The first part of your post sounds just like me. I love so many different styles too!

Are you wanting painted cabinetry with wood counters or are you wanting to blend stained wood cabinets with painted cabinets or do you want two different colors of paint for cabinets like your inspiration photo?

If you have very little space I would keep it simple-one shade of paint for all cabinetry. I love the muted shades of gray many seem to be using lately. Perhaps the desk could have a different color.

I like desk option 2 for its clean lines. The lines of desk 2 are more like the lines of the desk in your inspiration pic. You can alway add the rustic element in the finish.
I am thinking hickory floors may be more rustic looking, however, my personal preference is maple flooring, especially if you are going to add a brown stain.
I hope I've understood your dilemas correctly.
You have great taste and I can't wait to see what you choose to do!

I guess I vote for table 1, although I don't like the turned legs...Much prefer the look of the island in your inspiration...But Table 2 doesn't look 'friendly' to me...Too sleek or something? And I really prefer the wood top on Table 1, which may be what's doing it for me.

I'm just not a hickory fan, and do like rustic/figured maple. The only thing I don't like about it is the cold whiteness, which you plan to tone down. These are just my own preferences, so I'm not sure how they'd help you, though. The floors in your inspiration photo look very rough and rustic...more hand scraped. I think if you do the onsite finishing, you could get a finish that's less glossy, so more rustic. I really wish we'd done site finished with Waterlox instead of prefinished...Both for finish gloss control and overall upkeep and durability.

If you are asking for choices of the table and flooring that seem to have the feel of your inspiration pic (which I have seen and like too), I would say that both table #1 and floor #1 are the correct choices. Both of the other 2 seem more modern in lines to me.

rhome and I shop together regularly...or we should LOL I like the farm table as well, partly because of the wood top and partly because of the softness it provides to the space.

I really dislike hickory. If I remember right, it also has a tendancy to turn towards yellow as it gets light....which would not work with your other floors. I'd stick to the maple with the darkener and I will highly recommend eased edges. They are so much nicer than a totally flat floor.

rhome and I shop together regularly...or we should LOL

Now that we're in the same neighborhood... :-)

Oh - those turned legs are a little heavy aren't they?

I feel the same way as megpie and rhome about the hickory - I have odd feelings about pre-finished. I would really rather do a less plastic feeling, repairable finish like waterlox but dh wants this to be over soon and I can't blame him! Waterlox and winter don't go together well.

I tried to tell him that waiting would add character and earned "the look" in return. Ha!

We are thinking wood tops, painted cabinets. All the cabinets would be painted the same - inside the pantry which is visible - would be an accent color like pale celery or a tone of robins egg blue - it peaks out here and there. The main colors for cabinets and walls I've managed to narrow down to less than 10!

Considering something like Elephant's breath from Farrow and Ball for the cabinets, lime white for the walls, or some true historic colors. I can't tell right now cause its all blue from the insulation and has stunning raw plywood floors.

I should say the colors of the rooms that can see into the kitchen - the farrow and ball chart is close enough:
Hall - Cream
Dining Room - Chinese blue
Living Room - Elephant's Breath
Bath - Dimity

Elephant's Breath...Hmm...Would you expect nutty? Grassy? Just hold your own breath instead of finding out? ;-)

Interesting name for a color! It's hard to tell on my screen...Is it a soft gray? The description says 'warm neutral,' so left me wondering if I see it right. I like the value of it, though (light but with character), and love the idea of the open pantry giving a peek into more color.

Have you seen the paper made from elephant dung?

Here is a link that might be useful: Elephant poo poo paper

I vote for the the maple, maybe, and I think the figuring will keep it from being too maple-y. But most maple tends pink, though some is yellow. The hickory may be browner. Will you be able to choose your planks?

As to the table, another no to the legs, yes to the top, inspiration picture is the best look.

But in these I see where the shiny flirty is coming in. You need a few librarians and nursery school teachers too. Table #2 is just too stark, but simple, plain legs and an honest top might serve you best. True, you can throw over your flirty table like a spring fling (it's not like it's the cabinets) but finding a relationship that will endure will be more satisfying in the long run.

Same with the floor. The Hickory is all lively and let's dance, but you're going to be looking at that floor for a long long time, and the Waltz has lasted 10 times longer than the Charleston and it's still going strong.

Why not flirt with a cookie jar instead? Then when another catches your eye you can just call yourself a collector!

You all have me laughing out loud (hard to do but much needed on this end)!

The link to the elephant poop paper says Amazon doesn't know if or when it will be back in stock... in high demand or totally rejected? Either tres chic or truly disgusting. (I know what I vote for.)

Tables - I love the vintage look of #2 (disagree that it's too sleek; at least from the picture it looks like 50s enamel). Combined with a warmer wood and the right paint (love robin's egg) it would be great, not too cold. Agree that both pink and yellow wood would not be appealing; brown is much better - will stain take care of that? I love the potential depth of maple but in quantity, especially natural, it does strike me as specifically contemporary.

