I think a deeper paint color (warm earth tone?) would really make your kitchen feel warmer. Your cabinets are very pretty and just a change on the walls would make a big difference in the whole feel.

Dorothy

I agree about the paint color. You have the right idea there. If you play up the warm tone in the maple it should look less yellow. Another thing you could do (after careful tests on an unobtrusive inside) is use a tinted wax to tone them down.

For a contrasting wood I'd go dark. If you wanted to play up the yellowness of the maple you could do a cherry-red stain and have a really punchy kitchen. If you want a softer look, try a really deep red-honey color.

Since photos and lighting and computer monitors all distort color, my best advice would be to borrow a stain sample ring from a cabinet store or paint store, and hold them up in your kitchen to see for yourself what you like best. The color can be tweaked from there. (They usually threaten you with $500 charges to your credit card when you borrow design rings, but that's because so many people don't bring them back, keep them too long, and steal samples off of them. If you bring it back whole and on time they don't usually actually charge you. If you bring it back at all they reverse the charge).

plllog... what is a tinted wax? I've read threads on how to stain with general finishes gel stain. Is a tinted wax very different?

dorothyct.. You may be right about the wall color. I neglected to mention that I'm switching out the appliances for stainless, the countertop for soaptstone, and when I build my island (may be out of Ikea Adel Medium Brown); I want to put a whiteish granite/quarzite on the island. I thought by doing the soapstone and white(ish) grainte... I'd tie in the floor which is throughout my entire living area WHICH is all open to each other. How do you think Ikea Adel Medium Brown would look? THe other option is the Idea door .. something with an "L" that is raised panel and a dark brown. My only problem with that door is that's it's oak and I really didn't want a grainy thing going on. The rest of my home is earth tones casual... do you think I"d be better off forgetting about the fact that my tile is large white with gray mottling and go with earth tone counters and forget about the (aahhhhhhh) soapstone? I'm so conflicted! Please weigh in here....

The soapstone should look great with your tile! Don't worry too much about the floor. It's floor. It's staying. It's neutral. 'Nuff said. If you'd rather have earth tone counters, do that and coordinate them with the island color. Or compromise and get a greenish soapstone that keeps a greenish look when oiled. Then it'll be earthtone too :) But a gray/black soapstone will pick up the gray in the floor.

The bigger trick is getting the white of the island countertop to work with the tile. Do you have a spare loose tile you can take with you to the yard for matching? It might be really easy, but sometimes whites conflict noticeably.

I tried to find the island colors you were looking at but the Ikea site was too involved for me. I did find a thumbnail of Adel and from the little I saw I think it might be too light for you. If you're going to do contrast it has to be enough of a contrast to look dramatic rather than mismatched. But that's another place where a sample will tell you for sure. If you can't get one from Ikea (a real one on the actual wood, not a printed one), take a drawer with you to the store.

Waxes are applied over the finish. If done well they can look really cool, but they add to your maintenance and are a lot of work to apply. I think gel stain is a real stain that penetrates but I've never worked with it.

I"m beginning to think I may wait till after I replace the applicances, paint, and take down that wall before I decided if I'm going to restain the perimeter. I can't paint them... those whiteisy/creamy cabs everyone loves would clash with my floors. They look beaufiul with wood floors. I did get a sample of the Adel Medium Brown from Ikea...but you may be right. There is a definate contrast but a dark enough one? Perhaps not. It may be a good idea for me to go buy the dark brown raised panel one to see how that looks with my exisiting cabs. I'll say it just one more time then promise to stop whining... I DON"T like these floors!

Okay, now we have a diagnosis. It's perfectly good tile but you hate it. How functional is your current kitchen? In the photos it looks fine. Nice cabinets. Decent counters. Can you live without the island for awhile? And the stone counters?

Because what you really really really need is new floors. It doesn't matter how much lipstick you put on the pig; it's still a pig. Get yourself some new appliances. Paint the walls. And get a new floor!

Ya know what, a new floor in a darker tone would make that room look totally different. I can't pick out anything I dislike about the kitchen but it feels a little blah. Plllog is right--you should think about re-prioritizing. Color in the floor in a picture and see if you don't get a whole new fabulous room.

I've seen somewhere on here where someone took an existing photo and put in different finishes in the picture to see what it would look like. How can take a kitchen pic and see what it would look like with a different floor? OMG.... my kinda sorta DH will have a fit if I switch up and start on a floor fling again......

