Gray kitchens...now

6 years ago

As many of you know, I re-did my kitchen over a year ago and I did a gray kitchen - SW Repose Gray cabinets and walls (half strength). I love my kitchen! Yes, I STILL love my kitchen and have no regrets!

But while doing a bit of computer housekeeping, I came upon my file of gray kitchens and then I Googled others; not loving them so much. They all look very dark and dreary and so...well, "blay".

So, why do I still like mine but don't like the others? I quickly realized while looking through all the pictures how much difference natural light makes. My kitchen faces due West and my west wall is taken up by a huge bay window over the sink and its cabinet, and by my kitchen door, which is always open with a full-glass storm door in place. I get TONS of natural light in my kitchen. And I added tons of artificial lighting as well - can lights in the ceiling and under cabinet lights. If this was a typical interior kitchen one sees in so many stock house plans, it would be a very dark and dreary space.

I also painted all the woodwork a VERY "white/white". I had always kept all my first floor woodwork the same color - cream with a very high butter fat content. That was not going to work in this kitchen. Fortunately, I'm not open concept, so it was easy to change the woodwork just in the kitchen - it really is not off-putting at all as it's not side-by-side. I also painted my ceiling a high gloss enamel in ceiling white - lots of reflected light from it.

In addition, I have Glacier White Corian countertops so again, lots more white to counter that gray. My backsplash is white honed Carrera marble large subway tiles with white grout - very subtle and breaks up the gray.

My floors are a warm mid range hardwood. They are the same throughout my entire house. It was a custom mix - I think it was walnut mixed with mahogany but it's been so long I can't remember. Yes, I DO have an extra can with the formula in the garage, so I'm good in case of a catastrophe!

I also used polished brass pulls - they brighten all that gray a LOT. I also have several pieces of vintage polished copper on top of one cabinet, and a few copper pans hanging from my pot rack. Having that pot rack with the Carrera marble behind it breaks up all those gray cabinets, as does having glass doors on the longest run of cabinets. I would not have liked it all solid gray.

I think gray is going out as a trend, and that's probably a good thing - it has been overused and very BADLY used as well. One cannot have everything gray in any room - it's just dreary, especially so this time of year when outside is all grays and browns (no snow here - just bitter cold). But gray is a valuable neutral color when used properly. Perhaps it needs a "warning" - "should only be used by professionals - not for home usage"!

I can't imaging ever tiring of my gray kitchen - it is very serene and calm and it makes the small kitchen look much larger. But I sure have tired of all those other gray kitchens - even those from Plain English. I think they have, too, as they're not doing them much these days.

I had not tired of all the all-white kitchens whose pictures I saved. I think that's a "forever" look. The problem is it is best used in a separate kitchen - it doesn't work as well at the end of a family/great room. Since those single rooms appear to be here to stay, I think we'll see more and more wood cabinets as most people have no wood case goods in these wall-less rooms and need something to warm them up.

I'm glad no one ever hired me to do an open concept house (I am now pretty much retired). These houses are as foreign to me as life on Mars. I could do a highly contemporary house as good design is good design and always works together. But these open concept subdivision houses? I have zero feel for them and they go against everything I've ever learned over my 40+ years of being a designer.

Featured Answer

jhmarie

6 years ago

I think it is wonderful your kitchen makes you smilie. I do not dislike gray kitchens but dislike the sameness of the kitchens I see - as if some are fearful of showing their personality or little quirks of decor. You have not been afraid to do so - making your kitchen uniquely yours and lovely too:)

Some do not have a good sense of design, so do what they see on TV. Some are afraid to go for their own look - not sure why - I guess some still suffer from fear of not making the grade with their friends and peers - sad. Some are led by a designer who jumps on the trends without considering the client.

Houses are being built in my area very cheaply - less than paying rent - but the choices of finishes are limited, so not surprisingly the whole neighborhood has the same look.

The gray that will be going out is the gray floors, gray walls, gray fireplace look - room looks like a black and white photo look. I remember a recent post in which a person wanted to liven up their gray living room - she wondered if a grouping of black and white photos would help:)

Just as beige and white are never truly gone, neither will gray. It has become sort of hip to say things like "I hate beige" - I mean seriously, think of all the beiges out there and a person hates them all? Or "I hate orange wood" - is it really orange?

What I "hate" is people afraid to be creative with their space and make it their own and those hyper critical of the home of others:) With all the disasters this year, I am grateful for living under my own roof - when so many need to rebuild.

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Comments (9)

kimihh
6 years ago
I agree with you 100% that elements from inspiration photos should be tweaked to a particular space. Even when doing a full gut kitchen renovation you’re still not starting with a blank slate. The most beautiful renovations take into account the amount of natural light, flow of the house and style of the architecture.