As rhome said, you're asking for opinions and you will get every combination and then some. Why not look for the inspiration photos (oh, I forgot, your DH is in a hurry). I vote for #2 table, #1 floor for that look.

Ok, re: kitchen - I'm voting for #1 and #1.

Now re: Elephant paper - I MUST point out that under the description it says "Also features odorless" ! For all who might be wondering.... Is that a usual description for paper???
Also of note, scroll down and link to other colors that are available! I might just need to buy this as a gift for someone.

I have to wonder how you came across Poo Poo paper...Were you searching for dung products? Interesting! I have seen scented paper before, but glad to hear this is not...

So not interesting. I found it in a gift shop in Hampden, honey. Bawlmer dialect makes that h-am-den-hun with this impossible to describe nasal "a". The big neighborhood festival is called honfest. Women who grew up in Hampden are called "hons" if they display big hair.

I gave the paper to the kids next door and it was a great hit.

I guess I'll go fish again on flooring. Sigh! I feel like I'm going to be the bait. But this is good and exactly what I needed to hear.

Here is a link that might be useful: Honfest

i think table 2 with different hardware. maybe changing the pull on the drawer to something more "country/rustic" would help soften it.

i also vote for floor 2 with a stain.....

Contractors mentioned to me when I was considering a prefinished eased edge floor that it is hard to get gunk out of little valleys between boards. Maybe so, maybe not. Something to consider. I don't really think you've found the right table yet. Sorry! I don't like the turned legs, either, and I think the second one is not in tune with your vision. Did you say DH is in a hurry for a table? Get a temp something from goodwill or consignment shop. Also, Restoration Hardware has a rustic pine line.
Lisa

the maple flooring seems to slick to me, not very rustic. I don't think it fits the style you're looking for. I'm not crazy about either table. I also think something more like the island is your small pic would be better.

Pllog, that's pretty funny. I know that's my trouble and it gets compounded by the fact that the room is naked, waiting for its last inspection for insulation. I usually find one thing to base other choices on but I'm not finding blue insulation inspiring.

I have about 49 inspiration pictures. They tell me I like English georgian, modern and I need a psychiatrist. Dh likes "guy" rustic with some country mixed in. We are trying for painted cabinets in a cottage setting with the orderliness or maybe I mean sparseness of georgian layouts.

Hi lisaslists! Dh would like a floor, some cabinets, a sink and the range back. Anything that gets him dinner without my constant shopping!

I am wondering if those who comment on maple as being slick or contemporary have seen character-grade or figured maple? It's quite different than the clear that is usually seen. Much warmer and more interesting.

Maybe it's a coarser grain everyone is wanting for your more rustic look, Bmore? You said you have oak and mahogany already...Is it really impossible to do an oak flooring that is stained reasonably close enough to coordinate with whatever you have already? (Not necessarily 'match', but 'go with?')

Rhome has a good point. I'm assuming you want hardwood, not the authentic pine. :) But oak is the one that will give you the look you're looking for, including the browner color. What colors are your other floors? Would a natural oak go okay? Or honey? Another way to take the eye off the notmatchingness might be to do a herringbone layout. That would also be a rustic look because it's what you do with short pieces.

Love, love, love the idea of Elephant's Breath for the cabinets. I can't wait to get my F&B color card in the mail. I think the thicker top of table 1 fits your inspiration, but I don't like the turned legs. Maybe it's the white paint and turned legs together that makes it sort of cutesy country? Table #2 seems to lack heft and is a bit sleek for your inspiration. I don't know about the floors. I'd prefer site finished, but I like the grain and rustic character of hickory. I have seen figured maple, but it's usually in more stylized pieces of furniture...like deco...

Well. The existing floors look sorta like the picture in the link, but the surface is in much better condition and the proportions of the design is a little bit "more delicate" and less hefty.

From previous use and the diy refinishing efforts of other owners, the floors have one refinishing left in their life and then they must be ripped out. We'd rather not risk a complete refinishing. We have a height challenge in that the new floors will be higher than the existing floors by about 1/4 to 3/8".

Funnily enough, we went to yet another place to look at flooring and they had awesome yellow pine for very cheap. Nice oak, select or better, mostly better, only in wide boards. If asked what I liked best, it'd be the vg heart pine. I have a local source for longleaf heart pine flooring.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1590602}}

Pretty floor. Now I totally get what you mean about the brown. That's brown. And I don't think it would look all that hot with any of the options we've been discussing, except the maple stained to match (not that staining maple nicely is all that easy...).

