I can certainly understand how you feel. We've just enbarked on our remodel and already I'm looking over my shoulder. Could we have done this, could we have done that, etc. DH and I do differ greatly on likes/dislikes so we had to do some major compromising. The reality of it is that we had to stay within certain bounds...primarily budget, and a lot of ultimate dream kitchen stuff was knocked off the list as a result.

I think its almost like post-partum depression. There will be new options and better looking appliances in your price range, every time you look:(. Enjoy your new kitchen and have fun looking at new ones too...but maybe use them to inspire another room.

kitty car
Can you post a pic of the kitchen that you have "found too late"? I'd love to see it....'cause I am still looking.
Thanks

sleevepresto: My DH and I also have pretty different decorating styles so I made compromises as well. I guess there will always be things we wish we had done differently.

palimpsest: That is what I was thinking...feels kind of like post partum depression. Anyway, I am enjoying my new kitchen but am addicted to looking at kitchens on this forum. Maybe I need to stop looking!

Phoggie: Here is the kitchen I love. (sorry, I think this is someone elseÂs inspiration kitchen) I especially love the white cabinets, the backsplash and the floor. Oh and the countertop too.

Here is my kitchen which has a similar layout. If I had seen the first picture before I started, I would have stolen several of the decorating elements. The black and white are so striking to me.

wow! well really they are the same layout. All you would have to do is paint your cabinets, change out the floor, new lighting, and re-do the backsplash-that should do it. Sorry, i could not resist.

the inspiration is beautiful, but so is yours. I think that everyone must go through the i 'should have' or 'i wish' after its all done. i really want to change out my lighting, but i was un-pleasantly surprised the minute we got the fixtures up. my heart sank and i just did not have the heart to tell DH. i had these fixtures specially ordered. Oh well, i'm sure that i won't stop until i change them out. i find myself looking pretty often for the ones that i really want.

It probably would not hurt to stop hanging out here though. :)

Change it! Go for it. Life is too short not to have fun
with what you enjoy. Don't hesitate to change your
kitchen. If of course you can afford to do so. And with a
little DIY you can make your kitchen as pretty as the one
you dream. And not break the bank to do it. White paint,
new backsplash, (you could keep your floors)... Ideas are
never ending on GW

I felt for awhile that I should stop looking at photos of other people's kitchens. I 2nd guessed materials/elements, and especially layout...But over time I came to realize there were very good reasons I'd made the decisions I did and there was no way to have a 'perfect' kitchen, or have all the elements I liked in others' kitchens in mine.

If you change one thing, everything else changes, and it might not have fit with your home, your lifestyle, or your cooking (or cleaning) style, or with your dh's taste.

Try to focus on the positives of your kitchen, and maybe add something special to make it more your individual space...Make it 'you' in a unique way so it can't really compare to anything else you see. Cook up a batch of something and really relish the improvement you made. I find that when I'm cooking and enjoying how much better my kitchen works, I don't really see what it looks like...or care! :-)

I love that kitchen too, Kitty. Though I never had any desire to do black and white. It's extremely well designed, even down to the accessories chosen and where they're placed.

Teppy: Too funny but those are the same thoughts that are going through my mind. I just have to change this and then that and then thisÂ. My DH is very pleased and content with the result of our kitchen so like you, I donÂt have the heart to say anything to himÂ(at least not so soon after we finished).

Boxerpups: Unfortunately, I do not have the budget to change it right now. But maybe in a couple yearsÂof course I may find a new inspiration kitchen by then if I keep reading this board.

Rhome410: Thank you for the encouraging words. My current kitchen is working for me and I truly do enjoy cooking and baking much more than before. It just doesnÂt make my jaw drop like the inspiration photo. It does in fact reflect my DHÂs tastes more than mine.

Bunnicula03: I have always loved black and white, and I too love how everything just flows together right down to the countertop accessories.

Kitty...I hope this makes you feel a little better...your layout is superior to the layout of your inspiration.

1. You don't have a DW blocking access to your sink

2. Your DW isn't b/w your sink and range, blocking your prep zone and causing a bottleneck

3. You don't have your range on a seating peninsula (dangerous, especially the one in the pic w/so little counterspace b/w the cooktop & seats!)

