OMG the Paul Bommer tiles!

LOVE both pewabic and motawi.

I would look at a very pale, soft buttery cream yellow (even rearing just so slightly with an orange tinge to make those blues pop) for the cabinets.

A slight orange/peachy tinge will play well with the center splash of color on the tile stove finial, as well.

Love those contemporary Delft tiles! Wouldn't it be fun to mix a couple of them with a couple of traditional Delft tiles? It would be an unexpected treat for your visitors :) They remind me of the Harlem Toile I saw at the Kips Bay Showhouse in May. I didn't recognize the designer I was talking to, and I had to look twice at what I thought was a traditional toile, and I was delighted.

Or, I see the Motawi has Charley Harper tiles! Swoon. Not for your kitchen, though. I'm taking all of them for my friend's kitchen, she really really needs these.

While I can appreciate the aesthetics and history of Pewabic, et al, it's not really my jam. Which is probably a good thing, since it's also not my budget. :-) My husband does have twitches in the Deco direction, so I'll just keep him away from that....

CP, care to expound a little? Are you suggesting using a light buttery shade on the cabs to either side of the range? Something a bit darker than the warm whites I had chips of?

Throw a few color suggestions at me? A quick parse through SW's chips suggests maybe Full Moon or Tea LIght? Or am I not getting what you're suggesting at all?

Or, if we're talking Ben Moore, Honey Harbor?

I'm a little afraid of peach. I DO NOT want to end up with 80's mint and peach. I admit, I have the absolute worst time picking good yellows.

Ooh, here's one of today's kitchens from For the Love of Old Houses (though not an old kitchen). Look at that tile!

I’ve never seen a Lacanche look bad or even ok in a kitchen so I think whatever you choose will be great. We just finished a kitchen with some color but went with a yellow la cornue paired with cabinets in FB oval room blue. We tried about six colors on site before painting them ORB.

Or, I see the Motawi has Charley Harper tiles! Swoon. Not for your kitchen, though. I'm taking all of them for my friend's kitchen, she really really needs these.

OT: Love Charley Harper and I intend to one day do one of his needlepoint designs.

I'll pick some colors from SW tomorrow as my BM color swatches are in FL.

Bpath, Harlem Toile was made by Sheila Bridges. She did the dog room at Kips Bay.

bpath, that tile reminds me of Rococgurl's kitchen in the country, and her gorgeous Swedish hutch. There are so many beautiful kitchens designed or improved by our members!

Now, Alison, you can't taunt me with mention of Swedish hutch, and not tell me where to look to see the Swedish Hutch!!!! (And now I feel a bit like robin. Maybe I need a few more?!!!?!?!!)

LOL Click the "kitchen" after Rococogurl's name in my post, and scroll to bottom of article. She hunted for the perfect hutch for 2 yrs, then won that one in an auction. It was a horrid color, but RG worked her magic. Hutch article

Allison, thanks for ruining my day. I have things to do and places to be, and I would much rather spend the day with rococogirl's kitchen and blog. Maybe I will.

Sigh. I could look at these pictures all day long.

bpath, sorry, not sorry! Be sure to check out her bio. fwiw, you'll find my bio there also, but I don't profit from the website (as you see I retired years ago, and she hasn't been writing/posting since in several). It really is a nice source for kitchens, how to choose the right size rug, bathrooms and more.

I love Attic Mag. It's where I was able to pore over allison's first kitchen to my heart's content : ) . One of the best parts of AM is the "Our Houses" section, with mostly rococogurl's but also allison's houses,

https://www.atticmag.com/category/tour/our/

following!

Thank you for the Attic Mag link, Becky. That's another Rabbit Hole entirely! (While I also stalk my mailbox for the new Country LIving)

If we don't hear from Holly for a while I think I know where she will be.

SW6371 Vanillin

SW 6672 Morning Sun

SW 6679 Full Moon

These 3 may be a bit too dark. Looking at BM online I would look to these too:

2018-70 Milkyway

2019-70 Lightning White

2150-70 Easter Lily

2152-70 Mayonaise

330 Palm Coast Pale

I am LOVING that blue hutch and would love to have something like that in my own home.

NewEnglandgal, I've always loved the blue hutch too.

Thanks for the color specifics, CP. I may have to go grab more chips. Of the ones I snagged yesterday, Mayonnaise is the only one on your list!

