Hi, Susie. For a better picture, what is your 1970s ranch like? That term's use is just all over the place. Do you have one of the later simpler modernized versions? Any exposed beams, pitched ceilings, etc.?

Whoops. I sure wish we could reopen and correct these things. I was thinking 1978, not 1987. :) In any case, what other architectural features to build your look upon or to minimize?

I literally burst out laughing reading your list of planned materials. Your house is 1987 but you plan to install a kitchen from an idealized version of 1897. Some of your elements would be OK on their own but you are piling it on--aged brass faucets?

You haven't shown pics, but given your house's provenance I'm thinking your trim, woodwork and space proportions are all significantly less grand and old-timey than your kitchen ideas. A tweak isn't enough here. Throw away your Edwardian scullery checklist completely and find transitional kitchens that you like.

I'm thinking something more modern:

http://www.schmittcompany.com/portfolio/design-build/big_ranch_kitchen

I own a Victorian/shingle style/ arts and crafty home (no really it has all those influences). So I've always felt that I can add things to thoe house that would have belonged in the 20s, 30s, etc without feeling too out of place.

You have the opposite opportunity, time's arrow only moves in one direction so I think anything modern would look fine anything that looked back too far into the past without heavy updating would look out of place.

What would be at home is what you have. Slab melamine doors with Formica counters. However, that's not very "today" even if the house is from 1987. What's "too" today is the 00's version of the Edwardian as Marcolo mentioned. It looks out of place in a lot of homes, but it's especially awkward for a ranch style home.

For your home, something that's in between Miami Vice and Downton Abbey would be the goal. Wood doors, with a simple raised panel without too much profiling in a tone that isn't too far astray from it's natural state. No pickled oak, even though that was immensely popular during that time. No dark as black coffee "java" cabinets. Maple or cherry in a medium to light finish like this maple door in Praline from Kraftmaid or this cherry one in Cinnamon.

A quiet granite or quartz would work with the cabinets and let a nice range like a Berta or a more simple looking French range in a color be the star. Maybe one in a British racing green like this Lacanche Cormatin.

I agree that the look that you cite will look out of place in your house. However, how long do you anticipate being in the house? If it is a loooong time, it may not matter.

In any event, you should take a look at this "Design Around That" thread that dealt with this very topic:

Here is a link that might be useful: Neo Tuscan DAT

OH, my.
I have a 1974 Ranch. My tastes are so ... eclectic that I'm very traditional/transitional with a heck of a lot of funky.

I am installing 15 of the doors you describe, which I'm stripping myself. (Reuse center). They're pocket doors, so they won't be an architectural element, visible all the time.

Unless for some reason you have higher ceilings, all the lovely stuff you want in your kitchen will just look like a crammed-in example of someone's kitchen who just didn't know any better.

Post some pictures and let us all see we're wrong! LOL. That said, have you considered adding on a kitchen that would support all that grandeur? Or maybe buying elsewhere?

If you have the budget for all that, the last two options might not be out of place!

In sales we have a phrase we use for a meeting where we didn't let the client talk. It's called a "Show Up & Throw Up". This is the first thing I thought of when I read your list.

Step back. Look at the rest of your house. What is the feel you are going for? Where do you want the focus to be? What colors do you like?

Stop and listen to the design you're looking for. Not everyone likes, or is good, at this. If you can't imagine the overall design, hire someone to help you put it together.

Like customers who have the misfortune of participating in a Show Up & Throw Up, I can't digest your list enough to comment.

With all of the projects you want to do to this house to make it into something it's not, you'd better off if you took that 150K and put it towards a house that already has most of that on board. Something from the Neo-Eclectic Modern architecture mills that borrows heavily from a wide variety of styles and has no historical tradition of it's own to get in the way of modifying it would work better with your ideas as long as you approach it from a master plan perspective. Doing it piecemeal with one room having one influence and another having a conflicting style isn't going to work in any house.

