Wishing you all the best!

Looking forward to progress pictures.

Probably mentioned but will a dishwasher be able to be added in the future?

I remember from my kitchen forum years that natural maple will yellow over time.

Take a look at this old thread.

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/2411972/natural-maple-cabinets-aging-fading-and-glaze-help

Yes, Eld, there will be a 24 inch cabinet that can be taken out.

Eileen, the cabinet maker mentioned that they now use a different type of product that doesn't yellow like the old stuff. I didn't bring it up, he did. I actually like a yellow tinge to wood. My flooring is a yellow color, which you can't hardly find these days because it's not popular.

You are making good progress. I just learned that one of the slabs for my counters was cracked at the vendor. While I’m thankful that it happened there and not at the fabricator, I still had to find a replacement quickly. It seems these sort of projects almost never proceed perfectly smoothly. The trick seems to be being able to make changes that both you and your contractor can manage to solve problems that arise. I hope you find a floor you like.

Did you look at Coretec brand flooring during your search? It is really a superior product and comes in many nice warm brown tones.

OutsidePlaying, I did but the cost and issues with scratches on their lower end products made me decide against it. I can't afford their higher end product.

I’ve been quietly following along but this called for an out-loud ”Yay!”

USAA is wonderful - I've been with them for 30+ years!

I'd reconsider the Pergo. The SmartCore Ultra from Lowe's is much superior and 100% waterproof. I wish you could visit my house and walk it - you'd be suprised.

Lola, can you post a picture of your floor?

Lola, I read the reviews on Lowes' site and the newer ones are really bad.

That is great news Kath!! I am looking forward to photos!

@eld6161 - I was just looking through my phone and I don't have many that show my floor very well. But here's a photo I took of my cat. :)

And this is the link to the flooring I have: https://www.lowes.com/pd/SMARTCORE-Ultra-8-Piece-5-91-in-x-48-03-in-Lexington-Oak-Luxury-Vinyl-Plank-Flooring/1000789834

We had it installed in Feb of 2022, and it has held up well to winter/summer foot traffic, two cats, dining chairs, and one overflowing kitchen sink. It has zero scratches.

Thank you. I'm always collecting this type of info got future use.

It looks really nice.

Thanks, eld6161. I'm really happy with it. I would put this in another home in a heartbeat. We did our entire downstairs with this - replacing carpet in the living and dining rooms, and cheap pergo in the kitchen and family room.

THRILLED to read that your insurance will cover your expenses!

(You will love the drawers.)

Lola, looked again at the Smartcore. There are two colors that are on the light side and will check them out next time I go to Lowes.

Kath, so happy for you being able to get the countertops you wanted. Great that the insurance company came through. USAA is excellent. Yes, you will love the drawers.

May I offer a piece of advice? Do not commit to a counter until you have chosen your flooring. Sometimes you have to adjust your preferences to adapt to the color tones of the floor, in order for all of the surfaces to "play well" together. If you have a sample of your cabinet finish, take that and a sample swatch of your paint with you when you shop for both floor and counter.

I've just seen too many people post on the kitchen forum who are unhappy with their remodel but can't put their finger on why - and it is usually mismatching of tones/warmth between some of their various surfaces - walls, floor, cabinet, backsplash, and counter.

Of course, you may already be on top of this!

Raee, not on top of anything. I've looked through thousands of pictures and still don't know what type of flooring to get. Even if I had all those things together, I don't know if I'd be able to tell if they didn't go together or not until it was actually in the kitchen. I can't even decide on what hardware to get, other than the style. Other than light colored hardwood floors, I really hate all other flooring that I've seen. It's all so dull and ugly and the darker colors are not what I want. I made that mistake years ago in my livingroom and before it was all down, I pulled it all up.

Going back to the counter store tomorrow morning to make sure the counter is what I want. I guess I can paint a piece of cardboard and take it with me. I've already picked the paint.

Natural-Maple-Kitchen-Cabinets.jpg (1200×802) (stagecoachdesigns.com)

This is what came up when I googled Martinque Dawn with natural maple cabinets. I like the color and it's what is now in my livingroom and hallway.

I want bright white counters: Atacama - Valiant Surfaces It was one of the brightest white backgrounds that I found.