Ok, I have at least grabbed the Ben Moore chips. Interesting.

Easter Lily is definitely toward the yellow-green side of things. All of them are paler than I anticipated. Are you suggesting these for wall color, the cabs flanking the range? Or both? I was thinking you were suggesting something somewhat darker for the cabs, and more towards the orange than green.

"While that doesn't especially bother me, in thinking of other ways to sort of reduce the "openness" for the sake of the little one, it occurred to me that it might be possible to put a pocket door between the entry and the kitchen"

why don't you just extend the closet to eliminate that pathway. you gain more storage space. guests turn left from the end trance to enter the main living room. I don't mind the entrance opening into the kitchen but it seems unnecessary, as most guests are going to enter and exit via the living room

why don't you just extend the closet to eliminate that pathway. you gain more storage space. guests turn left from the end trance to enter the main living room. I don't mind the entrance opening into the kitchen but it seems unnecessary, as most guests are going to enter and exit via the living room

Miss Holly needs an open line of sight from the kitchen to the front door for kid-safety purposes. ;-)

following

Holly, maybe you "need" to use some tiles from Henry Chapman Mercer's Moravian Tile Works. We did a tour of Fonthill Castle the other day.

All of them are paler than I anticipated. Are you suggesting these for wall color, the cabs flanking the range? Or both? I was thinking you were suggesting something somewhat darker for the cabs, and more towards the orange than green.

I was doing that using the color finder online as my BM chips are here in FL. Now that I'm back, I'll go through my actual deck but yes, I'm suggesting you go more towards the orange and not the green.

Yes I'm thinking of those colors for your cabinets. They still are soft and pale and almost white, but with a hint of color to make your stove and blues pop. Then I'd do like I did and for trim do a whiter white and you can go either way with the walls, either a pale blue or a peach color.

Leela, those tiles are stunning.

Ok I only have the BM Classic deck but here's my thoughts.

In some cases I'm also going a bit darker too if you're willing to be adventurous:

141 Citrus Mist

190 Pearly Gates

309 Ambiance

316 Pernod

897 Butterfield

900 Florida Beaches

Leela's second photo beautifully illustrates a great way of using tiles of varied sizes.

*wink wink*

I'm also collecting images to help the cabinet designer put together something appropriate. For the hutch, the island, and the perimeter cabs. So far, it's gone something like this:

KD: So, what sort of doors were you thinking?

Me: Derp?

Thoughts?

Holly, I cant wait to see your spaces all finished. It is so refreshing to see someone actually use colors and put some interest into their home, rather than everything so boring.

Great inspiration photos. Are you going to do a wood on the sink area like in the photo, or just the design idea? If wood, do the island in wood also. If that's a no-go, what about a wood counter on the island? I loved the antique pine on the island in our last home.

I'm also collecting images to help the cabinet designer put together something appropriate. [...] So far, it's gone something like this:

KD: So, what sort of doors were you thinking?

Me: Derp?

Thoughts?

I'm seeing a lot of "furniture" pieces... Do you know which elements you want to look like stand alone furniture, and which ones you want to look more integrated?

Thank you, cat, I appreciate the encouragement!

Alison, my sink will be in the island. So I think it's better if the island is one cohesive piece. But I do like the implication in that photo that the sink cabinet is a separate piece of furniture. That's kind of the general feel I'm going for. I know we discussed this once, and you're one of my resources for getting the look of an unfitted kitchen. I'm also planning on wood countertops on the perimeter, on either side of the range.

ODD, I'm kind of planning for ALL of it to more or less look like it might be movable. So not too matchy-matchy.

I'm particularly intrigued by the drawers in the 4th photo. It looks like the small drawerfronts are slabs, and the larger ones shaker.

I also seem to recall someone who'd done a Craftsman kitchen commenting that they did inset doors and partial overlay drawers, because that was how the vintage cabs were built. I have yet to find a photo illustrating this.

Mark, I just noticed the architect’s name on Holly’s blueprint! :-D (I’m new here.) Great design. I feel like I could walk through it with my eyes closed and know exactly where I was.

Question about inset doors: other than the aesthetics, which are very appealing, is there a functional difference between these and overlay framed cabinets such as doorway opening sixe or structural strength? In other words, are the cabinet boxes pretty much the same? (Apologies, my limited supply or architectural vocabulary has pretty much deserted me.)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but is your oven on the left, stove in center, fridge on right? If so, how are you going to open your fridge with it next to the wall? I'm guessing it's 1-door and not french doors .... which means it swings left? Seems awkward flow-wise given left is the direction you'll be going with anything from the fridge.