Do you have a picture of your house? I thought ranches were all one story, so if yours is two story with a one story addition...it might help to see the style of your home.

I think some of your kitchen choices will be great, but overall, I think you might need to scale back a bit. Any pictures of your kitchen space? Is the kitchen open to the family room? Dining area in/by the kitchen? Do you have a fireplace? French/patio doors? Are you going to continue the kitchen style, into these other areas?

"something that's in between Miami Vice and Downton Abbey"

Gee, GreenDesigns, thanks for narrowing it down. LOL.

To answer the question in the subject line, the kitchen I would expect to see would have cathedral arch golden oak cabinets, beige-y laminate counters that don't quite go with the cabs, beige-y walls that don't quite go with the counters or cabs, and a 4-inch backsplash of counter materials with the rest painted. There's obviously a big gap between what I expect to find and what I would actually want to put in if I was remodeling.

I have to agree with the rest of the posters. The kitchen you describe is going to be both overwhelming in its textures and details (assuming the size of your kitchen is typical of a ranch home) and will be jarring next to the style and detail of the rest of the house. The gap between what you have and what you want is big enough that house shopping makes sense.

Assuming you do stay and remodel, in terms of where to scale back, we need photos! With brick elsewhere in the house, so that is something you might be able to use in the kitchen. My first thought was that you needed to back off of the rustic look (most 80s ranches aren't at all rustic). I see you want to go rustic with the fireplace, and maybe it would work if you were doing the whole house, but I don't know. Pics!

OK OK I guess we just need to move... Or I need to get real.
Marcolo, glad to give you a laugh this morning. At least YOU laughed. :) You don't like the aged brass faucets?

Paintedlady, I looked at the kitchen you linked. Talk about a kitchen that looks out of place! The kitchen they put in the 1950's ranch with the garage door and all the modern elements looked completely out of place to me. But, what do I know, look at what I want to do.
Greendesigns, at least I got the Lacanche right. Not going back on that one, she's already sitting, waiting to be surrounded with...something. The cabinets you posted are very similar to what I have tentatively ordered, just in alder, on the island only.
Angie, I've studied that thread, along with the others I thought might relate, but the DAT's haven't gone to the Texas style ranchy route. Too many east and west coasters here, I think. Maybe my house style isn't ranch?

1929Spanish, I've sold real estate for many years, so I'm familiar with a lot of terms, and what I may think a client is going to Show up and Throw Up over, may be just what sells them. I remember a client insisting on seeing a very contemporary home on the outside, and I tried to steer them away because I knew the kitchen. Blue and Gold French Country, foo foo curtains, we ended up writing the contract right there in that misfit kitchen.
Hollysprings, that would be an option, but there are no homes that would fit that criteria in our location.
I will be here the rest of my life, so hopefully, it will need redone by then?
In any event, I realize that maybe I shouldn't do them all together, I just have to decide on what to eliminate and what should stay.
I won't go with formica and pinkish white tile for sure. And not granite. That is really all I'm set on.

Pretty house!

I'm no expert, but I'd guess 1 1/2 story brick farmhouse or Cape Cod style...with the addition. Now I'm thinking your kitchen might be pretty big, so can we see pictures of the kitchen and any rooms/spaces, open to the kitchen?

So far, I like the white cabinets with soapstone and the wood island...but maybe wood top or island...not both? The farmhouse sink and Lacanche range sound nice...and even the aged/antique brass sounds good. The beams and wood shelves would be beautiful...but you lost me with the marble, brick, terra cotta, copper, etc. I could see some of that, but will need pictures to get a better idea where and what you want. Doesn't mean it wouldn't look lovely...I just need pictures :)

Hi,

For what it is worth, if I walked into that house in the picture (looks lovely btw. I love the brick facade and the graceful trees), I would totally feel thrilled to see clean lines of soapstone counters, offwhite cabinets, walnut island a la Breezy, and shaws sink. I think this can be a very transitional kitchen with clean lines. I can see either simple subway backsplash or marble tiles in the back splash. The splash of color with Lacanche and terracotta colored floors would be nice. I think adding a copper prep sink and brass faucets would be a tad blingy.. I did a must-have, nice to have list to help me priortitize what I really cared about from functionality and aesthetics.

my two cents

Beautiful ranch home! I know that is not what I was imagining when you posted about your 1978 ranch home. Now that we can visualize it and the ways in which it references traditional elements, including the Cape Code, I think even more people will offer suggestions and helpful advice based on your preferences.