4. Your range has more workspace & emergency landing space as well

5. Because of the wider counter to the right of your range, it's more protected and passersby are more protected.

So, feel better? :-)

Yes, that kitchen looks nice, but remember that most magazine kitchens (1) go for form over function and (2) are staged to look their best. There was a thread a year or two ago about this...someone here had their kitchen in a photo shoot and I seem to recall the team that came in took all their stuff out and brought in props...all new accessories, etc.

As Teppy said, if you really feel that strongly, you could always paint and change the BS & lighting...but I like your kitchen as-is. I'm probably biased, though, as I like stained wood better than painted and I'm a big proponent of functional kitchens. I like the blues & grays...but you have that as well!

Also, do you have kids or pets? No offense to those here with white cabinets, but I think as soon as you get a scuff, scratch, or dent in your cabinets, you'll be glad they're wood, because it won't show! Also, I have a cream painted island, and when I was cleaning along the rails and stiles in that crease up next to the recessed panel where things gather...and NOT getting it completely clean...I was glad my whole kitchen wasn't that light. With all of that white and shiny black it'd take some effort to keep it looking as striking and fingerprint/smear-free as in the photo.

Your layout is much better, function wise.

Your kitchen is so different from the B/W one that I wonder what you are responding to...the inspiration photo is sure photogenic, in a glamorous way, like reading Vogue. Yours is more comfy looking though,--and while the B/W kitchen has all the earmarks of a really trendy pretty kitchen, yours reflects some trends without being trendy. I think it may "age" better.

Buehl: Thanks, it does make me feel a little better. I do sometimes get caught up in looks instead of function, although function is very important to me since I have such a small kitchen space.

Rhome410: I have an 11 year old son and he is pretty much a slob at this age. I guess keeping the white clean and pristine all the time would be more work for me.

I agree with buehl-- your kitchen is far more functional than the inspiration photo. And, it looks nice!

Also, what is the rest of your house like? That inspiration photo is pretty dramatic and high-style. Could belong to a modern Cruella Deville-- not that I don't think it's cool. Sometimes I admire rooms, but realize they would not fit with my lifestyle and who I really am. On the other hand, if you are tapping around the house in your high heels, maybe your inspiration kitchen fits you better than what you picked. But even if you are uber-hip, I wouldn't start ripping out the backsplash and painting your new cabinets. I dunno, the "you're living life and you need to get what makes your heart sing" approach has never rung true with me. I think if you take that approach, it has the potential to never stop-- there will always be a better paint color, better house, better car on the horizon. Sure, make your surroundings beautiful, but keep perspective, and focus on people, not things.

So, I would try to find some fun accessories that make you smile when you enter your kitchen. Spend a little less time looking at kitchen porn-- I spent a month and a half away from this site, and it helped put things in perspective. And congratulate yourself on a well-designed kitchen every time you use it.

kitty car, in case you want to see more of that kitchen, its by Candace Olsen on her show "divine design".
beth

Kitty car,
Your new kitchen is lovely, and as buehl said, so much more functional. The first thing I noticed in your inspiration kitchen (after the striking color choices) was the cooktop. Could it have been any more dangerously placed? It looks like maybe 9 inches to the seating edge of the counter!

The truth is, I'm sure, that all of us who visit GW/KF and pore through magazines ad nauseum (and watch HGTV until the DH cries, "NO MORE!") have found countless styles of kitchens that appear drop-dead gorgeous to us. Basically, I love 'em all, for one or a hundred different reasons. But I only have one kitchen, in one house, and, if I'm honest, I know that a dramatic white/black kitchen is not one that I could keep up with.

From what I can see in the photo, it is quite a contemporary design, enhanced with a few transitional and traditional touches (light fixtures). Even the color palette is very cool...and from the warm tone of your cabinets, I get a different feel from your kitchen, which may be reflected in the rest of your house, too. Keeping the kitchen in line with the other rooms of the house, I think, is very important.

Enjoy the warm and inviting space that you have created. While it seems that kitchen design is the most important thing in the world when I'm lurking on this forum, and while we are in the midst of our own remodel, I think I do, maybe, remember a time when there were more important things in life?

