Swanky Mid-Century vs. Shaker Kitchen Cabinets. Advice Please!
B B
22 days ago
Mid-Century Style
Shaker Style
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How to get MidCentury Modern feel in kitchen with cherry cabinets
Comments (33)Thank you, thank you for so many thoughtful posts. This is an international move for us, so I have been travelling to coordinate everything involved - I only had 2 weeks to find something and this house ticks a lot of boxes for us, so I will work with it. I completely agree with many of you on working with what is there and with the Scandi modern look - as I said in my first post "will try to go with a mix of nature (lots of wood), clean lines, bright colors (fern green, orange, yellow, turquoise), and some funky accents". My mom is Danish and I have inherited Danish modern dining table & chairs, buffet, turquoise pottery, floor lamp, etc. so that is our style in general. Our stuff is pretty modern, but not industrial, more nature-oriented mixed with lots of ethnic art and crafts bought on our travels. I'm definitely not trying to recreate a period-perfect kitchen or house - as palimpsest accurately guessed, this is a split entry colonial revival ranch so I'm really not sure there is any period-perfect style anyway. But we do like to respect the period features of our homes (most recently an 1882 Victorian and a 1910 Tudor revival, both 4 stories so we are really looking forward to one main level!) (And I really enjoyed reading all the commentary here on period issues.) Nonetheless, Tuscan-looking or even American traditional just isn't us, or the rest of the house, ergo my desire to create a feel in kitchen more in keeping generally with our eclectic stuff and the period of the house. Even though they are not my taste, there is no way I could take down almost new solid maple (cherry-stained) cabinets, as much as I might love IKEA. Anyone have any experience stripping stain off cabinets like these? I "might" think about that as I would like them better in a lighter wood tone, of course even better with a slab front but too many cabinets to contemplate that. I like the suggestion to take down and store the uppers next to the range and do a big tiled backsplash with a big stainless range hood. I like that idea aesthetically and practically since microwave vents are never powerful enough and uppers near a stovetop always wind up sticky and greasy. Will definitely look for a sleek stainless pull, maybe with a curve. I wonder if it possible to somehow cut off the mullions from the glass-fronted ones?? For the floors, I have loved the look and feel of cork previously so I'm inclined to go with that - it needs something less busy to minimize the busy-ness of the cabinet fronts. I don't know what to do for the counters? Formica or metal-trimmed aren't what I was contemplating. I think stone or tile will look too "Tuscan"/90s - whatever you want to call it - with the cherry cabinets. Already too much wood cabinet for butcher block. That leaves concrete, stainless or that manufactured quartz that looks quite uniform. Any thoughts? Thank you for all the links - I loved some of the tile patterns, but am concerned about busy-ness. I haven't had a chance to look at all the lighting links - thinking something clean lined, Scandi looking, not space-age. I'm also a bit stuck on backsplash and paint color. I love green and will be using it elsewhere in the house, but I have too many memories of dark green with cherry in 90s kitchens. Maybe another shade? I do love yellow and orange, which again will show up elsewhere in the house alot. I guess I am just really hung up on that cherry and what goes with it......See MoreMixing white and wood cabinets in a mid-century inspired kitchen
Comments (54)Please please please try to overlook the OTR microwave __ I can't. I simply can not overlook it. Unless everyone in your house is, at minimum, 5 '7" tall, that is a huge huge huge safety and design defect. Per KDA standards, the microwave should never be any higher than 4" below shoulder height for the shortest person to use it. The reason is that for anyone less than 5'7", they * have to lean over the stove to reach up and into it (clothes catch fire from burners - happened to my neighbor who ended up with 6 reconstructive surgeries on her face, neck & arms) and * are lifting hot heavy things from above shoulder level (spills and burns) BTW average woman in the US is 5'4 -5'5. When we were house shopping, kept seeing all these "and it has an updated kitchen" claims. And they were all sticking the microwaves over the range as part of the "improvements" (along with the biology-lab-look stainless steel stuff) and thinking they had improved the house and the price should be up in $$$$. All I saw was a large renovation project to get the #$%@ microwave down from being level with my nose -- I'm 5'2". I simply walked away and looked at something else. If - and only if - I totally loved everything about a house, the offer would be contingent on the seller - at their cost - correcting the safety hazard of the microwave no matter how much it cost to change....See MoreKitchen Advice New Build (first-time homebuyers; w/pics)