There's nothing at all wrong with brass faucets, and in fact they'd fit well into your cute home with its Colonial roots. However, putting all those OTK elements together creates a huge anachronism. Go cleaner and simpler. I don't get the Shaw's farm sink in that house at all. I could possibly see a more modern farm sink, but not one that tries to pretend the house was built by an Irish maid in 1911 from selling her Donegal trout recipe.

Heeheehee...we think of "throwing up" as talking for an hour straight without asking any questions, not throwing up for real. I would have thought a client would literally throw up over a French country kitchen in a contemporary house as well! :)

Your house has way more character than I expected when you said "ranch" (see link below for some pics in line with what I was thinking), and makes me feel better about some of your ideas (though I still think all your ideas at the same time would be too much).

The combination of brick/cream/charcoal gray from the exterior could be echoed in the kitchen with brick/cream cabinets/soapstone and it would make sense. Whether brick makes sense for a backsplash, I'm not sure (it isn't the easiest thing to clean unless it's painted and that kind of defeats the purpose). But I could see using brick on the back side of the island or somewhere else in the kitchen.

Things I'd cut from your list:
Terra cotta floor (take the Brazillian cherry through into the kitchen)
Either the antique brass or the copper (do one or the other--both is too much--I'd probably drop the copper and keep the brass)
Shaw apron sink--I don't see it fitting with the other elements

Here is a link that might be useful: Ranch-style houses

Because I have too much time on my hands (or at least really don't want to do the things I should be doing), here is an Olioboard with your design elements, as best I could guess from your post (what color Lacanche? I went with black). The marble is stuck off to the right because you didn't know what you wanted to do with it.

That is Alison0704's hood, and the alder cabinets belong to Sue7972.

Rest of the photo credits: Tile floor pic is from flooringandcarpets.com, white cabs are from Kraftmaid, walnut butcherblock pic from lumberliquidators.com, copper sink from coppersinksdirect.com, knobs Gatehouse aged brass from Lowes, Cifial faucet from faucetdepot.com, soapstone pic from granite-countertop-info.com, brick is Daltile, floating lumber shelves pic from apartmenttherapy.com, attributed to Etsy seller Cinderdesign

Very helpful. Looks like the overall effect is Christopher Peacock meets That '70s Show.

cawaps, I went to olioboard today and tried for hours to even get a picture on a board! I've got to go back and read and see if I can figure out how to do it.
That is wonderful! And, I thank you so much!

The range is the same color. Good guess! Hmm, gives a lot to think about.

One thing I want to rebut is the Shaw's sink. I don't understand why most of you think it wouldn't work? I went on HOUZZ today and saw them in every type kitchen imaginable. It's the ONE thing that I thought would be unanimous consent.

Don't think the brick would work along the entire backsplash. Maybe like you said, behind the range?

Re: the brass-I hate brass. Loathe it. I've looked at polished brass handles, hinges, faucets, for 16 years. BUT, the Lacanche has brass knobs. (It's the one thing I didn't like about the range) And, even though it's unused, it has aged just sitting there. The AGED look is growing on me. I didn't think another finish would look as well. I've noticed during searches for faucets and pulls a lot of aged brass popping up. That was the motive for going that direction.

I like the terra cotta, it was another one of those "Must haves", but maybe not a good thing?

