View into the living room which needs help too. The furnishings come with the house ( vacation rental).

Do you want to keep the cabin look/feel to it? What type of appliances are you getting? I ask because you can do a rustic/modern with stainless counter and stainless floating opening shelving for an updated look. If you want a more traditional/cabin feel, your idea of open shelving sounds fine, but I think multi-color dishes and glassware would be more fun.

I will get stainless appliances. I would like more of a contemporary cabin feel but not modern. I want an organic Zen feel to the cabin.

I'd start with new flooring selection. If you like open shelving, I'd remove the doors and add shelves for above the sink also. But, I think I'd leave a couple of cabinets on the ends with doors on it to hide the ugly items. Staining the wood a light color is also an option, instead of just painting white.

A few other ideas - new doors that reflect the look of the base cabs better -
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floated shelving that re-uses the wood -
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open shelving with base metal that refers to either the steel, or slate in living room -
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I love it! Thank you. I want to leave the lower cabinets wood thoughts?

Also the way the refrigerator sits it cuts off usable counter space so I was thinking of taking out the end of the counter turning the refrigerator right and sliding it back that would open up the small kitchen more to the living room too.

Studio thanks! I was thinking of whitewashing the ceilings in all rooms like one of your photos. The cabin is small so this would help brighten it up.

Glad it helps. :)

Darcy where did your photo go? I want to save that!

Anybody else have any ideas?

Bump

I think this is the photo I posted but didn't want to confuse you. But, is a sample of open shelving, above the sink too. I think it would be fine to leave the lower cabinets alone, but maybe stain the upper cabinets in a light teal stain? It would add some color and complement the wood tones in the cabin. Teal stain cabinet sample too.

Thanks Darzy. I'm not sure about teal though :)

Teal not for everyone for sure. A creamy white would look great on the upper cabinets.

You can get an idea of the effect by combining the Cedar and Rustic pics, up above. If you like the idea of something softer, the mushroom colour in Rustic would look well,too.

I love the cedar! If the cabinets are in good shape, I would focus on countertop, backsplash & floor to make it pop!

Vaca the whole house is cedar top to bottom. I want to break it up a bit because every room screams 70s.

Thinking of concrete countertops.

Would you consider appliances that are not stainless? Stainless just doesn't seem to complement the cabin look. I like the white ones that are there already, especially if you paint the upper cabinets white. It would be cool to do a colored floor -- like blue marmoleum, or a yellow painted floor.

I am open to white appliances however I don't want a rustic cabin I want more of a zen cabin feel and I really want out of the 70s.

I think Visual Jill has something there. Stainless appliance may not be the best idea for the cabin vibe. The colored floor sounds like a great solution for color without staining or changing the wood tones. Marmoleum in a color...oh yes!

There are a few companies, GE being one, that offer slate grey appliances. The artistry series pictured gets generally good reviews, as well, as another option for you. Would look well w concrete workbench ( or soapstone :) ).

I also love the cedar but see what you mean about the upper cabinets. Those are too much even for wood-fixated me. The "Traditional Kitchen" photo you just posted with white cabinets looks very nice with the surrounding wood. In your kitchen, I'd go with white, slate, or black appliances and sink rather than stainless. A concrete counter would be interesting!

I was thinking concrete counter. I haven't got that far yet since we close next week but I'm thinking a lighter color concrete. I'm at a loss as to what I choose first? Backsplash, floor or counter.

Your first step is to be sure your cabinet construction will support the weight of a concrete counter. I can't tell what's on there now, but it looks light. I'd choose the floor, counter, and backsplash together and not commit until you're happy with the combo. I've seen about a gazillion "Design Dilemmas" on Houzz in which people buy (say) an expensive granite counter and then can't find a floor or backsplash to blend with it.

Yeah it's Formica on the counter tops so good point on the structure to hold weight of cement counter tops. Is it a sin to paint the cedar ceiling?