Kitchen Update—Looking for Opinions!
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White Beveled Arabesque In Our Kitchen? Bee's opinion please!
Comments (52)OK, no pictures yet, but here is where we are at: 1) Installed beadboard (the wood stuff that comes in 6" (or so) tongue and groove strips. 2) It was a pain for our contractor to get it all laid in tight with no seams etc. Cost us more than I had hoped, but still worth it. 3) Painted with oil base primer 4) One coat of oil based topcoat in the same color as our cabinets. It looks very good - we think the verticals in the beadboard go nicely with the vertically fluted columns (which I didn't think would work so well at all). We had bought some Utilitech LED under cabinet lights from Lowes and we returned these as they were 1) not dimmable and 2) Kinda ugly. We are looking to purchase a different set of "softer light" dimmable LED lights so we will only have "landing strip" illumined countertops when DW really wants everything "lit up". Our hope is that with dimmable "soft white" under cabinet LEDs the white beadboard will give us what we want (not too bright, and predictable) until we have time to replace the Staron countertops with some sexy granite or soapstone and a different backsplash. I promise to post pics after the final coat of oil piant and after UC LEDs are in place! At this point we really think the beadboard looks nicer than we had hoped esp. for an interim solution....See MoreXpost from Kitchens: Kitchen layout of cans, opinions please.
Comments (1)6' is fine for spaces which don't require as much lighting. If you intend to have both the Ucl and recessed lighting on simultaneously, the recessed lighting may be altered. A higher ceiling requires more light output, so it may help to use higher output CR6 lamps instead of those sold at HD. It might be helpful asking the designer how he arrived at the design and why....See MoreNeed to update country looking kitchen
Comments (150)Hi tinker - Im late to the post, but just have one thought I wanted to share.... You have shown several pictures with kind of busier patterns - specifically on the floor. With your oak cabs and wainscoting - I think you need to pick which you want to be the busy element. Which do you love most? One of the three needs to be really toned down. Now, you have said painting the cabs and wainscoting is off limits - if that is so, the floor needs to be really, really movement free. That said, based on some of your floor pix you have put up - I think your kitchen would be the prettiest with the wainscoting painted white, walls painted a buttery cream, and then one of your great floor choices. Cabs as is and then the addition of any of your accents. I am married to a - "you don't paint wood" guy. However, I'm working to amend that to "you don't paint good wood". Realistically, the wainscoting is not technically "good wood". I know my DH would fuss - but I could wangle the painted wainscoting... Although, maybe not your priority, it would give you so much more room for pattern where you love it most. Also - I think painting the walls in the blues and greens will make your oak appear more orange - the opposite color wheel contrast thing. I would instead go with a complementary color (hense the buttery cream) leaving your accents to be in the great contrast colors. I'm in the midst of planning my budget kitchen and am having to plan around more busy wood than you can imagine (fir ceilings, with big beams and an oak floor). My DH won't let me get painted cabinets - so, I have really, really been on the same mission, and looked at a million pictures. I think you really need to decide which element will be calm, and then stick to it....See MoreHelp! Replacing kitchen floor with updated look that coordinates
Comments (15)Since your wood floor appears to be factory finished or engineered hardwood, it will be INTENSELY difficult to match it. If you can...great but don't set your hopes on it. For that reason I vote "no" to continuing the wood. Not because it would look 'bad' but because it will be near impossible to find. Now onto the question at hand. You have counters that 'read' gray (regardless of the other colours found in them...from 10ft away they look gray = reads gray). You have backslpash that reads gray. You have what appear to be (photos can be deceiving) off-white cabs and a light tan colour on the walls. In other words you have a monochromatic scheme in the kitchen. That makes this a bit more difficult to deal with. Your hardwoods are a deep espresso colour (which mean you have a dark house). This would be easier if the wood was lighter...but that probably won't change for another 10 years....so we have to deal with things as they are. Personally I would say a 'vein cut' travertine-look porcelain tile will look very good in the kitchen. BUT any colour you add to the kitchen (gray with some gray and some off white) is going to have issues with the DARK reddish/brown hardwood. That's where things will need work. Personally I think the ideal colour is currently on your kitchen floor. It is light, it is bright and it is soft enough to work with the wood. An update at this point would be a repeat of what you have. Or you have to choose a THIRD colour for your kitchen. Right now you don't have a third colour. You have monochromatic. A blue slate-look tile would work but your kitchen will look VERY dark...as in 'black hole' dark. A dark(er) floor will require a lighting update, a paint up date and then furniture update. Dark wood table on dark flooring is a tough look to 'like'. That would mean you either update the stools and table OR you find a WHITE or very light AREA RUG to help define the table from the floor (this is super helpful when walking through late at night with the lights off...your toes will thank you for it). Think this through. And think through the hardwood as well. And think through the wall colours and the budget for new lighting (as in adding 50% more lighting)....See Moremcarroll16
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