OMG, you don’t have an ugly kitchen! It’s efficient, cute - I love your back door. I just wish it weren’t in the kitchen. Here’s what I want you to consider.

• No cabinet glazes. They don’t age well, and they start out dated.
• Your kitchen is wonderfully petite - two toned cabinetry is going to look odd. You just don’t have enough cabinets or a long enough sight line to make this work. Honestly, I’d go white or wood, not oak or hickory.
• Yes, Option 1 - keep your floors consistent with what you’ve got.

I am constantly impressed by what the layout gurus here can do. If you can give us a layout with measurements, someone might see something that can really improve the workflow in your space.

Thanks for this perspective! I do believe that Option 1 of extending the wood floor would look the best. But I'm not in love with the wood overload (wood cabinets, wood floors) and I don't want painted cabinets on the lower cabinets due to wear and tear/chipping. We are paying a lot for hardwood cabinets and it seems like we should let them shine!

I agree about the two tone in our small kitchen but was drawn to the idea due to not wanting wood everywhere.

Interested in learning more about the glaze. I really love the samples we have but don't want something that won't age well.

Any suggestions on a cool tone wood that looks more modern?

Finally here is our layout!

Thanks so much!

Put another way, If you prioritized continuing the floor from the dining room, what would you do with your cabinets? White obviously would look amazing, but IMO would not be practical for our family (2 kids, 2 dogs, 2 full time working parents). And I am worried that painted lowers chip after a few years. Maybe I am wrong? I love the look of white cabinets with a wood floor!

So what would you do that would look good, not get dinged up and stained, and not get dated?

Also here's the floor plan that was supposed to be attached last time.

Hi Gretchen. I can’t see the layout 😢

To me, when I look at that door I see way too much detail in the profile, all of it outlined in black, in addition to the distressed wood. It is a very heavy look for a small space. This is about what you like. If you like the glaze, go for it, but I think you should look at images of spaces in which that door has been installed, and make sure it gives you the look you are hoping for.

So what is the look you are hoping for? I think you need inspiration images. Google images of small kitchens that use wood cabinetry and see what you think is pretty. You will learn a lot about your own taste, and you will get a lot of good information from them. I only found one with wood cabinets that I thought pretty, but I’m sure you will find more.

By the way, the way to keep your space from looking like a wood suit is to choose a darker (or much lighter) wood for the cabinets than the oak of the floors. Since you used the word “modern” I’m going to just let you know that a simpler door profile in walnut would be gorgeous. It could not be more different from the door you are considering though.

Oh wow - you are adding a mud room! You are making lots of changes if I’m seeing this correctly. How great.

You needn’t use painted cabinets. Just use cabinets that are a darker wood than your floors, like walnut or alder, or stained to look darker, or use something like beech that is much lighter. Your “enemy” is any final finish that mimics the classic red oak floor. As long as you get some contrast in your finishes, it will look fine.

Oh, yes we are not using the same profile as that door. We are going with a shaker style. The sample is to show the color.

I have a lot to think about. I'm reconsidering white since that is the look I like. I'm just worried about durability!

I’m sure you can get input from others on the durability of painted finishes. Conversion varnish is supposed to be the most durable option and your cabinet manufacturer would apply that in controlled conditions in the factory. It’s not at all comparable to a diy finish with latex paint. What cabinet company are you planning to use?

I have white painted cabinets and no issues with chipping. I have 2 giant German Shepherds and a husband who slams cabinets doors, or uses his foot to close. (So irritating) They really take a lot of abuse, but 9 years later they don’t show any wear.

We just did our kitchen over and had a similar dilemma. We opened up our kitchen and needed to replace the flooring. The rest the flooring on that level was 60 year old red oak with the lovely orange tint. We extended new oak into the kitchen and replaced some damaged areas in the old flooring (carpet nails, pet stains etc) and had the whole house sanded and refinished with a clear poly (no stain). It's amazing how hard it is to distinguish the old floors from the new..... and nary a hint of orange!

We chose medium stained maple cabinets and they look great withe floors. The Taj Mahal counters don't hurt either!

Good Luck!

Gusman

Thanks for the input! We are going with extending the wood floors to maintain continuity of the space.

We are now stuck in choosing cabinets. We definitely want shaker style and some kind of light wood with a cooler tone, perhaps paired with some white painted (although thanks to @eam44 I am reconsidering two tone for this small space).

Looking into Maple, Maple with very light glaze (just to change the tint, not to get the brush strokes/antiquey look), or potentially bleached white oak.

Bleached white oak maybe like this or this.

Maple like this or this.

or, whatever this is.