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Several Kitchen Design Dilemmas-HELP!

3 years ago

We are building our forever home and I have a few items I need advice on in the kitchen. I have attached some drawings we have from our cabinet guy for reference:

Counter tops: I was thinking about doing a light quartz on the main countertops with a butcher block island in the middle. Should we splurge for quartz? Or save and go with laminate? Does anyone know if the new Formica 180fx® Laminate (specifically the Calacatta Cava color) is any good? It looks decent online.

Cabinets: We are doing white custom shaker cabinets. Currently, we are going to the ceiling just on the appliance side of the kitchen that has the double oven and fridge. Should we splurge and go all the way to the ceiling on the whole kitchen? Or will 42 inch cabinets look alright? We have 9 ft ceilings in our kitchen.

Sinks: I want to do a traditional white farmhouse sink. I've heard awful things about the apron sink scratching from belt buckles. Should we just do a normal under mount white ceramic sink instead? And if do we laminate, are there any good top mount farmhouse sinks?

Thank you!

Featured Answer

WestCoast Hopeful

3 years ago

Do something to the ceiling in the whole kitchen.

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Comments (8)

Mary Conway
Original Author
3 years ago
Are there any other options besides adding an additional smaller cabinet on top of the uppers?
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I must be crazy because I like the combo and also see the cabinet color in the flooring, which looks like it combines cool and warm tones. Would a white-wash stain bring down the orange? Or would that make them look pink? Your backsplash & countertop are cool, cabs warm, flooring a combo. I would wait until you're ready to do your reno/refresh so that the other finishes will all be chosen with the floor in mind. Making choices independent of each other leads to the feeling that you're experiencing. I have similar flooring. SW Divine White looked great with it. It's creamy without being yellow. If you're keeping your white appliances, it might look dingy. In that case, you'll have to go with a bright white similar to the stove. That will have to carry through to your trim. It's a cascade of changes - lol!
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What a disappointment about the flooring. If it were me, if having the molding was the only thing keeping me from moving forward with cabinet install while things get sorted out, I wouldn't let that stop me. I would think there could be an acceptable trim that would solve that issue. You already have 2 kinds of flooring coming together, I would not add a third. If you pulled out the foyer tile and ran that into the kitchen, that could work, but not adding an additional, different tile to the mix. If you must add tile in place of the wood, I'd find one that works with your cabinets (maybe something close to the color of the wood floors, but not wood look tile). Or maybe slate? Run it into the entry. I agree about rethinking the waterfall counter. It really doesn't appear to be suited to your style home. But if you decide to move forward with it, could you live with a temporary counter on the island until the floors are sorted out, then have the island finished? Lots of people live with plywood counters for a while, for a variety of reasons.
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live_wire_oak
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
You need a Kitchen Designer.
PRO
HALLETT & Co.
3 years ago
Trash sink dishwasher. That’s the order of cleanup, that is the order of cabinets. Why dance between the island and perimeter with every dish? With nine foot ceilings run everything to the ceiling. Do not have the stepped cabinets (two cabinet heights on one run)
PRO
Mark Bischak, Architect
3 years ago
I have never understood why, in a run of wall cabinets, one cabinet is higher than the others in the run. As if the installer made a mistake ordering cabinets or installed one at the wrong height and fast talked the home owner into accepting it. Take the cabinets to the ceiling and consider a 24" tall wall cabinet on top of a 30" tall wall cabinet.
Mary Conway
Original Author
3 years ago
Great feedback, thank you! I will have our carpenter draw up everything to the ceiling. So possibly move the trash can to the left side of the sink? Then I could just do two rows of drawers on the island for storage.
J Rabb
2 years ago
Did you decide to go with the Formica Calacatta Cava? Curious how you like it.
PRO
Sabrina Alfin Interiors
2 years ago
If you're splurging on custom cabinets (a) have all cabinets go to the ceiling and (b) use quartz for the counters. Laminate counters on custom cabinets will look a little chintzy IMO. Also, I'd lose the arched detail above the range. Will look cleaner and more up-to-date with straight edges.

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