Sdionnemoore - yes, take that very deep breath, then maybe have a cocktail (if that will take the edge off!) and step back for a second. Have you ordered anything? If not, go through photos and see if you like the look of having taller things one color and lower things another. I almost did it and chickened out, but I have low ceilings, a long, narrow room and my house is a California ranch style house close to the beach...the look just wouldn't meld with my house. That said, I have seen other's posts and finished kitchens here with that look and they are magnificent! I hope a few of them will post and show pictures of how successfully it can be done. Don't worry! You are not mad!!

I had all white, loved cherry, but couldn't go all wood. I got white perimeter, cherry island and did an accent wall with blue cabinets -- so three finishes doesn't bother me inthe least. Take some time to think about how you want to mix them. I took the elevation drawings for my kitchen, made copies and took some map pencils to color them in ever possible combination just to make sure. I came back to what I thought I wanted, but it was good to see some of the other options we had tlaked about along the way and feel more certain.

Did you order or are you just talking at this point? If just talking -- about anything int he remodel -- think about it,and when you get confused or it starts to make your head hurt, get away from it and come back later. See if that's what you still like. If you keep coming back to it, you know you'll like it.

If you are at the ordereing stage and still unsure, call the KD inthe morning and ask to hold the order, step back, look again later anad repeat ss needed to feel certain. Or as close as you can get. A certain degree of panic once it's been set into ink and before it actually happens in normal.

lascatx--Love the idea about the pencils! And coloring is a great way to relieve stress. :)

There's no money down. He came to get measurements now that the house is framed and under roof. I've got time. I keep telling myself that. I panic though because I *have* to decide on appliances. Now. He's got to have the measurements as he finalizes my plans. But what if the appliances I get are for these colors, then I change colors and hate my appliances!

This is terrible. When I saw the cabinet door with that stain, I loved it. Love the off-white. The two together are to die for . . . So I'll take the colored pencil idea and work on possible color combinations, as advised.

Do you think I should skip the black island? Maybe that's too much? Too may shades? Ha! I'll go for red! That'll really kick it up a notch.

Pass the Prozac.

I can relate to your problem completely! We are finally starting our bathrooms and although I have a million tear sheets and thoughts I still keep second guessing myself!

I think you are smart to not do all white with such high ceilings and windows. I love all whit ein a kitchen too, but it might look washed out with all that extra brightness. I love mixing finishes, and the black island sounds lovely, it depends on what your flooring will be.

Maybe look around your house for clues. I know in my early 1900s home, the original built-ins extend to the ceiling with crown and that is a detail I intend to match with our bathroom cabs. and kitchen too.

My latest fear is about a storage tower in our master bath. I had decided I wanted to use a sort of old world looking wood for the vanity, but the tower will be in the middle of the vanity. I realized after making an elevation in photoshop, that if I do the tower in wood against the white-ish tile it will look really heavy. My thought now is to keep the base of the vanity the wood, have a gray stone top, and then paint out the tower to blend in with the trim and doors in an off white.

I suggest you think of problems you may have, like matching crown around the room, and come up with solutions. Initially I thought I'd do the tall cabs. in my kitchen in a painted finish to soften the look, but all my crown in natural. I realized I didn't want to mess that up, so now my thought is to have all the cabs. that will go up to the ceiling be a natural wood and then do some of the lowers in a painted finish. Not what I would have chosen had my home been a blank slate, but to me this is what the home dictates. Sometimes having to deal with certain parameters like this makes choosing easier, and also will incorporate the new with the old, which to me makes the home feel more "right."

Good luck!

If I understand the concept you are going for, the alternating painted and stained cabinetry would have an unfitted look without actually being individual pieces. One of the very first kitchen photos I loved last year when the kitchen remodeling dream-bug got me was on the QCC website. In the gallery there is a painted shaker style that has alternating wall storage that creates the look. There are also several kitchens with alternating painted and stained cabinets that may be closer to what you are envisioning, although they are not off-white cabs. Hope this helps you ''see'' what you have chosen a little better.