I like this simple pull but can't decide which color: Amerock BP55277GM Blackrock 5-1/16 Inch Center to Center | Build.com I like the gunmetal but it looks shiny and may not go with my simple kitchen, also like black and satin nickel.

I love your paint choice - as it looks on my laptop, anyway, haha! Yes, paint a piece of paper with it to take with you.

Atacama looks kind of grayish on my computer - shows how unreliable it can be. You have seen it in person so you know what it really looks like.

I relied on using a couple of pieces of typing/printer paper as a background (or on) various things to be able to pick out the undertones - against that plain white, I could see if something like a paint chip or counter leaned kind of pinkish, or gray, or tan etc.

Very often people will wait until everything else is in, then get one or two of the pulls in the finishes that they can't decide between, to see how they look IRL. I see that Lowes carries that brand and model, so you could buy there and return the ones you decide against. Or, maybe your cabinetmaker has samples that you could borrow?

I initially wanted polished nickel in my Hafele pulls, but they had stopped making that finish in that style by the time I was ready. I ended up with the satin nickel and really like it - it just has this soft glow against the painted cabinets.

I really love the black (or dark) knobs against what you’ve picked so far.

I have satin nickel on maple cabinets and am tiring of it now. In our family room, I had cabinets painted soft white and put black knobs on the lower storage cabs and love them. There is stacked stone on the fireplace so it blends well.

Kath - I love those cabinets.

Before we settled on this color of floor, we purchased five different boxes of various colors and put them down on our floor to see how they looked. We repackaged the ones we didn't like and took them back - Lowes has a generous return policy. That way, you can see the color in your house and WALK on it on the surface you'll be installing it on. Walking on it when it's sitting on concrete does not give you the true "feel" for the floor.

Good luck! Your kitchen is going to be amazing!

Well, I took your advice Raee, and took my paint sample to the countertop store. The saleswoman, my daughter and I all agreed that the Martinique green doesn't go with the counter. The color is too yellow. So, we thought one of these would go better but I'm not sure about the bluer tone: Waterscape SW 6470 | Blue Paint Colors | Sherwin-Williams

Hazel SW 6471 | Blue Paint Colors | Sherwin-Williams

Slow Green SW 6456 | Green Paint Colors | Sherwin-Williams

or I can stay with my wall color and change the countertop to a more beigey, non sparkly one, that I like a little due to the bigger pieces of things in it, it doesn't seem so busy, but no sparkle and not bright at all: Yosemite - Valiant Surfaces

Grabbing a quick bite and then heading to Lowes to get paint samples since Sherman Williams want $10 a sample. They are much cheaper getting in the Valspar paint.

Well, the two lighter shades mentioned above look like Crest toothpaste on the wall. lol.

Kath, if you have the time, I love to paint pieces of white board with samples of my final paint choices. I buy a big piece at hobby lobby, cut it in half and use both sides. You can use those foam brushes which cost about $1 to paint with. Then tape the board to different walls to see how it looks. You have a large enough sample to gauge how well the color works in your room and it’s portable. Plus you can paint over it later for another room.

I picked out what I thought was a pretty green once and it looked like toothpaste when I did the sample! Yuck!

Here in Colorado there are a LOT of USAA haters. Their rates are higher than most and their adjusters are not very generous. I just filed 4 roofing claims with two different insurance companies....same roofer... and I'm pretty happy with the outcome. My roofer made all the difference in the world! Your craftsmen will make the difference for you too!

Your cabinets sound high end! I saw the photo....very nice choice! Great handles. Some very nice choices Kath! Looking forward to photos in the future. Good for you ...getting it all covered by insurance.

Outsideplaying, thanks but have decided to keep the old livingroom/hall paint color afterall. I like it and decided instead to change the countertop. I got the Yosemite Quartz. I went back with a friend who worked with tile most of her life so she and I didn't care for the bright whites I had planned to change to. I liked the Yosemite with the old paint color, my daughter and this friend, along with the woman helping me.

Nicole, sorry to hear that. I've now had two water related claims with them and no issues, so far. Those aren't my cabinets, just a picture I found with the type of cabinets I'm getting and paint color. They will be Shaker style door and drawers.

I'm pretty sure I've found the sink I want and now just to pick the flooring, which has been the hardest. I've narrowed it down to Pergo Deco Oak or some very pale color. It's not quite what I want but what I want isn't out there unless I got with hardwood floors.