I do do think many people are afraid to make a costly mistake so they try to follow the popular trend or take their inspiration photos too literally. My husband is a realtor and we see lots of examples of this. I too have mostly white kitchens in my inspiration folder but when I realized that my kitchen would now be fully visible from the dining room, I knew it would be too jarring for my space. We went with a medium-toned wood with light walls and countertops, lots of sconces and added windows for light. We call it our kitchenroom. I love white kitchens but, for my house, I love my wood cabinets.
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I happen to dislike white after 18 yrs of it all over the house and spending the past few years in the hospital with my mom. We all associate white with hospitals now. @iam702 I like a light grey as a sophisticated timeless neutral long before it became a trend so I'm not worried about it. I am planning on a zinc perimeter counter so maybe that will help reflect some gray. @anglo your cabinets look gorgeous. I put a sample of SW super white against the door and it's helping with the contrast. Very slight but it's there. I picked a gray that is a bit greige because the other undertones come out baby blue with my natural light. There's not a lot of walls in my kitchen. Only the windows area with 3' and I don't think these cabinets reflect. They look even whiter in pic #3 where I contrasted them against the Ralph Lauren cabinet interiors. I should have painted larger pieces of wood than the 36"x18" ones that used. That would have shown me that I needed a deeper color with my lighting. Thanks everyone for the support. I'll live with them and figure out a way to alleviate the subconscious emotional distress the whole family will have. It's another expensive mistake that I learned and will pass along with the trick to avoid the same issue.
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cpartist
6 years ago
Anglo, can you link your kitchen again please?
cpartist
6 years ago
The only whites in my kitchen will be my perimeter cabinets and my woodwork and horrors the two whites will not match exactly. My counters are going to be shades of greens, beiges, peaches, tans, reds, black, etc and my island is a dark stained quarter sawn oak. Floors are medium stained oak and all my pulls and knobs will be clear glass nobs and pulls, except for my fridge and dishwasher.

I'm always surprised at how timid some folks are to add color and/or pattern to their kitchens and how others on this forum are quick to point out to others that they shouldn't consider bold patterns or colors.

If you love gray, do gray. If you love black and white, do black and white. If you love beige, do beige. If you love a certain color, do that color. If you love a lively backsplash, do it. If you love a boldly patterned countertop, do that.

If you do what you love, it will be more timeless than any trend you try and follow.
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Anglophilia
Original Author
6 years ago
chartist, hope I'm doing this right.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/discussions/4779243/finally-my-kitchen-reveal-work-completed-in-aug-2016?n=22
stillpitpat
6 years ago
It's just beautiful!
2ManyDiversions
6 years ago
Anglophilia, it’s wonderful you are still in love with your kitchen, which you’ve worked so hard to design and finish! I agree, natural light makes such a difference. Wish we had more natural light…

“But these open concept subdivision houses? I have zero feel for them and they go against everything I've ever learned over my 40+ years of being a designer.” I live in a subdivision, and once felt exactly as you do, but after our layout was changed here on GW from a mostly enclosed U-shaped kitchen to open concept (something I was adamantly against) I fell in love and saw how amazing it would be for us. To each their own. I love both now. I’m hoping we make ours our own…

jhmarie, cpartist, I’d copy/paste both your comments in their entirety and say “Bravo” but that’s a lot of copy/pasting, so I’ll leave it at “Bravo!”

I’ve recently been reluctant to offer style advice or comments on many posts as the responses I read are nowhere near what my suggestions would be… for a while I felt my personal style was flawed, old fashioned, or just poor, and only felt this after reading more posts offering style advice than I can count. I have come to the realization the important words are ‘my personal style’.

We see things we love in inspiration photos that we want to mimic, or closely replicate – nothing wrong with that, but going outside the box, using one’s own preferences and 'style' is what makes a kitchen or room or home unique – sometimes in just one small way or idea - those are the ideas and looks I find myself drawn to in kitchen reveals…
2ManyDiversions
6 years ago
I'm revisiting this now... Anglo, your comment about open concept caused to me pause, give thought to our plans... style-wise. Still going with open concept, but realize I need to give more thought to continuity om the great room to the open concept kitchen. Funny how just one simple comment can expand ideas, make one more thoughtful in choices.
Annette Holbrook(z7a)
6 years ago
I’ve always loved grey, but am definitely feeling like it’s everywhere now. We are readying our house to list and replaced all the carpeting and painted the kitchen. All in some form of grey as that is what was suggested by multiple realtors. The kitchen is actually more of a putty tone of grey so is a warm color. If we weren’t selling I would have repainted the cabinets the same sunny yellow.

Funny that you mention your feelings towards open concept homes and kitchens. At our new place the kitchen is smaller and basically enclosed in its own little space. When I first posted it here to get suggestions on cabinet layout the initial reaction was to tell me to take down a wall and open it up to the great room. When we first bought the cabin that was my initial thought as well, but we’ve now owned it for over a year and my husband and I both recently decided that we much prefer it as it is. To further make everyone on here crazy we are doing wood cabinets and black countertops lol. I will be adding a good amount of lighting as currently there is almost none! I’ve lived with white and bright everything since buying my first house in 1988, so I’m actually excited about the log cabin and working with all that wood!

Gray kitchens...now

jhmarie

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