Re: the Shaw sink. I don't like it because (1) I think the white is too stark to go with the alder/rustic/terra cotta/brick and (2) An apron front sink is a prominent design feature and you already have a lot of things competing for attention.

Re: Olioboard. It's hard to find what you want in the Olioboard existing libraries, so I usually look for images with Google and add them to my personal Olioboard library. Have you added the "Add to Olioboard" tool to your browser toolbar? It makes life much easier. You snip things from various websites to you library, and then you can drag them from your library to the board you are working on. Then it's all about resizing, rotating, removing the background and duplicating things. I have had lots of practice with the DATs. You'll get the hang of it.

Once I mocked it up, I liked it better than I expected to from the list of materials (Marcolo's comment notwithstanding). It helped having seen the pic of the exterior. I was very anti-terra cotta until I saw it with the brick (I tried substituting the Brazillian cherry and HATED it with the alder, so scratch that suggestion from my earlier post). But I tend to think of terra cotta as something that belongs in a Spanish Colonial, and I still don't think it really fits your house style. And I do think that the kitchen would benefit from pruning down the number of finishes, and from you deciding what you want to be the main feature (say, the Lacanche) and not introducing things that compete with it (say, the Shaw sink).

I agree with cawaps about the sink being just too white. What are you doing for the rest of your appliances?

I also think that the brick and the floor are too busy together. I think the brick is a cleaning nightmare as a backsplash. I like the floor, but I would extend your wood floors into the kitchen as was suggested earlier.

You house is beautiful and I think transitional decor would suit it well.
Diane

I really like the range with the hood, but the brick looks all wrong, IMHO.

Have you considered mixing the wood perimeter cabinets with blue/gray, green/gray or black cabinets, for the island? I think they would look great with your terra cotta floors. Are you sure you have to have soapstone countertops? You could always use the marble for the counters. Something like this? {{!gwi}}From French Country Kitchen
{{!gwi}}From French Country Kitchen

This would look nice, with a darker wood top. {{!gwi}}From French Country Kitchen

Or maybe something like this? :) {{!gwi}}From French Country Kitchen

Your house is lovely.

I'm at work so no pictures here. I'll try to post later but have a dinner invitation so it may be tomorrow.

I think my house will help you a bit. I live in a 1971 "rambler" which where I live is a "ranch", built on a hill that converts to two stories at the back. Anyway, it's brick, and lovely, and humble architecture. And I have a white apron sink, a Lacanche, and wood counters. All perfectly suitable to the house the way we've rearranged it. It was traditional in design from the get go when the original owners put in beautiful built-ins he made himself. We kept those, changed all the trim and did a million other things I wont' get into, and kept it traditional (although we left the brick fireplace, you'll see). The point is that some ranches are very traditional. Our is far smaller and cottagy'er than yours I think, but I think I can help a little.

More soon as I can.

A walnut counter on the island could be stunning, but I don't think it will look good on top of stained alder cabinets. Personally, I would continue the Brazilian cherry floors from the rest of the house, because they will look great with the white cabinets. For the island, I would either use white cabinets or cabinets painted a grayish blue or other soft color, either option would look much better with a walnut counter than brown stained wood cabinets.

Okay, so here's the house. Just a simple little ranch, with no mid century architectural redeeming value whatsoever:

And here are some pictures of the kitchen, soon after we finished it and were moving in:

It's a comfortable size, though not large, approximately 14 X 13 and some change. I think you need to edit down your list of wants and keep it more simple as I did here. You may get away with two counters, a friend of mine recently did marble on perimeters and mahogany on the island and her kitchen isn't much bigger than mine and it works beautifully. But she kept her cabinets all the same, as I have done.

I love your brass faucet idea, and obviously love the apron sink and the Lacanche. I wouldn't do the brick. We brought in white oak floors to the kitchen to match the original floors in the entire rest of the house.

