Update 2- Kitchen ‘lightening’ up ideas
Mo Kotes
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Backsplash to lighten up a dark kitchen?
Comments (15)Thanks for all of the advice, everyone! I took some better pictures of the kitchen in terms of light (see below), although it has no flooring right now. The impetus for the slight remodel is a flood that started two floors above me and ruined all of my hardwood floors, so they're all pulled up and my condo is entirely concrete at the moment other than the kitchen and the bedrooms/bathrooms. That being said, based on your advice, I decided to suck it up and get new counters. I'm going with quartz with a carrara marble look, and I think I'm going to go with a white/frosted white glass tile pattern backsplash. Here's a picture of a cabinet and counter that are similar to mine with the backsplash I'm leaning toward. I'm not totally married to this one, though, so I'd love some input! I'm also including a picture of the flooring I'm leaning toward (although it's a tiny bit redder in person). Now I just need to choose a paint color! Thanks again, everyone, for convincing me that it's worth it to do new counters! Pictures of the kitchen now:...See MoreHelp me lighten up my kitchen
Comments (24)Thanks for all the suggestions. Bette P, I really had not thought of drywalling those arches. Great idea. We do have some drywall repair that needs to be done so maybe I will have them do that as well. In Florida they used to make wall shelves out of drywall. This was when large screen TV's were just coming in to style. We knew enough that we didn't want the whole wall to have permanent built ins so it was left blank and we had a large entertainment center in there for a long time. I appreciate your suggestion about the shelving and dust. After reading here recently we have decide to do just what you suggested and do primarily bottom storage drawers and bookshelves. I think we will do some picture frame molding around the tv and on each side. That cut out is over 17' I will check out Ikea Besta, not sure I have heard of it. When we moved here 15 years ago the "in" style was "Mediterranean", while I never went full in I did embrace the colors and tried to add some tropical too. I had two of the walls in the kitchen a burnt orange color. One of the upscale furniture stores is now advertising "de-Tuscanizing" We were joking the other night that is what a bunch of us are doing now. Would LG Vietra Clarino be the tone of counter top I should be looking at?http://www.lgviaterausa.com/products/289/213 Thanks again for the help. It is greatly appreciated. I'm so happy to have found Gardenweb again..I thought you were gone....See MoreNew home, want to lighten up kitchen on a budget
Comments (21)I'd leave the cabinets alone right now not because they're OK but because you want to eventually remodel and painting is NOT an easy quick fix. It's a ton of tedious work for the homeowner with probably poor results and/or $$$ to have it done professionally. A DIY paint job can result in textural probs, paint wearing off, cracking within a year or so depending upon the finish, the prep, the products used and the technique/exp employed. I've done my share of painting cabs including our current one and I'm OK with it but it's not a pro finish so I try hard not to stare too hard! I will say I've never painted NICE cabs such as yours and I probably wouldn't. We wanted to gut our current kitchen but a new heating system and several other more critcal redos bounced it out of our top 5 projects so we settled for DIY new cabinet doors/drawers and paint. My second comment is based on the fact you just moved in. You're going through the normal "I want to" thing we all go through initially after moving in. Your wife is in the dream stage because she's already thinking of gold rose hardware...lol. But, please take it from someone who's lived in and remodeled/gutted 6 homes. If possible I have never redone a kitchen or made major paint decisions in the first year of living anywhere and it's always, ALWAYS been the right decision (unless I throw some white paint on a crazy color wall) What I think intially is much different one year later and a lot of that has to do with exposure. Do you realize right now, that June is the darkest this kitchen will appear? It's the summer solstice and that means the sun is high...therefore not coming in the windows as much as when it's lower. Decidious trees will also shade the house. Concentrate on the cosmetic and take some of the advice already given re: lighting, the backsplash perhaps (I wouldn't bother to replace with tile though...go cheaper) We supplemented our undercab lighting with IKEA inexpensive LED tape lights that plug in so you might try that first if there's none currently. And congrats!...See Morehelp lighten up my kitchen,
Comments (13)It is a painting technique and really like the idea of white, how do I pick a color that does not clash with the fireplace or window trim, ceiling, etc. I don't want to add anything, (crown molding) ..I love the windows and don't want to take away from them, really like a clean, simple and sharp look, my decorating style is coastal. Thank you so much pricklypearcactus, I would have never thought of that. (would hate to have pinkish cabinets, my husband would kill me! Navajo white, I'll check that out....thanks everyone! (Move in is August 1st and our painter is coming then and paint, due to him painting and our kids coming in from out of state to help us move, don't have the timing to reflect on color after all the prior family's furnishings are out....See MoreMo Kotes
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