But a wood floor would be better on your feet and back. Hunch over and act sore!

OK... I was going to post this on the flooring forum but I'll start here since it's only an evening notion. How would engineered wood hold up with two small dogs who do what dogs do. My boys are grown, me and he are outdoor, casual, true Florida people who are clean/neat enough but not obsessive. The living area is about 1300 sq. ft. that I would have to recover. COST????? Figure a modertately price porcelain tile. OH MAN.. I can't even begin to imagine the mess with taking up all this existing tile. I really should start a new thread and rename it.

Can't tell you about dogs and wood. Do a search--I think there was just a thread on that. But here are some quick and dirty color pix for you:

In order below are standard yellowish wood, Caribbean walnut, reddish wood and dark walnut. I don't actually like most of them :) See what you think...

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BUT ... how about a slate look ceramic tile like this, for instance. Or maybe a bit darker.

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I WANT TO KNOW HOW TO DO THAT!!! You beat me to the punch plllog. I'm thinking maybe warm porcelain tile not too dark... not to light. It's a large area and my couches, chairs,

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So... whaddaya think? Floors or stick with my thought of taking down the half wall and adding an island?

I think ... both! Do the floors first. The floors don't go with your furniture either. They're very Florida, but you don't have Beach House Moderne decor :) A different tile would retain the functionality, give you unlimited design options, and most of all and best of anything give you a floor you love instead of hate!

Okay, my prejudices show here. I did the walls and floors when I moved in, the library shelves a year later, and am only now doing the kitchen. I can cook in a crummy kitchen, but had to have great floors.

Can you plan the laying of your new floor so that if/when you decide to take out the half wall it'll be easy enough to patch in the tiles so that no one will know? I'd think that would be possible if it's done right and you have a place to safely store the tiles. But, you know? You might actually like your half wall a lot better if you liked the floor. :)

That Tuscan Slate ceramic, for instance, would be as practical as what you have now, but look a lot better with everything :)

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How to do pix? Well, there are better ways than I just did. I did quick and very rough to just give a taste. For that I used PaintShopPro (a very handy program) and some flooring images I found on Google Images, and just used the clone brush set large (except in the DR where I had to go smaller) to wipe in the floor. There are other ways to cut out the old floor and place the new one exactly, but that's more bother than I was going to do during procrastination time. :D

Now that's what I'm talking about!! OK.. here's another caveat. I don't know how long we're staying at this house. Maybe 5 years... till I hope to retire (early retirement). That depends on how well my boys are set up in life. We have considered moving back to the house my unofficial DH owns. Much less desireable area but I could big time cash out of this home, gut and renovate his, and afford an early retirement. OR... we may decide to just stay all ... OR.. sell both and buy wherever. I guess I have to price out how much it would cost me to retile. I really really love the look of that Tuscan slate. I've tried to ignore the white floor and go with what I love otherwise. As you can see I lean toward traditional - casual-contemporary clean lines no fussy detail earth tones and blues. How's that for a combo... maybe I just should call it mutt style....

Doesn't matter what you call it. It's your style and it works. But not so much with the hated tile. The Tuscan Slate (I think the one I used is the 300.) is at Floor Mania. Never heard of them before (in Alabama which isn't so far from you), but they list it at less than $2.50 per square foot. That sounds pretty good to me :) I don't know what demo and installation would cost, but even for five years that sounds better than living with a floor you hate. And tile holds up forever if you don't drop anvils on it so it'll do fine on the resale.

Do you hate the half wall as much? Because from what I can see in the pix, it seems pretty unobtrusive :) Paint the kitchen, paint the half wall, and it might be fine. Are there other reasons for the island? Do you need storage, counterspace, etc.? Or were you just updating the style?

I like your old floor with the paint colors you have elsewhere. If you keep your floor, that accent wall in your dining area is a good place to start (to go with floor at least--not sure if it'd work with the cabs).

I was going to build the island because I like islands, was going to replace my appliances anyway, and love the look of an open informal floor plan. When we have family parties... people sit everywhere. Kitchen area, outside on the patio, DR, family room. We like it informal like that. I was even thinking of getting rid of the kitchen eating area (that's an old tired table) and creating a bar with extended counter for informal eating (table height). THe island was also going to have an overhang for countertop eating. I had figured it would accomodate two stools very comfortablly. I'm just not sure where to focus my attention. I have a limited budget and need to keep my expenses around 20K to include appliances. A little play but not much. Your thoughts and input are very helpful to me. Thanks so much!!