Comments (25)Congratulations on your first house! It will be exciting to be part of a new community that is forming. - I agree that the natural finish cabinets are a good choice, but just for your own peace of mind, find out how much the upgrade to Shaker would be. Assuming Shaker continues to be a valued classic, that could be an advantage for you one day when you sell. - About that bi-level bar island...... It might seem like a great idea for adult gatherings, but if you need to talk somebody out of that, think about the future children using it!!! It's safer for them if the surface is NOT so elevated where they will be perching. Plus, there are many advantages to a one level surface so they can spread out their big pieces of artwork, craft projects, etc. They want to be near the person working in the kitchen, so make that easy for them and their stuff. - For the counters, did you consider the leathered finishes instead of the shiney ones? It looks like there are maybe four available at the link you provided, including this one which could be a happy combo with the natural cabinetry: https://www.chbriggs.com/pub/media/chb/Venetia-Cream-Leathered.jpg It seems like non-shiney might work better in a scandi-type vibe. In general, when man-made materials are imitating stone, I think the less obvious the pattern the better, so the ways in which the imitation falls short aren't in your face! Fortunately, your choices include a really nice option without a distracting pattern: https://www.chbriggs.com/pub/media/chb/Bianco-Pur.jpg - About the drawers, it really would be so handy to have at least one stack of drawers since there are so many small things in a kitchen to keep organized. Maybe use the cabinet to the right of the sink, as I am guessing from the handle that the one to the left is the trash bin? Personally, I think pullouts are over-rated, and a big un-constructed cabinet holds more (and costs less). Maybe you could see about switching one of the two pull-outs in the standard package to a 3 or 4 drawer stack. - Finally, flooring. It's nice that the same material will be used throughout the main level! But again, you have man-made materials imitating natural ones so you would potentially have to contend with the dissonance of fake wood floors next to real wood furniture and cabinetry, not just in your kitchen but in the living room and other space. Sigh. Thinking outside the box a bit, could you step aside from the floors trying to look like wood (and not doing a very good job of it) and go with one of the tile-like options instead? Those choices are quite limited at the link you provided, and all imitating travertine, a stone with a pretty dramatic pattern. I'd ask if other flooring patterns are available and see what upcharge there might be, if any, and try to find something with a pattern that won't be trying to dominate everything else you put in the rooms. Right now the market for LVP is mostly the fake wood patterns, so finding imitations of stone or ceramic tile is hard (I went through this recently myself!), but they are out there. Find a flooring store that loans out samples so you can take a piece home to live with it for a while....See MoreHelp with EXTERIOR design of Mid-Century Modern home
Comments (147)@Indecisiveness there will be windows lower in the bedrooms on each wing . We have one side that will open to a courtyard. so this won’t be in any comparison to a basement- that’s for sure. im Sure that was a fun experience! Basement living And a father who did it all himself. That was my life too (minus the basement). My dad would buy and sale quite a lot and we lived in many unfinished homes . He loves those fixer uppers and living in them until they sold. 😂 @Mark Bischak i do understand the garage statement . But having it away from the home gave us more space inside and more light. Would be open to any suggestions for sure. @ourfarmhouse- yes this home has very tall ceilings . Always wanted a two story feel in a one story home. The living room will have metal beams and lined with a light colored wood. The fire place will have a whole wall of rough white brick . @ourfarmhouse at the front of your renderimags- to the left of the orange door. What would this be? Kind of curious. I have already printed them out and wasn’t sure. as for the garage. It just wouldn’t fit pulled into the house now that we’ve added a mud room . so you like that flat roof wirh breeze way. Or do you see a different design maybe with some pitch to it? thanks again for your time (and everyone else’s)...See MoreB B
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