A picture would help a lot...

All I see is one picture of the gun cabinet.Have you already transformed it into a china cabinet or is that a work in progress? I think it would make a neat china cabinet and if you have already done that would love to see pictures of the finished product......Lillie

I love frenchkitty's kitchen. I used her kitchen as one of my inspiration photos for my new kitchen, last year. I did not know what colors she used. (Thanks). First, I totally agree that you should paint the desk the same as the cabinets. Second, any reason you are not going to paint the bricks on the island??? Do they match some other bricks in your home? You could paint them the same as the cabinets if you wanted to downplay them or leave them if you like them. Third, I used SW antique white as our trim color thoughout our home, plus all the kitchen cabinets. The painter did glaze the kitchen cabinets with a brown glaze mix and I just love them. They are a soft cream with the brown antiqued look. We used SW Ivoire for all the walls and now I want to repaint the kitchen walls a deeper tone of gold or caramel. I am little confused. What color are you leaning toward for the china cabinet? I liked Patty Cakes idea of using a color and then perhaps glazing over it. I am not crzay about the idea of brown. Too safe and boring. I do love the French blues or perhaps a soft bluish green. If depends on what other colors you use in your kitchen and home. You actually could also do a bright shade of color with no glaze. It all depends on your taste. But not brown. Sorry.

I just packed up this week past and the kitchen was demolished on Tuesday. I can't believe how much stuff I have! No wonder I think I need more storage and have ordered uppers that go all the way to the ceiling! I tried to exercise some discipline and throw out all the old things I rarely use anymore. I wasn't very successful... let's say it was like removing sand from the desert with a teaspoon. I guess I'm just attached to my old favs, like special friends. Plus, my mom passed away last year and I ended up with most of her stuff - as the only girl child, my brothers simply delegated all that kitcheny/household stuff to my best judgement. How could I possibly get rid of the green glass citrus squeezer??? or Grandma's best china?? Or Auntie's hand painted china, etched aluminum trays or the ancestral beer glasses?? For the record, I did throw away all the sippy cups and souvenir kiddy dishes (the baby starts HS next week), and at least 2 dozen coffee mugs are packed to donate to the local thrift (I'm sure those breed in closed cupboards) but I still have at least 3 dozen I can't part with. Hey, who wants to come to my place for coffee? Or tea? I counted 6 teapots, keepers all. I do think I'll replace all, or at least most of my kitchen towels. They have all seen better days, even if they rarely see the light of day anymore. We are currently settling into our "temporary kitchen" in the wet bar area of our basement rec room. This classic piece of 1960s design and construction leaves much to be desired functionally, but at least it boasts running water and a usable refigerator. Ironically, in the 13+ yrs we've lived in this house, we have seldom ventured into this cubby-hole, except to access the beer fridge. Now, I can hardly wait until the kitchen is completed so I can start planning its renovation...