Palimpsest: I have always loved black and white rooms. I think that is one of the things that draws me to the inspiration kitchen. I think you are correct that my current kitchen will ¡§age¡¨ better because I played it safe with most of my decisions. The other kitchen is much more trendy.

Morton5: The rest of my house is definitely not what I would call dramatic or high style. I suppose my kitchen does fit the rest of my house. When I moved in to my house 10 years ago, everything was country themed (hated it). I have slowly been trying to redecorate and I do like more contemporary design, but not extreme. Your kitchen, by the way is one of my favorites on the forum. It is beautiful and functional.

Beth: Thanks so much for letting me know the source of the kitchen picture. I had no idea. I will check it out.

Natenvalsmom: Thanks for the kind words. It is easy to get ¡§caught up in it all.¡¨ Now that you mention it, I do have some fond memories of my pre-kitchen remodel life º

kitty... this forum can be addicting and dangerous. We see so many different styles we love and wish we could incorporate them into our space. Everyone else has already pointed out the myriad of design flaws in your inspiration pic, so I won't go there. If the glam of the black and white makes your heart sing perhaps you can redo a small powder room to fill that desire. More realistically, take a shelf or section of wall unit and SHOP and find some glorious black and white accesories, glassware, or whatever it is that'll make you smile. You can have a tiny section of "glam" in a lived in house that'll make you feel good whenever you walk past it.

buehl probably said it the best but others here really are also looking at that inspiration kitchen with the great critical eye that this forum teaches to us all eventually. I looked at the inspiration kitchen and started saying to myself I was seeing flashy decorator tricks meant to disguise real functional flaws. Before my thoughts gelled I read down and saw what others were saying and I couldn't agree more. You have a great kitchen. After you live with it for while if you still want to change the cabinet color or the backsplash that will be fairly easy and inexpensive compared to what it would take to correct the inefficiencies of the inspiration kitchen.

I think that kitchen fashion is like haute couture. What comes down the runway is often not practical for everyday wear, or everyday bodies. Same with kitchens. Magazine kitchens may NOT be practical or even functional for the everyday family.
I find when I make big purchases I just have to not look back. My DH wanted me to get another Taurus last year so he could fit comfortably in it. I longed for the Fusion. The Taurus felt too big compared to my old one which DD inherited. Well, as I suspected, he NEVER drives it even when we go somewhere together - we take his Explorer. And, then DD showed me the NEW Taurus. That, and everytime I see a cute Fusion going down the road I have buyers remorse! Looking back can be a bad thing!

I think your kitchen is great. I LOVE your cabinet hardware, and your range is a showpiece. I love those too, and thought long and hard about getting one just like it.

Remodelfla: ItÂs true that this forum can be addicting and dangerous. I see so many beautiful kitchens on the forum and each one seems more beautiful than the next. I realize my kitchen is practical and it does work for me and my family. And I can always add some decorative accents to spice it up for now.

Flseadog: Thanks for the feedback. That helps to put things more in perspective for me. I guess since I have a pretty good basic kitchen design, I can always change decorative things like paint, backsplash and flooring down the road.

Southernstitcher: Thanks for the compliments. I love the funky hardware too and am enjoying the functionality of the double oven range (and it looks nice too!). I mostly use the small upper oven but am looking forward to giving it a full workout when I make Christmas dinner for 15 guests this year.

Sometimes I wish I had put in Michael Westen's (Burn Notice TV show) kitchen. An old refrigerator for beer and yogurt, a sink, an old stove, a high table for mixing explosives and fixing spy items and then I'd eat every meal out. I'd have saved a ton of money. Unfortunately I live in the north and in a suburb without any place to eat that is within walking distance.

Darn - I basically had Michael Westen's kitchen. What I lacked is his youth and Miami.

OMG, afer buehl pointed out the flaws in the inspirational kitchen, it would make me feel 1,000 times better! I didn't even think of those things until buehl pointed them out. I do like the clean lines and simplicity of your kitchen design. It is so functional.

Later on, if you really want to, I would think that your kitchen will be pretty easy to update. It must feel great to be finished with the remodeling. I can hardly wait to get my life back...

Wow regrets are a total bummer. If it is any consolation I think your kitchen is far more inviting and visually calming than the more start black and white. You have done a fabulous job and your attention to detail really shows. Hold your head up cook a great meal and give yourself a toast.

