Nosoccermom, I will give you a couple of tips from my limited experience. Make sure you spend the time to fill holes and dings with wood putty before painting. Each little blemish will show up much more after painting than in the original wood appearance. You need a really good paint brush - my favorite is the Purdy Clear Cut. I don't know why I just liked it in my hand. Also, I used a small fine roller from Seven paints - I did not like how a sponge roller looked. After a year +, the upper cabs still look like new but the lowers definitely have little dings that need to be touched up. So make sure you keep some extra paint! We used a clear silicone(?) on our seeded glass inserts. Hope this helps a little. If it seems daunting - it is daunting. This was a big project IMO. :) Here is a link that might be useful: this old house - how to paint your cabinets

Rjinga, I hope you see this, since it's not moving to the top. I was out of town for the holiday, but I found your posts in my email. Thanks so much for your lovely compliments! The painted top held up well. We sold the house a few months ago, and all the potential buyers thought it was granite! Even many Realtors (who have likely seen plenty of the real thing). I never did redo the poly to smooth out the brush strokes, and never even had to touch it up. My husband and I aren't hard on things, but I did have water, perfume, hairspray, curling irons, etc. on and around the counter with no problems. It wiped clean with a spritz of 409 and a soft cloth. If I ever do it again, I will try the oil poly with a pantyhose applicator, but I definitely recommend this easy technique if you want a faux granite top.

hey lauribet - thank you! Yes, I think they go equally well with warm and cool tones. I'd describe Semonia as a a warmer grey. We have a lot of wood trim throughout our house (woohoo 70s decor haha). I wanted something modern but wouldn't look weird with all the wood, and think Semonia works really well. We love these floors -- have had them for 1.5 years now and they look good as new, even with our toddler smashing pots and pans on them. Good luck with your remodel! how fun!

That is a beautiful space that you will have fun working on. We always start our projects with our trusted GC. He has a team he works with including a structural engineer that can quickly asses what we can and can't do. Then we decide if we want to hire an architect or not. How much do we want to spend. If you are doing this yourself, I suggest getting an engineer in there to see what is going on. If it is a load bearing wall it can still be changed you just need a plan and some money to make it work.