Wow you really had a tough year. So sorry to hear about your losses.
I think your idea with painting the cabinets white and subway tile would be a great face lift for your kitchen, dark granite is nice too, I would definitely paint the wainscoting white and bring the wood floor into your kitchen. Bit of advice start one thing at a time and be patient. Looking into the gallery on this forum will give you great ideas. Good luck.

Thanks. This has been the worst year of my life. I had never lost anyone close to me so these 3 tragedies were devastating to my entire family.

The wood floor is already in the kitchen. It was being installed in the picture.

So do you think white cabs, wainscotting and backsplash will be too much white?

I think your plan sounds wonderful. I would have DH take down the wooden valance over the sink. Mine had that before I remodeled and I like it so much better without. I would do the kitchen first and then decide about the wainscoting in the BR. Do you know what color you want on the upper walls?

Yes, I hate that wooden valance! Too country! As far as color goes I'm not sure. Right now it's restrained gold. My kitchen opens up directly to my family room so both rooms need to be the same color.

Caramia, I am so sorry to hear about your heartache. Getting into the project is going to be the best medicine, stressful as it is, I totally understand because we lost both my inlaws during a two year renovation on our home. If you decide to go without the beadboard, it will open that area up and make it feel larger. Your kitchen is going to be beautiful!!!

Oh Carmina, I'm so very sorry for your loses. My heart is breaking for you.
As for painting anything wood I'm not fond of that so I'll let others help you there. If they were mine and I wanted a change I'd lightly sand them and use Cabot polystain in dark oak. But that's just me. I would however paint the wainscott.
Good luck with whatever you choose to do. The floor looks great!

caramia, I am so sorry for your family losses. That is a lot to bear.

I normally don't care for painted cabinets, but with your wood floors, I think white or cream cabinets and wainscotting would look great.

I'm sorry to hear about the losses in your family. What a year.

I'd paint those cabinets in a heartbeat. And the wainscoting as well. I'm not a granite fan (I know, that's a sin in these parts) so I won't comment on that. But I do love a nice subway backsplash!

I wish I had decorating ideas for you, but I wanted to let you know how very, very, very sorry I am for your losses. My heart goes out to you and your family.

You will be in my thoughts.

I think the white cabinets and white wainscoting will be fine, also I would but large hardware on the cabinets, take down the valance above the sink, maybe paint the walls a pretty green and with the new countertop the white wont be too much. The wood floor will be a great contrast. Just keep researching and take your time to see what you like best.

I'm sorry for your losses. Your initial instincts are exactly what I would do -- paint the cabs and wainscoting white, darker counters, white subway backsplash, and white or stainless appliances. Little things like removing the valance, changing the outlets to white, and changing the cabinet hardware will also go a long way.

I too would like to offer my condoleances , what a difficult time for you all.

I do remember your pictures; I could also see a pale pale ivory or cream as opposed to stark white for your kitchen; is there a cut-off point where you could use another color for the kitchen walls as an accent ?
the kitchen gallery of pictures has a lot of examples.

Boy, you've been through so much. Very sorry to hear. I hope your family is healing from all the tragedy.

I think the cabs would be very pretty painted, either white or a color. For me, all that white would be too much and I think I'd want to do something with a bit of color in the backsplash. But, that's entirely personal.

I think you should look at the Finished Kitchens Blog (about a hundred times!) and see what appeals to you. White cabs? A subtle gray? Dark stain? You do have options and should see what resonates. Then go about trying to "get the look" for a whole lot less with help from here and/or the Kitchens board.

Don't get sucked into the granite trap if you don;t want to. Make sure it is appropriate for your neighborhood and budget. More and more people over on the Kitchens Board are deciding to use laminates. There are so many great colors and the quality is better than it used to be. But, if you're heart is set on stone, then go for it.

I love the look of white wainscoting...if it goes with your style. You could do an updated country look quite well. I would paint it white or lose it. Not in love with the wood look.

I also think that window cries out for a banquette, if the numbers are right. Check to see how high the sills are. If they're somewhere around 17" you could put a nice window seat in and scoot the round table into that nook.

That would give you room for a baker's rack or some kind of hutch thingy for more storage and a bit of display if you like. While I like decorative things in a kitchen, I prefer to have them all contained instead of scattered around.

Here is a link that might be useful: Finished Kitchens Blog

You have had a tough yr.! I'm glad that you are getting ready to focus on something that will take your mind off of it even if for bits and pieces at a time.

Are you going to replace the appliances? If not you may want to consider how you are going to tie in the dark dishwasher?

Candice Olsen did a wonderful kitchen (I think the episode is called The Big Easy) where she used creamy white cabinets w/ a soapstone counter and really neat backsplash. It's one of my saved episodes.