Kitty car, i haven't been on this garden web for a long time but thought i would stop in to see what pretty kitchens are being created. Anyway, you sound soooo much like i did when i first did my kitchen. I didn't even do much research, dh and i just started picking out things and before you knew it our kitchen was done ant then i found this webite with all the pretty kitchens. As you will see in the FKB my title is "Found this site 2 years too late", lol. DH and i really liked the hickory (not wild at all) cabinets so we got those and when i went on garden web found everyone was either doing white cabs, maple or cherry...was i bummed!!! Our kitchen has been done for over 6 years and i must be honest i had my reservations but it is ME and i love it!! I think your kitchen looks great. And yes you are truly fortunate to have had the chance to do it. Live with it for a while and see how you feel. Here is a pic of my kitchen now...Enjoy your new space...

Here is a undecorated picture:

And we have since beadboarded the island so i did get some white in there after all...

Kitty, as most on here could tell you, I know nothing about nothing. :) But, I like your kitchen. That backsplash would drive my OCD up a wall because it's not uniform, and it's busy.

So, if you really LOVE it, try finding some inexpensive window covering like is what is in the inspiration. It would dress your kitchen up. And give it some more black color where your window needs a little color.

And, when budget allows, run to TJ Maxx and get that scale in black (I've seen it there) and just a couple of TJ Maxx kitchen accesories in black/white. They have some really neat stuff there in blackandwhite. Don't clutter it up, but that inspiration has a lot of "stuff" on the counters. I think a window dressing and a couple of pieces would add to your look.

I like your kitchen better. Love your drawers, and handles, and your floor is much prettier than that in the inspiration.

" It does in fact reflect my DHÂs tastes more than mine. "

so next time around stay firm in your wants (somewhat).

I like your kitchen - I come here and love, love the white cabs with lots of trim, fake 'legs' and stuff. I'm not sure why because I know that is not me. my kitchen won't even be close to anything like that!
I guess my eyes can appreciate them but me and my lifestyle don't mesh with them!

your kitchen just needs the final touches added. a cobalt blue KA mixer in the corner? some SS - a tall pepper mill? a cobalt blue serving bowl, a SS bread dish with a lighter blue napkin in it.
a 'curtain rod' over the window - that looks like your cab pulls with some cobalt blue, the lighter blue and SS/silverish bling hanging from it. along the line of an 'old' time beaded curtain - but short, like a valance. hanging at random lengths, not precision.

maybe a new set of dishes? even if just a set for 4-to use everyday. you get out shopping and you'll find stuff!

OK I have to chime in here. That's the inspirational pic I've been throwing around on here. I was so intent on doing our kitchen the same way because it would add so much storage and seemed to flow better. Well I went ahead with the same footprint of that kitchen and can say I second guess myself everyday, though it is not nearly as bad as others have been commenting. I could have kept my L shaped kitchen,added a peninsula to make a U, put bar stools on the otherside of the new peninsula and completely do away with the additional door to the backyard. Of course my original kitchen was more to the left of the inspirational pic and the door was where her window is. I think your kitchen turned out lovely and unique. The floor in the inspiration pic is not very classic and might date itself fairly soon. Look at the way the color lacks flow with the hardwoods...not so good. My mom had a black and white floor and it didn't look so good after a few years. Mabey it works best tiled in a more historical theme. And if the floors hadn't been done in that color then the rest of the kitchen probably wouldn't be the same. In your case it is cosmetic doubts which you can always change down the road...I cannot change my layout. Any how I think your kitchen turned out great and like many others have suggested you just need to add some accessories, perhaps a beautiful bowl even.

All of us will always find something bigger and better...we can either change what we can or be happy with what we have!-(but it's also ok to vent and get reassurance)

I like the look of the inspiration picture, but agree there are SO many things wrong with that kitchen. Kitty, your kitchen is warm and inviting and very functional. It's a much better kitchen. My kitchen has been done for 6 month, and not a day goes by when I don't see a kitchen on GW that makes me sigh and wish for a do-over. I do love my kitchen, but there are lots of kitchen here I love just as much and sometimes I have to wonder if I did the right thing going with stained over white (white was my original vision).

athomewith3...where did you get your stools? They are perfect for my house!! I LOVE them!

ccoombs1, i got them at Pottery Barn 6 years ago. I am pretty sure they still sell them. They are called the Tibetan stool and come in two different heights and 3 different colors i believe. There was a time i couldn't find them on line but haven't looked lately. If that is the case i would just call Pottery Barn and ask if they still sell them. I love them!!

