mid to light range. Stretching that with some very pale and very dark colors would add a lot more life. so that would be >six: color with impact.

I like your living room light, [though it hangs a little low and the symetry with the FP is off], the style hits just the right note-- contemporary, yet rustic. Sophisticated but not fussy, precious or stagey. That's the sort of look I'd go for. >Seven on the priority list would be eliminating furniture that doesn't fit that style, especially that dining set.

I also love the fireplace wall. Interesting geometry, nice stone work, good symetry. All it needs is a piece of high impact art, and maybe a little more formal arrangement of stuff on the shelves. I'd probably paint the drywall parts in a more dramtic color, though-- something darker that would contrast with all the wood.

Thanks for all of those comments! Very good ideas. I only included the living room pictures to give you an idea of the house style. The furniture has all been changed except the table and the taupe sofa .I'm sure I will be asking for ideas for my LR later but Please give me more kitchen ideas.
Another thing I'm considering in the kitchen is taking out the upper cabinet on either side of the window. I thought that that might make it seem a bit more open. My kitchen is nowhere near as bright as it looks in the pictures. It was a vey sunny afternoon and I also lightened them on my computer.

I've got to ask: are the lower cabs as tall as they look?

Here's my 2 cents worth. I'd say that your style is earthy/modern, not so much rustic. "Rustic" sometimes makes me think of faux country poverty. Zen is about simplicity and naturalness, so clean lines and natural materials should predominate. Let the beauty of the wood grain or stone speak for itself.

Are you replacing the cabinets or just redoing them? I'm unclear on this. If you are replacing or refacing them, I'd suggest a dark wood with a pretty grain like cherry, either slab or inset style, and minimalist hardware, like steel T knobs. If you are just painting them, I'd say go black, very dark charcoal or the color of french-roast coffee beans, again with minimalist hardware. NO fussy overstains or color glazes as these say "Country" rather than Modern.

Try googling "Autumn Harvest" slate. It's lighter than what you have on your floor - silver and gold tones mostly, not unlike the river rock in your fireplace. The tumbled 2x4" size would make a nice backsplash - you could even do a simple deco mosaic working in some 2x4 or 1x1" tiles in the color of your floor slates. Combined with a laminate counter in beige, gray and gold tones, the slate would echo the nice texture and color you have in your fireplace.

If you put glass doors in your cabinets on either side of the window, and tie them in with a plain cornice above the window in matching wood, it should make it look like you have a whole wall of windows. This effect would be further enhanced by having glass in the cabinet sides nearest the windows, in addition to the doors.

Those are my thoughts. And ditto everyone else - your view is spectacular!
.

Yes, oruboris the lower cabinets were actually built for a very tall cook. I'm 5'3" so it's one of the main reasons that we're getting rid of them.

Mollyred, we're replacing the cabinets. I tried Googling "Autumn Harvest slate" but no slate came up. I love the idea of tying the fireplace in with the kitchen by using a similar stone. Also, I've never heard of putting glass in the cabinets sides. Hmm, that's intriguing.
I don't like the 'rustic'tag either but I wasn't sure what to call it. I definately prefer simplicity and naturalness.

Thank you for your comments.

Do you have any drawings of your layout (sq footage) or pics of your kitchen from some more angles?

saskatchewan_girl I don't have a floor plan drawn but I could do one and post it later. Basically in the four pictures of the kitchen you are seeing it all except the doorway! It's small - 10'4" x 10'11". As I said, when I get a few minutes I'll draw up a floor plan and post it.

oruboris - has some great ideas and suggestions, especially by tying in some of the colors from your BEAUTIFUL fireplace.

Is this your primary home or secondary? Just asking since it were me, it would dictate what I used in materials. I think a maple cabinet with an antique glaze would be pretty .... using copper hardware? Just thinking outloud.

Your former hunting lodge has a lot of potential!!!! Have fun!

Christy

This is a Yukon hunting lodge???

I was picturing lots of logs, and maybe a galvanized steel sink. Something suitable for Sargent Preston. Or maybe Red Green's lodge.

What is the world coming too?

I'm not sure what you mean by "What is the world coming too?" paul_ma.
This WAS a Yukon hunting lodge. We bought it a while ago and it's now our home. It was originaly built by a man from Pensilvania (sp?) to whom other Americans and people from other countries paid big bucks to come and shoot Yukon wildlife. The original owner did not appear to care much about the view as when we bought it there was only a very small living room window on the lake side of the house. We put the three large living room windows in.

Sorry. I should have included a smiley. My post was entirely tongue in cheek.

Your home is beautiful ~ I love the windows and the view is breathtaking.

Here are my suggestions.

I think the arched, painted bookcases detract from the massive beauty of the fireplace stone. Maybe rough sawn cedar beam shelving, or pine, to compliment the weightiness of that beautiful fireplace?

The other suggestion I have is to google log homes and notice the kinds of lighting and decor they use. Antlers made into chandeliers, stuffed birds hung from the cathedral ceiling as though in flight, bear rugs, massive log furniture.

We have a log house with a big, natural stone fireplace (not as big as yours!) :-) Our floors are slate, too.
Our cabinets are simple pine with black wrought iron handles. There are no arches anywhere in the house ~ everything is simple, straight and clean, emphasizing the beauty of the wood, stone, and glass. Our mouldings are made from rough sawn pine log ~ even around the fireplace mantle. The pieces which are highly visible have worm tracks in the wood, which is very cool.

To us, anyway!

We are down South for the winter, or I would try to post some pictures here for you.

Your house is going to be just beautiful!

Barbara

I still havent decided on a plan. I can't believe it's been almost a year since I posted and I still haven't made any decisions. I could cry.

Susan, you sound like me with my floors... I am that close to making a decision. I better get my decision done soon since my busy season is around the corner on top of the busy rest of the year from taking so long with my decision. Just take a deep breath, read all the posts and visualize what you would like to do. Maybe a darker counter and back-splash would make the lighter cabinets work in the kitchen since the go with the Maple floors in the dining room and living room/family room.

Susan, I so enjoyed seeing the pictures of your beautiful home.

If it were me, I would enbrace the 'simplicity' that rustic features can bring, and go with knotty alder or pine cabinets. Then, do a piece in painted wood and trim it out to look like furniture - maybe a hutch look.

Have you had a chance to draw up a floorplan? That really helps and there are some here that are absolutely magicians in space planning.

Sandy