Here is a link that might be useful: Big Easy

I like Amy's suggestion of a banquette. Here is a link to an article about banquettes.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Kitchen Designer - banquettes

Here is a very interesting article about someone who had a kitchen similar to yours and what they did to get a WOW! kitchen.

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Intervention

Just another thought. My sister-in-law just redid her kitchen and used the surface granite that is thinner and lays right on top of your existing counters. It's looks amazing. I meant to take photos last time were there, but when I thought of it the counters were covered with food for the family get together.
I can't remember the name of the product she used, it was real, but when searching I found something else that's very interesting. Thought you might want to check it out.

Here is a link that might be useful: ArmorGranite

First of all, I am so sorry for your losses. I can totally relate. We lost a baby son many years ago and my mother in law a couple of months later. Then my parents passed away withing 7 months of each other 4 years ago. Soon after my husband lost his job and we had to relocate 6 months later. I think I just lived in a fog for a really long time. Not sure how I got through it, but I'm here today and am blessed with my children and husband. I think that this project will be great in taking your mind off of things and helping the time go by.
I think you have great ideas. Use really good cabinet paint and do the prep well. I also would paint the wainscotting. Love the colors you have in mind. Subway tile sounds great. Love the floors. I would consider quartz in a dark color like granite. It is a little more cost effective and has the same benefits as granite with heated pots and such without any need to seal. Love the idea of the banquette seating but also really like your current table. Maybe do everything else first then see how much money time and energy is left, then decide on the banquette seating. How is your lighting?
This will turn out fabulous. Please keep us posted.

Here's what I'd do...

White wainscoting and white cabinets.

Dark green quartz countertops.

Olive/sage green walls.

Hey, wait... that's what I did!

Caramia, I'm so sorry that you've had such a stressful year. I do think that a renovation of your kitchen and dining area will help keep your mind focused on more positive and exciting transformations, which could be a great tonic for you.

Your ideas so far are great, and I think you should go with them. We have white cabinets and new white bead board in our kitchen and dining area, as well as the lovely dark wood floors, and I never tire of looking at it. So I think you'll be pleased with this combination, too. I recently helped my DIL paint and update all of her maple colored kitchen cabinets and repainted some furniture in our house, using the techniques from Layla, of "The Lettered Cottage" blog, and was delighted with her advice and the way the cabinets and furniture turned out. I'm providing a link to her kitchen transformation that has the painting instructions, which I followed to the letter, and had great success with. The only difference with what you'll be doing is that she painted her cabinets black, while you'll be doing yours in that creamy white shade that you select.

Take a look at what she's done and you'll see how nice it all turned out. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos of my DIL's kitchen, or I'd show those, too. It turned out lovely and looks more professional that it ever did as builder-grade!

Here is a link that might be useful: scroll down to painting technique at

Caramia, what a hard year you've had, I'm so sorry for your losses.

I think painting the cabinets white, the beadboard white and going with a dark counter would look great against your floor. We have the same combo in our kitchen and eating area and I love it. I also think Amy's idea of a banquette is an awesome one! I can't wait to see update pics.

I just arrived home and am so excited about all these suggestions! I'll look through all the links you've given me. Thanks so much for all the great ideas and kind words.

As far as my countertops, I am in no way insisting upon granite. I'm really open to anything (that isn't pink!). Most of my neighbors have granite or quartz but several have laminate. We hope to start our work at the end of august so I have some time to pick out what I really like.

Thanks again!

I am so sorry to hear of your losses, Caramia, I hope this year brings you peace and joy.

As far as your kitchen goes, it's like a blank page! Are there any rooms that open to the kitchen that have colors that you'd like to coordinate the kitchen with? A banquette would be fantastic if you don't have a table and chairs yet. I've seen several done with parsons chairs. Find a favorite fabric and use the colors as a palette around which you can design your kitchen. I love the idea of ivory cabinets but don't think it's necessary to paint the beadboard the same color. I'd wait to decide on color for that until you've picked out your backsplash and counter. I'm getting ready to paint my cabinets and am using an ivory paint with ivory glass tile backsplash w/subway tiles and accent tiles in a dark red, brown, taupe, apricot & sage. I've decided against granite again. In fact, I'm taking my granite out with the hopes that my cousin can use it in her small condo kitchen that's being renovated. I'm going with Corian in Cocoa Brown simply because that's what I like. I don't care about resale as I'm here to stay.

The Finished Kitchen Blog is a great place to get started looking for ideas. You can narrow your search to painted cabinets, too. It's set up so well and it's easy to find what you're looking for. Good luck and have fun!