Will you use the back of your "L" as a breakfast bar? I will be. What I'm doing is placing cabinets back to back at the "L". The side where the breakfast bar will be is stained and the other side is white like the rest of the cabinets. I did it this way so that marks from feet sitting at the bar won't be so noticable, and also to give it more interest.

(But I'm also having my island stained.)

No breakfast bar.

Here's the layout - even though you guys must be sick of looking at my layout by now - in picture form (and quite rough at that). I put in a white sink base and am not convinced it feels right:

Ooooh I love how you're mixing the two colors. I'm not sure about the white sink base though. I think it can visually look great, especially if it's bumped out and looks like it's own piece of "furniture cabinet". But my feelings are why not keep it stained . . . it will show less splatter in such a high use area if it is stained.

Rate my Space just did a kitchen like yours where they had a differently colored piece just like yours for a "hutch" look. This style is different style from yours, but same concept. Here is a link: RateMy Space. It is the red cabinet on the right side of the second picture.

The "inspiration kitchen" actually had a white hutch in a more traditional stained kitchen.

I am also doing a mix. My perimeter cabinets will all be a dark cherry and my island cream. I struggled too with the question of adding individual bases or uppers in the cream. I ultimately decided to just do the island cream. I don't think there is a right or wrong, but in your case I just don't feel the love for that white sink base. I would try to make it stand out by pulling it out 3 inches and doing posts or cute ogee feet. I would keep it stained. I will try to post my layout one of these days. Oh, and Jean Stoffer has some nice kitchens on her website that show combinations of stained and painted. Just google her.

I love the kitchen and layout, but am not crazy about the white sink cabinet. What brnad cabinets are you going with? I am planning a white and dark wood kitchen also. I am so confused with cabinet brands.

I am going with a local custom cabinetmaker. If you can find an excellent fit for you, you get so much more bang for the buck.

I agree that I am not in love with that white sink base. Not at all. But is there ANY place in the run that would actually look good? I wonder if the hutch is enough or if it would look unbalanced...input?

I think the hutch in white looks great, whether or not you add white to the rest of the kitchen.
While everyone seems to agree that the sink base now isn't 'doing it'...
If you would really like to bring some white into the rest of the kitchen, how about keeping the sink base white and making your hood white as well? If you were to add more detail to the sink base- pulling it out, decorative feet or toe kick valance, even some sort of pilasters on the side of the doors, it would feel more 'furniture like' and unfitted. In which case a different finish would make more sense. Since the hood is such a focal point anyway, changing the color/finish would make it even more so, keeping the hutch, sink base and hood all the same finish would tie them together. If you wanted even more white in your kitchen, I could see the little shelves and the drawer bank to the left of the fridge in white as well. As for trendy, yes you could say so as I see this look alot in magazines, but I have a clipping from a magazine in 1999 that also had this look and it reminds me of our family farmhouse type kitchens where the cabinets were usually painted and the hoosier cabinets were stained and there would be some colorful little cabinets like a pie safe mixed in. Now we are just doing the same idea but all built in at the same time vs gathered over time.
Your design is looking great, it will be fun to see what you decide!

Your kitchen plan is looking great! I love the white hutch-like area but I'd skip the white sink base. You really don't need to have any white in the rest of your kitchen. The wood top in your hutch area complements and ties into the rest of your kitchen. If you were to add some simple corbels or bring the sides all the way down the hutch would look even more like a freestanding piece of furniture. I so wanted a different colored piece in my kitchen but I didn't have a separate area like you have.

You guys are so great! Dinkledoodle, thanks for that link. It led to useful stuff I want to show my cabinetmaker.

Now that I've officially hired my cabinetmaker as of this morning, we will start to pound out those details together - like the corbels on the hutch (they will be added) and what to do about that little message center to the left of the fridge (not happy with it), if we should make the sink more freestanding, etc.

I definately am going for more of the unfitted look in my kitchen. That table is going to be butcher block with chunky, painted, distressed legs.

Just for kicks, here is bumping the sink out and making the hood creamy white too. Input very welcome.

Love the mix, I'm doing it, too, in a modified fashion because my kitchen is small. I'm doing chocolate cherry base cabs and white uppers. I think ultimately it will be dated -- I think the only thing that never goes 'out' is all-white -- but not in five years, I surely hope. Maybe more like 15 years?

How about making the drawers on the message center white and the shelves above a mix of stained and white? Like white frame & shelves with a stained beadboard back? I think that repeating that white over in the main area 3 times like that will give a visual flow to the white accent pieces and also look more balanced with the amount of stained you have going on.
I have a magazine clipping from a 1999 Kitchen Design magazine that I have kept all these years, it features 2 different tones of stain and some painted cabinets as well. Three different countertops in that kitchen too. So it may become 'dated' or look 'trendy'-when the next hot thing comes along but if you love it you will likely still be happy with your choice. We are also mixing it up in our kitchen and what is important I think is that it suits your home and style of decorating. I have alot of painted/distressed furniture so I think it will make the painted pieces in our cabinetry blend in with the rest of the decor.

Are you specifically looking for cream and stained or just 2 colors in the kitchen, have you thought of maybe doing some black cabinets instead of the cream. It would be great with the table....just a thought.

I love the white hutch but not the white sink base, sorry about that! I would also put the fridge at the end of that run and make the cabs/countertop to the right of it longer/larger.

I mixed mine! I added stained beadboard to the hutch back to tie it in more with the other cabs. Here are some pics before the countertops and after. I was concentrating on the counters, so I don't have long shots of the cabinet/counters together and we had to take the hutch uppers down to install the granite b/c the contractor didn't leave enough room. I'd be happy to take more pics for you if you want.

range wall, stained cabs

hutch, creamy white (I plan on glazing them soon)

granite on stained cabs

granite on hutch

Check out tussymussy's kitchen in the finished kitchen blog for a good example of white and stained cabinets together too. If you hold your cursor over the camera icon by the names you can get a quick peak at the kitchens without having to click and open each one up.

Hi needsometips. I agree with Erikanh. The white hutch loks fine on its own and would look great with corbels. I like your sink and hood wood color. I think it looks very choppy and mismatched with one white cabinet thrown ina span of wood cabinets. Regarding the message center, what if you eliminated it and move the RF left. You would have so much more counterspace avail to you to the left of the stove. I feel like you don't have enought of a prep area with this current layout. This L shape you have is almost exactly what I have in my outgoing (I HOPE!) kitchen- and its a *constant* fight for that corner space. Its the only real work area AND its right in front of the silverware drawers, dish cabinet and trash. So I say increase the counter space to the left of the stove.

Interesting - I had the fridge at the end of that run, and I actually liked it, however, the concern was that it then put my fridge and sink about 10 feet apart, which seemed to be quite a span for moving back and forth.

So I moved it over a bit, and the cabinet maker agreed, but I also have the final say :-).

So you guys think it's more important to get more counter space vs having a tighter work triangle?

By the way, the silverware, plates, and bowls and as much other stuff as I can fit will go in an upper cab and lower drawers to the right of the dishwasher (not shown in pic).

Thanks for the input! I really appreciate all of it, especially on the colors. My gut was telling me the white was not at all working in the run. Black is an interesting thought......

armomto3boys, just wanted to say I absolutely LOVE your hutch!