Thanks a bunch! I will go look and see if I can find them. They are just perfect and look really comfy too.

The kitchen you found that you love, if I'm correct, is by Candice Olson/Divine Design. It was the subject of one of her shows about a family who all cooks together, even the teenaged kids. They have a family food business that they're all involved with. If I'm correct, there is an aisle across from the cooktop, leading out to a French-door patio, with storage cabs and a desk parallel to the cooktop peninsula.

I'm not sure where the wall ovens are, they are either there or in the long bank of cabs/refrig that run parallel to the window wall.

Now, I love Candice - her color palettes (I hate those gaudy Crayola colors the other HGTV designers love), her sense of architectural design (which most interior designers lack). But her kitchens, although very beautiful, to me have always lacked essential functionality. Her design for an obsessed baker with a good-sized kitchen that only had a single wall oven instead of a double, for example, or giving a busy working mother a fancy glass-topped island hood that will require somebody standing on the island to clean the back portion of the hood.

Her design is a riff on the "Something's Got to Give" kitchen that created such a huge wave of interest a while back; just subbing full overlay Shaker cabs and glass-tiled backsplash. It's a classic look, so I think it will always be popular in one version or another. But when it comes to functionality, many people here have done a better job.

Kitty, your kitchen has a much warmer look than your "inspiration" kitchen. And I've got to say I don't care for the busy black and white backsplash.

I am very happy with the way my kitchen turned out, and I still come here to look. Since I did my kitchen 14 months ago, Silestone has come out with countertop designs I prefer to the one I chose. Also, when designing my kitchen I was told that I could not have a pull out spice rack in the base next to my stove, as heat from the oven with spoil the spices. I have since heard that that is untrue.

Anyway, I'm happy with what I have, and you should be too, your kitchen is very inviting. Before I started the renovation someone told me there is always something(s) one would do differently, and thankfully what we would do over is relatively minor.

Kitty, The black/white kitchen is snazzy. But it wouldn't look nearly as nice if it had been taken under just natural light. Might even look "cold". The bright lighting enhances it just as the lighing makes athome3's kitchen glow. Try taking another pic of your kitchen after you've put up a sophisticated window treatment and put some coordinating accessories (pepper mills?, baskets?, wood salad bowls?) on the counters to break up the solid line in the backsplash.

Thank you all for your very insightful and encouraging words. Everyone on this forum is so knowledgeable and helpful. And thanks to those who provided decorating tips as well. I am kind of lost when it comes to decorating. I will definitely look into a window treatment and some of the other suggested accents. Your honest feedback is so appreciated.
Kitty

the inspiration kitchen gives me a headache. I like yours better :)

Don't forget to put an expensive oriental rug in front of the sink and range! Just kidding. But that's how unreal some of these photo-shoot kitchens are.

I honestly like your kitchen better. There's something off about the inspiration kitchen photo, though I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's too busy or the scale is wrong? I'm sure there are bits and pieces of that model kitchen that could be inspirational, but the whole doesn't do anything for me.

Megpie77

Your kitchen has a better layout than the inspiration kitchen too. Your dishwasher and sink are far apart enough to function and you didn't combine the eating area with the cooktop. You were inspired by it, but it is still your own. And I think it will have more staying power than the full-on glam inspiration.

Candice is one of my favorite TV designers, but she has veered a bit into glitz and glam, of late, and I am not always sold on her kitchen layouts--but she *does have to work in a small footprint often. (Portable DW tucked into island?; peninsula suspended garbage can?--these are two of her less-inspired solutions that come to mind)

Now, both of you, don't look back and enjoy your new kitchens.:-P

At home with three: Can you tell me the color of your granite? I really like it. Your kitchen is great.

Kitty Kar: I like you kitchen also. The black & white is very striking but your kitchen is very warm.

Thanks yellowmustanggirl, our granite is Juprana Columbo Gold...still happy with 6 years later...