hi. I too have a small condo (< 600 sq. ft.) I live in the Boston area where housing is super expensive similar to the Bay area. I purchased cupboards from Modern Family Kitchens (they have great reviews on Houzz) and I am SO pleased with the cabinets. They are very nice quality and are available in tons of colors! They are a west coast company, but I really wanted a fun color. My installation is only half done (if only I was as happy with my contractor as I am with the cabinets) so i don't have pics to share. The price is similar to Ikea but the quality is considerably better.

@Sandra Davidow thanks for sharing! Looking through the website now, love the look.. what color did you pick? My aunt is like you and likes bright colors. She did orange, lime green, and grey in her house! I'm sorry to hear about your contractor. Makes an already stressful situation even more so!

I chose Laguna Blue! It's really pretty in a small kitchen. if I ever get any my counter tops will be recycled glass with a blue & grey speckle. BTW - congrats on your condo purchase! If you speak to Susan (at Modern Family kitchens) let her know I referred you!

@Sandra Davidow Thank you for your kind words! That's a very pretty shade of blue! Hope you'll post the finished product for us to see some day :)

@kindertina - How is your project coming?

@Greg Hoffman Hi! It was put on pause until today. Our county allowed construction to resume again. An electrician fixed some issues with my switches earlier and I swung by our local flooring store (with mask on) this afternoon. The lady there brought LVP and carpet samples to the door for me to take and test in my condo. Hopefully, it'll just be a couple more months before it's all finished.

We've got drawings, folks!

Thoughts on using stainless steel knobs throughout, like so?

Following along. I remember reading your flooring dilemma. I hope you're able to get that resolved with the condo board!

@katinparadise Unfortunately not... I finally gave up last week. I am going to do this flooring combo instead.

stainless knobs look great-- esp the first pic. they look flat rather than rounded? anyway, I like the look.

@B F thanks! You're right, the first pic's knobs are flat. I like that look better than the rounded.

By the way @B F, that's Benita Larsson's kitchen. I e-mailed her and she kindly replied with a few tips - keep things white, simple, and with wood accents :)

Oh, awesome! glad she's so helpful.

@kindertina I'm working on a layout very similar to yours, and if you happen to know, would you mind sharing how deep front-to-back the cabinet over your refrigerator is? I'm planning for a 28" deep box not including doors and am wondering if that's standard or if something else is better. This will be for a non-counter-depth under 72" high which is what yours appears to be as well.

Tina, Good luck with all of this. Thanks for keeping us posted!

@eam44 thanks so much! The process has felt daunting, so I'm happy to have this community to support me. @Aglitter I've attached drawings that show measurements. I have a counter-depth fridge that is 70.5" to the top of the door and 69" to the top of the case. Hope this helps.

@kindertina Thanks so very, very much for this. I just reviewed the thread after seeing your layout specifications and realized you have selected a counter-depth refrigerator. You might want to make double-sure that your counter-depth fridge depth will line up as shown with your over-the-refrigerator cabinet. If these are custom cabinets, you can tweak that cabinet depth an inch or more extra to make it line up perfectly with your refrigerator. Many counter-depth refrigerators are not exactly 24" deep, or they may have differing requirements for the clearances for doors to open, so it is always a good idea to look at the specification manual for the refrigerator before signing off on a cabinetry order. Thanks again!

@Aglitter Thank you SO much! They are custom and the cabinet maker is detail-oriented, but after looking at the specs and the drawings... it doesn't make sense to me. He must have some rationale, but I am calling him in the morning to put my mind at ease. I appreciate you bringing this to my attention!

@kindertina I wouldn't assume he has any rationale other than matching the base cabinetry depth of 24" which is standard. Unless he has seen your refrigerator appliance manual, he wouldn't have designed for it. For that matter, you might want to check your stove and dishwasher width specifications as well. Those tend to be a bit more consistent than refrigerators, but it takes a couple of minutes to check and forever to correct if the cabinets get made wrong, as you might imagine. If he complains he cannot support the installation of a cabinet on the wall deeper than 24", there are ways to get around this, so keep us posted.

Tina, it's a shame they're unwilling to listen to reason but I like your flooring combo. The carpet has a sisal look and that's a good choice for a Scandi style room.

katinparadise oh yeah, I've always thought the same thing for that type of carpet! it'll probably be my choice if I ever need to carpet a room.

@Aglitter I wrote an email to the cabinet maker Wednesday asking a few questions (including the one you posed) and have yet to hear back. I'm meeting with him this coming Wednesday so I will definitely have an answer by then. Will keep you posted.

I am wondering if you all would weigh in on whether it would look OK to use Caesarstone Pebble as:

1. the kitchen countertop AND full backsplash

2. the bathroom vanity countertop....and...

3. the fireplace surround and hearth

This is a photo I downloaded using the Caesarstone online visualizer with white cabinetry and Pebble throughout.

Here are photos of the door color alongside the Pebble. Note: the actual design of the door will be flat. I just borrowed this sample door for color reference.

I like the idea of using the same material for backsplash and countertop. I think it make for a much cleaner look.

I also have one other question about the full backsplash.... The cabinets end before the countertop. So what would you do about the backsplash?

@katinparadise I am so grateful for your feedback. What are your thoughts on how far it should go out? Should it match the length of the countertop? See dilemma above. We must've posted simultaneously :)

Here is an example of the backsplash extension (but this designer used tile instead of quartz).

Thanks. I enjoy giving it, though I am nowhere near a professional! I have an overhang on my peninsula but my backsplash ends past my cabinet, even with the end of the lower cabinet. I used Schluter edging to finish it in a color that matches my backsplash. This pic is tiny and not my kitchen but I hope you can see the image.