Since you're looking at being in the house only a few more years...

I'd change the countertops (Formica Basalt Slate--Home Depot has countertops in stock), silk grapevine & grapes on top of the upper cabs along with lighting up there, change out the cabinet pulls & probably redo the backsplash. You have good basics in the cabs & floor. You just need some drama and a few touches of color.

Considering how little real work I've gotten done today (yucky weather=lazy mood) I'm glad to have been of some use to someone!

Now, it might just be because you're in the kitchens forum and you've been planning this refurbish for awhile, as opposed to the floor which you haven't been planning on changing, but I get a lot more emotion from you about the floor than the island.

Seriously, seriously, there's nothing really wrong with any of it that I've heard. It looks fine in the pix. So this is about making it better not making it functional, right? Getting appliances is a given. Don't stint there. That's what makes a kitchen work. You're talking Ikea for the island which is very practical on the budget. So how much do you hate your countertops? How set are you on stone counters? Could you live with the old counters and Ikea wood on the island? For five years?

How big are your counters anyway? In most of the pix they're in pretty small sections. Talk to some fabricators and see if you can get some matching scraps that will do them for a lot less than buying a slab for the perimeter.

Think about it before doing the floors first and possible structural changes like removing that half wall, later.If you do, make sure you buy enough extra flooring to cover that area if and when the wall is removed later, so the dye lots will match, and in case they no longer make the particular floor you choose. It will still probably not look as good as removing the wall first and then putting new flooring throughout, but at least you won't be adding another entire floor to the cost if you want to do it later. But that is actually such a small project, it seems unlikely it would be a budget buster. You could actually demo it yourself, then it would be a small amt of drywall work to repair the adjoining wall and it would be done.
I don't know the condition of your current appliances or how high end you feel you need to go on those, but although I would not skimp, per say, it is something you could easily do later or in stages to get the other stuff done. '
Get the wall removed and the floor you want. Then paint. Then take stock and see what the budget will allow and where you want to go from there. It could be granite counters, or an island or both, or it could be all new appliances and less expensive counters, and maybe an island down the road.

Just try not to make the order you do it in cost you a lot more money in the long run if you do end up staying there, and consider what will bring you the best return on your investment if you do sell. (pssst, by the way, this how my new kitchen floor and counter top turned into a 20,000.00 remodel!)

Important point, Sue. When I suggested removing the half wall later that was with the idea that the floor would be planned around that possibility, so that any cut tiles could be removed and replaced and the whole thing could be filled in evenly so that it all matches up. You're right about buying the extra tiles when doing the floor, but if it's planned well and executed properly it shouldn't show where it was done.

Thank you all for taking the time to ponder this along with me! OK... my countertops are actually very nice. Silestone, and replaced about 6 years ago. The appliance remodel I am planning involves an induction cooktop, wall oven that I plan to install under the counter, an new counter depth frig that I plan to get the side panels to make it look built in and I was planning on an Advantium to be placed in the alleged island. Since I was rearranging my existing cabs and purchasing through Home Depot the pieces I need to match my cheapo Millspride cabinets, I have to change the countertops. Hence... came the thought of getting soapstone which I love and thougth would tie in the floor. I was obviously going to change the backsplash to some kind of mini brick/subway tile in glass... something with color and irridescant? I have several thoughts on that but that's another thread I guess. I was even thinking that I could move that drawer unit on the half wall to the end of my cabinet run leading to the sliding door and take out the cabinent/door currently next to the DW. The other option was to use the drawer unit where my range currently is and have it house the induction cooktop. All this requires some rearranging of existing cabs. I have several more options. One more is to buy a 33" base that could replace where my range is and house the 30" induction cooktop and wall oven underneath. My problem is still... can I or do I take out the half wall. I think I can do my island in Ikea for under $1500. As I said prior, I wanted to take out that half wall that separates my kitchen and family room and build a bar with an extension for eating. I guess that would be one thing I could hold off on. Sorry for the long ramble... sometimes I find writing things out to be very cathartic!

