LOVE the screen door on the pantry and the red beadboard backsplash. I like the cabinet color, in that it goes well with your inspiration kitchen, and first I was afraid you were running the grooves in the panels horizontally! ;-) I'm a little afraid they'll 'too much of the same' with the beadboard? Do you like beadboard enough to have the look on the cabinets, as the backsplash, and in the pantry? Kona beige looks a little pinkish to go with the red and the more golden looking hickory for me. Maybe it's the limitations of photos and computers...

Have you considered soapstone? we're doing quartersawn oak cabinets and soapstone on our perimeter.. painted slate blue island w/ a marble top.

We were thinking of going with quartz since we liked it so much in our other house, but the silestone looked really synthetic next to our natural wood cabinets. you might want to reconsider your countertop choice.

We're doing some beadboard backsplash as well (between our refrigerator and ovens).

I love your idea for the pantry.

A kindred spirit! I have that same screen door in my inspiration folder! It is so great! I seriously doubt I'd ever get my DH to agree to it though. If he did, I'd put chalkboard in the top and do something to the bottom to still allow air to circulate but make it harder to see through, maybe just really dark screen.

I really like that red backsplash. You have some great & unique details planned. What style of house are you building? I like the dark countertop they have in your inspiration photo with the red backsplash; your mountain mist might work. But I think Danielle has a good idea about considering the soapstone. Do you have a close up of red painted beadboard or a sample to compare to a countertop? That might help.

In a magazine called "Great American Kitchens", Volume 5, I saw an idea for a faux apron sink front. It was just the way they set the cabinet up and then they tiled the apron in.

I hope you'll keep posting progress pictures as you go along.

For a light fixture I would get a candlestick chandelier. There is one for sale on jcp.com I believe. Very country :)

here is that chandelier :)

Here is a link that might be useful: J.C.Penney chandelier

Thanks, actually I almost purchased that same light for the dining room, but instead bought another JCP chandelier for about $10 more. My kitchen & dining room are open and across from each other...would it look silly to have 2 very similar chandeliers hanging across the room from each other?

I'm wanting to do a couple of pendant lights over the peninsula and maybe one over the sink, but that still leaves a light fixture for the center of my kitchen. I will also have recessed lighting, so I guess I could actually just do a ceiling fan with no light kit in the center of the room...I know what you're thinking, a ceiling fan?? But I'm extremely hot natured and I think I might really enjoy having it in the kitchen. What do you think? IF not the ceiling fan, what about a pot rack? Would that look goofy hanging in the center of the room or must you always hang it OVER something...like an island? THANKS!

Here is a link that might be useful: Pottery Barn Pendant Light

I guess it would depend on the size of your kitchen. I would probably not go with anything else if I had recessed, pendants, and chandelier too. My kitchen/dining room is set up the same way. I have a chandelier over the dining room table, 2 pendants above the peninsula, recessed lighting in the kitchen and a sconce above my sink and it is plenty of light.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! DH and I have been stuck on what to do with our pantry and we LOVE the idea of the pantry screen door! :-) THANKS!

I really like a lot of your ideas for the kitchen. I think your colors and will look great together.

I agree with PP about the beadboard - just be careful! We like the look too and once we got planning, realized how we were overdoing it. Now we're using it in our adjoining 1/2 bath (all the walls), and as the walls in the pantry. We were going to do the backsplash and island in it but that was too much!
You're off to a great start! :-)

check out schoolhouseelectric.com they have a lot of nice period lighting that doesn't come across as kitch or too countrified.

We, too, got hickory cabs, though we stained ours medium/dark to take away the streakiness. I love these cabs. Hickory is a great wood and so much denser. Our old cherry kitchen cabs were light in comparison.

Thanks for everyone's comments and ideas. Still not exactly sure what I'm doing. But now I'm faced with the dilemma of v-groove wainscoting in my dining room carried through a tiny bit into the kitchen...the wainscoting will be stained and so will my hickory kitchen cabinets. How will these woods match up? What should I do for a backsplash. Oh, I've decided to go with a simple panel cabinet door, not the beadboard. So many decisions!

Update of my kitchen thus far. No stain applied yet.
{{!gwi}}From 04-21-2009

Can't decide what color to stain and what to do for a backsplash. Really can't afford tile right now...money is running out! LOL! I'm thinking of painting the backsplash, but I need ideas on what to do behind the stove top. I have a 24x24 antique ceiling tin, but the area behind the stove is 22 x 30 HELP!?

For now you can paint behind the stove and center the tile, tucking it lower than the stove a few inches. Use good paint. :)

What counters have you decided on? It's looking pretty good so far! Love the grain on that wood. Is it appropriate to say gig'em?