Couple more views, here's the kitchen from the scary black whole of Calcutta foyer that is now bright and sunny:

And here is a picture of the living room, and the original brick fireplace. I went back and forth on this and almost paneled it to bring it to more "traditional" but I liked it, and I liked how it's the same brick as the outside, and I love how I can see them both when I come home, one outside and one through the window.

Hope this helps. I think the key to making what you want work will be to edit your list and keep this relatively clean and simple.

Wow Pirula, that does help! A lot! Your kitchen is beautiful. I think maybe the farm sink was throwing things off for everyone because of how many other elements I was trying to get in. It works perfect in your kitchen.
And, your fireplace is much like mine, only difference is, mine has brick on the whole wall, and a sitting hearth that is a monstrosity. Your home is beautiful.
You have basically all the things I love most.
Do you know what color white your cabinets are painted?

Cawaps, thanks so much for the olioboard info. I didn't have a button, but am getting one now. Hope I can figure it out as well as you have. I was using their library, no wonder none of those images showed up.
I'm still on the fence about the terracotta. I've always wanted it, it's not Spanish looking to me, but it may not fit the house. Like Pirula's, maybe the wood would work better.
This is the tile I am talking about.

{{!gwi}}

Source: [houzz.com[(https://www.houzz.com/products/antique-terra-cotta-floor-tiles-prvw-vr~125452) via Susie on Pinterest

Kaysd, I think you may be right about the wood on wood. Maybe need to either do island a color, or different top.

Lavender_lass, I love marble, but would be scared to death to do it all over. And, Allison's hood is my favorite of all time. Her entire kitchen is my favorite! Do you think soapstone would not fit?
I love the look of marble, but thought it would be too formal?
Thanks everyone, it's really helping to get my head out of the clutter and scale things down. Now, just to what.
How do you decide? Do you go with your top five things, or do you look at the overall picture and throw things out one by one? Like in Cawaps board, just start eliminating what looks out?
If not a WHITE farm sink, would a soapstone sink work?
Thanks!

Thank you susied3, and I am glad it helped.

The cabinets are actually cream, they always seem whiter in pictures. It's a Fine Paints of Europe color, 9-something. Can't remember, but happy to check my records if you need to know.

Continuing the wood into the kitchen is a great idea in many respects, particularly if you're planning to open up the kitchen to other rooms. It provides continuity, makes the space seem larger, all that....

I really like your house, Susied3. (And yours' Pirula. Always one of my favorites.)

I agree that the list of materials you're bringing in needs trimming, but not of the brick. Brick is a warm, wonderful material of the ages and, with your home already featuring it inside and out, it's a natch for the kitchen, perhaps even needs to be brought in for continuity? Maybe a little brick for trim around the fireplace box, instead of stone?

I'd also definitely put terracotta on the floor because you love it and have always wanted it, and because it'll be a very nice and appropriate floor. Clay tile (as well as clay brick) has been used for floors all over the planet for centuries, including very much so in northern Europe and the British Isles. The two clays in different shapes for different functions won't be "too much" together at all if they're chosen and used well.

Start by taking a good luck at Colonial Revival styles. Maybe even look at the "Design Around This" thread for that style. I'm not talking Yankee Candles and fake spinning wheels, either--look at some Georgian or Federal elements.

And remember the power of restraint.

I agree - restraint is needed.

I'm glad you love my kitchen, but it would not be right in your home. Goes with the advice of Pirula, keep it simple and clean.

Ditch brick backsplash.

We lived in a ranch home for over 20 years before building our current home. Added a second story, then it was not so ranch-y any longer. The kitchen had wood floors (like the rest of the house). The kitchen was U shaped. We removed uppers between kitchen/cooking area and breakfast room. Added bay window to eating area (made it perfect size, could get around people sitting down and brought in more light). Copper sink, copper faucet. (Same sink was ordered for my current laundry room.) Cabinets were maple. Replaced painted.

Can you post pictures of your current kitchen and a few public spaces so that we can see the rest of the home inside?

Here is a link that might be useful: Pirula's kitchen pictures on AM