We were posting at the same time. My set up is similar to that but my backsplash ends even with the bottom cabinet and doesn't extend as far as the end of the overhang.

@katinparadise, thanks for sharing! Just to clarify... how you have your kitchen set up is identical to the photo or is it more like Option 1 (in the hand drawings above)? My kitchen won't have an overhang as there are cabinets where the bar seating would typically go.

My kitchen is set up with a peninsula and an overhang. My tile looks more like the pic you posted with the all white cabinets but my tile stops before the overhang. So, you would take your tile to the end of the lower cabinets. Based on your hand drawings, it's closest to option 2 but I have a 10" overhang beyond the base cabinet. Hope that makes sense! If the countertop wasn't loaded up with my husband's junk, I would go snap a pic for you!

@katinparadise OK, I see what you're saying now! Sorry took me a second there... thanks for explaining further. Check out what came in the mail just now, coincidentally. Which quartz do you like best here?

It looks wonderful! The added storage on the other side of the peninsula cabinets will come in very handy. Great job!

it looks fabulous! have you decided on a backsplash yet? you mentioned you decided not to do the backsplash the same as the countertop as you were concerned it might be too dark, but wondering if a plain white quartz backsplash could work, same material, just different color?

Thank you for your kind words, @katinparadise and @Theresa Janssen! This is what the kitchen looked like originally. It's come a long way! I will add more photos once it's totally done.

I like your suggestion @Theresa Janssen! I wonder if I could find a white that matches the Swiss Coffee white cabinets. I tried looking into a full glass back painted backsplash - one estimate I received was $3,900.

Looks great! I hope you pick a backsplash with some color. That would look amazing!

Oops. Your the one that doesn’t color. Don’t be afraid … it would look fab! Like I said in the other post, if you aren’t open to color, go for a different shape. Elongated hex, pickets, etc. I know … options!

@stumpydarby hahaha :) I am even afraid of shapes LOL, but don't worry... I won't go for the typical sized subway. I will do an elongated subway in glass perhaps!! How does that sound? ;)

That sounds good! I have elongated subway with “mini” pieces in between. I thought I was going to do glass but found these Japanese tile and had to have them. (I never ever wanted a beveled tile. Never! The things you change when it is all put together.) Oh … the blue is lighter in person. My iPhone is old and has a crappy camera. Oops.

Congrats on your new home.

Not a pro. Just some thoughts:

In a small or relatively small place, a free standing stove rather than separate cook top and oven(s) would be -- would have been -- worth considering -- and not just because that would be a space saver and because that way you might have been able to open a space in that half wall to create "an island" and have two points of entry/exit from your kitchen (versus entertaining dead end) but because you could take a free standing stove with you if/when ever you move, making it practical to invest more in it..

Stainless steel is a good look for appliances -- or white would work in a small space.

Do hope you choose a deep double stainless steel sink and are able to put it against that half wall so you're not looking at the wall while you're prepping or cleaning at the sink. Do choose a faucet with a high arc and levers rather than knobs.

Even if you choose dark colors for below the countertop level, seriously consider white or at least light colors above that -- dark colors will visually shrink any already small space.

Don't buy stuff you don't actually need -- clutter visually shrinks a space. Unless dusting is your favorite pastime, be "frugal" (as to numbers of items if not budget) with regard to decorative items. Such things really can wait until you living in the space a while, giving you plenty of time to do a lot of browsing and window shopping so you don't need to settle for something just to fill a space.

Do invest in tall storage -- get the most storage possible for the footprint/floorspace any cabinet takes up: choose a storage ottoman rather than a coffee table; choose a chest of drawers rather than a dresser; and,

choose cabinets for beside the bed and beside living room seating rather than tables: you might even consider short lockable wood or wood look (perhaps even fire/water resistant filing cabinets (2-3 drawers) so you will have a secure space to put any personal and financial documents and/or expensive camera equipment and/or your more valuable jewelry away from the prying eyes of the kinds of visitors that search people's medicine cabinets while using the facilities -- there seems to be on in every crowd.

Consider choosing a tall glass front cabinet with shelves that could even double as a chi9na cabinet and curio cabinet -- perhaps with a bottom drawer or cabinet door.

Best of luck. Do keep us updated and post pics.

As to your backsplash: If you choose a SHORT backsplash and painted wall, you can hang trivets and shelving for S&P & sugar bowl and knife rack, etc., much easier than putting holes in tile. You can, over time -- as your taste changes -- change the color and look a lot easier, too.

Consider stainless steel for the wall behind your stove/cooktop.

@stumpydarby It looks beautiful in your space! Great choice! :)

Which one, @suezbell? The photo of my current space with new countertops installed? Thank you for taking the time to write out your excellent suggestions. I tend to be more of a minimalist (as compared to my family members), and am planning to keep everything clutter free. The most challenging part will be declining my family's kind offers to supply me with kitchen 'essentials.' :) You see where my sink is now, yea? It faces the window - a few feet away - across the dinette, and was installed last night - deep single stainless. Here's another photo of the kitchen. I appreciate your tips on the other spaces too!

Looks great. Well done.

caddies for the insides of cabinet doors are a great way to add organization. I prefer the kind you can attach with screws so nothing is visible from the outside.

Which quartz did you end up choosing? I like KM Swiss Coffee, and your quartz looks great with it.

@mollymcbaby Thank you! I ended up going with Caesarstone's polished pebble grey :) I am happy with my choice.