If you like the heart pine best, and have a good source, is there a reason why it isn't in the running? Do you just not want distressed? I put my hardwood in 8 years ago. It's pretty darned hard. But it has dings. They happen. Wood of any kind is softer than some of the stuff that occasionally gets dropped on it. So pine is a softwood... So, you're not likely to drop a typewriter on it in the kitchen. A pot, even cast iron, will or won't make a dent depending on which part hits first. A spoon shouldn't mar the floor. Distressing is rustic, especially the natural kind, and you said you wanted a rustic look.

b-more- we must be kindred spirits! I too am a native (my email is balmergirl- no one really gets it but natives) of Baltimore. We live just north of the city line now in Towson, and I too love Georgian, English, etc. I call my remodel English-Southern-scullery-idustrial- whatever that is.

Have you looked into salvage flooring? I got mine on Craig's List 2 years ago in Aberdeen from a guy who deconstructs buildings- 180 SF for $280!! We are planning on trying to find 2 sets of salvage french doors at Second Chance or Housewerks in the next coupl of weeks.

What part of town are you in?

Hey Bmore, consider this flooring option. I just had 'stranded carbonized" bamboo by Dragonfly installed and am happy with it. Very dense and can be refinished.

The mottled coloration is more rustic than I had expected, but it is growing on me. Not as strongly patterned as hickory. Plays sort of 'rustic gallery' in this contemporary space. It seems like it would be just right for the look in your inspiration picture. And DH will like that it is prefinished.

Here is a link that might be useful: look for stranded carbonized, not zebra

Forgot to add that the bamboo color is working well with the older oak cabinetry here, so it may play nice with your other floors. Many other flooring choices fought with the other wood elements here.

Liking the pine idea, or Celtic's bamboo better than the hickory or maple.

With the heart pine, clear, 3.25" wide, very long boards (8 to 12 feet) is what I can find in vertical grain. I can get select or common in wider boards. I'm afraid of recreating that 80's country look.

I want comfy, a bit cottage. We'll look at the bamboo - good idea and the photos do look like the style pic.

Hi Amberly! We've been to second chance. If you want really nice flooring, right now they have some outstanding brand new stuff like antique pine remilled from beams, wormy white oak antique, perfectly clear or figured white, red oak, maple, walnut or cherry. I have been looking around on craigslist, but nothing so far.

So, plllog, yes, rustic does scare me a bit. Everything in the house is vintage, but not the 200 year old antique kinda vintage. This house is a bungalow that wants to be colonial revival. I'm afraid that if its too rustic, it'll look like it doesn't belong here.

Got it. No pine anywhere but the kitchen. The bamboo sounds like it might be what you're looking for, both in color and variation. But the house had pine, you love the pine, etc. So...any geese in neckerchiefs lurking about? Cadet blue quilt block tiles? Figured wallpaper border? And pine will put it over the top?

If you think the pine is too rustic for your taste, well that's your taste. If you don't want to worry about dealing with a soft wood, okay. But how are innocent floorboards going to drag you into a long gone '80's fad? I'm only dwelling on pine because it sounds like you really like it and it's the right color. Is the reclaimed stuff (assuming it's affordable) any harder than new? Some woods do harden as they age.

If you decide to take your bungalow by the ear and drag it into the new millenium, eschewing pine as overly authentic, I'm sure you'll find something you like just as well. But it's not like we're talking pickled maple. ;)

bmore- I dug up the little bit of info I have for the guy I got the salvage flooring from. Email me privately and I can send it to you.

Geese, well, no. There might be a pig or a chicken illustration tucked around somewhere.

I really like the heart pine. By itself, I don't think its very rustic unless you get character grades. It does get stronger as it gets older but it starts off very close to red oak in hardness when its longleaf pine. The vertical grain version should tone done the pineyness?

b-more- sent you an email. :)

You're now beyond my knowledge past "I really like the heart pine". If you can keep yourself from putting country neckerchiefs on your piggies (you could probabaly get away with the French chef version) I really don't think you have anything to worry about. Unless this is a flirtation thing? You're making eyes at it but you know it has a steady thing going with the pie safe and the cartoon geese, then maybe not. But if it's steady love but the mother in your head is worried about whether it has prospects or if it's going to put its elbows on the table, follow your heart.

K, we bought the heart pine and it comes next week. Yea! ⥠One actual choice made. ⥠It will be racing neck and neck with the walls as we just passed the last inspection today and can install da blueboards and da veneer plaster.

BTW I do NOT have a pie safe. I have a jelly cupboard. Completely different thing. :>

I want the kitchen table to feel like you could put your elbows there without fear of geese.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Woohoo!!!!! Congratullations!! On both floor and inspection. Very cool jelly cupboard and nothing about it to suggest '80's country like a repro pie safe and cartoon geese with blue neckerchiefs or bonnets. It has a look of solid, authentic Americana.

I î¢ the heart pine too.

(hope that shows up...)

Phew...One decision down! Progress made. A good day!