I apologize for now remembering and/or scrolling back to the OP. I am under the weather today... and I don't mean a hangover. LOL

Jennifer, it will have sufficient clearance from the wall. I asked about that. It's just not drawn into the floorplan.

Allison - no need to apologize. Who can keep track of everybody's projects? I'm still always grateful for your insights, indisposition and all.

Thank you for the picture, Mark. That actual does help me visualize.

Back down the rabbit hole of Not White Shaker Kitchens...

ODD, I'm kind of planning for ALL of it to more or less look like it might be movable. So not too matchy-matchy.

<3 <3 <3

Are you also considering various countertop heights? I think this really *makes* an unfitted kitchen. So many of the "furniture style" kitchen images out there incorporate various furniture-type elements (legs, rope wood, pillars, etc.), while one large expanse of stone runs along the top, uninterrupted. It doesn't really look right to me.

It's a work in progress. :-)

I stumbled across this, but I'm not sure at what point too many changes in height/color/style/etc starts to turn into mish mash?

The other issue is that my sink will be in my island, AND it will be more of a "peninsula" so I'm not sure where you'd "break" it.

I'm envisioning the range between two smaller cabs something like this:

Is this what you mean about ruining the illusion?

Or does it work?

I think that the difference in counter height doesn't have to be very much, necessarily; the range can stand tall by 2" or 3".

Conversely, the counters can stand tall of the cooktop (that's probably blasphemy here on the forums, lol). I'm considering this approach, because my husband preps on either side of the range, so lifting the height on his prep space to 39" would be ideal. However, I would *not* want the range lifted, since peering into pots and saucepans is easier at a lower level, and I'm over 12 inches shorter than he is. That would likely mean heat/flame proofing the sides of the cabinets (tile?) that flank the range; not sure how you'd want to address that, if that idea even appeals to you. (Or perhaps I just eliminated that option altogether, lol.)

In the last photo you posted, I like the height difference between the sink cabinet and the cabinets that flank it... It's subtle but effective.

Having varied countertop heights is a great way to customize a kitchen -- both functionally and aesthetically -- but it has to be done carefully. It's practically required in an unfitted kitchen, though, in my mind. :-D

@One Devoted Dame If you're still in the architectural phase of your kitchen remodel, please be sure to check your local building code if you are inside city limits as to what the range height requirements will be relative to the flanking cabinetry. You wouldn't want to design a layout that fails at inspection. If you're inside a jurisdiction where building permits are required, then the cabinetry must meet the range's specifications which generallly requires the range to be higher than flanking base cabinetry and certain distances away from wall cabinetry. Tile is not an approved flame barrier. Heat will transfer through it to your cabinets and could cause a fire hazard. You may already know all this, but I just wanted to speak up in case.

We are also doing varying countertop heights, and I think it is a great idea to accommodate different heights of the cooks. We'll do main base cabinets at 38 3/4" and a butcher block section a couple of inches lower than that. The stove will be raised to meet specifications for the countertop height around it. Our cooks are 5'7" and 5'11" at our house, and we've really worked with mockups of different heights to settle on these specs for our counter surfaces. We'll have a workstation sink with the cutting board level at 37 1/2" in the sink which is our anchor height for everything else to fit around, and that makes the natural stone counter about 38 3/4" which isn't too high for the majority of tasks.

Tile is not an approved flame barrier.

Could you explain here, please? :-) Tile is often used as a barrier on the wall (backsplashes behind ranges), so why wouldn't it be effective on the side of base cabinetry?

Heat will transfer through it to your cabinets and could cause a fire hazard.

Would you happen to have a source for this? I am genuinely interested!

It's entirely possible I'm missing something (in which case, I definitely need the education, lol), but I'm having a difficult time accepting the notion that wood cabinets would be made *more risky* with the addition of a layer of clay (or porcelain, or glass) tile between them and the range.

Because of everything else I'd like to do with a custom home, I don't technically have as many codes to worry about (most cities won't let me do what I want, so I have to live on county land), BUT I don't want to do something stupidly dangerous. :-O

Thank you!

I use Mackenzie-Childs Royal Check pieces to add pops of color throughout the white kitchen. That shade of blue is so endearing