My thoughts are about the Adel brown somewhat Shaker style not coordinating with your existing soft arch maple cabs. Color difference could be ok, but the door styles? Bev

I thought about that westsider... but I'm no longer crazy about the formality of the arch. As I said... when I did this kitchen I knew nothing. So... do I ignore it or am I forced to work with it. I also considered Liljestad(?) but wasn't crazy about the thought of oak. I just wish I a) had more money and b) could read the future so I knew what move made the most sense. Option # 9,000.... Just buy another drawer unit or two of the Millspride I have and turn that unit by the short wall into an island all by itself. Who doesn't want more prep space or additional storage?

I hated my tile floor but it was very solid and level, so with a lot of thought, I had it covered with an engineered wood. Floor discontent led to one thing after another- to the point that we sold that house and bought another and totally renovated it from top to bottom. Once I started one thing I just could not stop.

You won't get your money back on the floor if you sell in five years. Particularly if you use tile, because tile gets dated faster than wood. There will be those who do not like an all tile house. If you dislike enough things about your house its almost better to sell and find another one that has in it what you want already, considering the current market and how much is available. We lost a lot of $$ with my hobby (renovating).

If you remove your existing tile, plan on moving out temporarily. It will be incredibly dusty. You will also have to change your baseboards most likely.
Just some thoughts.

It will be $1-$1.50 a sf to remove tile. Another $2.50 or so in labour to re-install. Then the cost of the tile.

To give input into your original question- dogs and wood, it depends on what type. If you do a very low sheen the scratches show less. If you do a hard dense wood, it will dent less. I used birch on my first house and my schnauzer definately did some damage. My second try I used low sheen brazillian cherry, no visible damage.

hi remodelfla.
i like your kitchen right now, but if i had to chance one thing...it would be the floor. i don't like white tile much. HOWEVER, you can cover that with a rug, whatever color you like. you could go through 3 or 4 rugs before even approaching the cost of replacing all that tile.
i agree that the cabinets look yellow, and please understand that i am trying to be serious when i offer this comment...have you tried those new bluish light bulbs? reveal i think they are called? they really do change the apparent color of wood, walls, etc. especially for your can lights that shine directly down on the cupboards that might something inexpensive to try....
kren

Hi kren,
I was wondering how some new lighting might warm up the situation. The last time I replaced the bulbs in my can lights I used those curly energy efficient ones. They weren't blue though. Next time I'm in the store, I"m going to give it a try. I'm beginning to think I should start slow... paint one part of one wall next to one of the cabinets and see how I feel about the color in different lights. I tend to be so impetuious; I'm used to my "dive right in" personality; I just dont' want it to bubble over into my financial sector!
Thanks!
Elyse

Your plan to work on the light and color first is a good one. Those are the least expensive parts of the project and will help you make your other choices.

Can you do a layout plan to show what you want to move where? I think we could be a lot more helpful then.

Some ideas just to throw out there: If you don't like the arched doors, can you reverse them so the arch is on the inside? Maybe cover the hinge holes (filled with wood dough) with rivets or pebbles or something depending on your taste.

If you like the look of contrasting cabinets, rather than getting more of the ones you don't even like that much can you salt in some Ikea in the same finish as the projected island?

Can't reverse the doors, I already had thought of that. I will post a layout as soon as I have some time to make one up. I'm not too concerned over where I"m going to put the cooktop, stove, and frig... it's only one of about three choices. The sink and DW will stay where they are. I'm wondering... is there a problem with a GE Monogram oven being placed under and induction in terms of it venting? Will it be a problem for me to stand and cook at the cooktop when the oven is on? I've seen alot of kitchens in the FKB where a wall oven is placed right next to a frig made to look built in. That's another option. If you look at the pictures on my kitchen, you'll see the range is in the middle of the run and the frig next to the pantry at the end. If I take out that wall... I was also thinking of switching out the cooktop/stove and the frig; placing the frig more centrally located. I know it seems as if I"m running in circles but I'm just considering all options. My kitchen is functional enough now, but I could use more prep space and baking space. If I ever completely gut and do a dream kitchen; I'll have the cooktop, bake, and prep center made lower to accomodate my 5' height. But for now, I'll go with standard due to cost and potential resale.

Go ahead and go round and round. That's how to get to the answer :) But also why posting a layout will help :) I.e., huh? (LOL)

a layout will become my project within the next week. Thanks for all your support!