Here is a link that might be useful: Shaker Fred Miller designer

I think a certain amount of panic is normal at every stage of the game. I'm currently in the panic mode that everything I ordered will look crap when all put together. lol. I'm trusting that I made good coordinated choices and I keep trying to remind myself of that...

two colors will look fine. IMO, three will also depending in the size of the kitchen. I personally love two colors. We are likely going with a medium cherry on the main cabinets and an off-white painted finish on a few tall (base and wall from counter to higher than other walls) pieces we are addingg as accents to look kind of like antique hutches. We did toy with idea of a third color for the island - but the room isn't big enough IMo for us to do so so we will use one of the 2 shades we are going with - probably the cherry stain - on the island also

Dionne, your choices sound lovely. One good thing about loving an old European look is that as your cabinets age and become less perfect, you will be moving toward that look. It may not be much of a comfort as you strive for the "perfect" choices now, but slapping a coat of paint on if you decided later to change the look later would also move toward that aged imperfect look integral to older kitchens.

Here's a kitchen that I thought of after reading what you described. It's one of my favorites. It may not be exactly where you are headed, but it sounds similar. The kitchen is from the Canyon Creek cabinet website.

FWIW, I think what you've chosen sounds lovely.

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

Question: did your designer show you - or do you have access to - a 3d colour rendering of what you're planning? As my kitchen comes into the final stages, I'm realising that the main thing which has made it all work as well as it is was the software I've been using for 3 years to play "what if". I had a VERY good sense of what it would look like (and, in fact, the only things which I've not been 100% thrilled by are the things I DIDN'T manage to draw in my program and get to "look at").

The software I use was cheap shovelware I found a few years back, but any home design program will do the same. If you don't have any, maybe your designer can do it for you, or a friend.

Good luck with it!

I came down from the ceiling this morning, hopefully a little more calm and a little more cognizant of the fact that this isn't etched in stone . . . yet. I appreciate everyone cheering me on and the reassurances that this is a normal part of the kitchen planning process. Ugh! Don't have to like it, just have to live through it, right? Then love what I've lived through. Oh boy, I need to shut up.

quietlife3--I'd actually never considered darker lower cabs and light uppers, thanks for that idea. I wonder if doing light uppers is to make them disappear in the room. With such a light filled room, it makes me wonder if that would be a good thing or not. Do you know if anyone has ever done darker top cabs and lighter lowers?

rosie--good thought about the distressed look being more old-world. In your opinion, are white cabs old-world?

berryberry--I had dark cherry in my last kitchen. It was beautiful! I loved that kitchen. I see a lot of the med-stained kitchens and that's part of the warm feel I'd like to have in my new kitchen. I have to go with a harder wood in this house, and I like the grain in hickory.

buffetgirl--It's insane, isn't it? This constant second guessing oneself. I'm glad to have a place to vent, where people understand. Thanks!

Cotehele--The link definitely helps. So many of the kitchens did use three colors. That was really good for me to see. I just hope I can pull it off with results as beautiful as those pics.

soshh--I never thought about the crown molding problem of alternating cabs. Aye-yi-yi! That would have been a nightmare on installation day! It made me wonder why my KD didn't catch it, then I remember that the two off-white cabs on either side of my focal point hickory, are stand alone white with their own crown. The rest of the room, however, I'll have to rethink. Thanks for catching that!

I love the Fred Miller kitchen with several colors (Ithink I counted 4 wood finishes plus a contrasting color range in that one photo just above the gallery sign). Notice how they use different counter heights and cabinet depths to give an unfitted feeling. Notice htat all the yellow pieces have wood trim elements and each color has different molding details, yet they all work together. And the ailses are wide enough to accomodate the changing depths without feeling cramped.

Details like that ad the crown changes are what can make the difference betnween pulled together and interesting or just chopped up. You don't have to do all those different things, but you have to consider how the details fit together.

My crown is white, but the only section of cabinets with it that isn't white is my blue wall, and I like the way it looks there. The same crown continues around the adjoing rooms as well, so it all flows. I don't think I'd like it if one were painted and the other was stained wood. You may be able to deal with that with the different cabinet heights.

I think dark bases and lighter uppers is done more often, but I think I have seen it reversed. I can't think of any to search for to show you though.

I like a contrasting island, but as some have pointed out, it has become a big trend lately and may look dated in years to come. If you do the island in a different color, change some of the details -- furniture end panels, feet, open shelves, door details, even your hardware. Mine has raised door panels while my cabinets are all recessed, and the molding has a little more detail. The wood is knotty and glazed while the cabinets are smooth paint with no glaze. The hardware is an old black finish, simple style that a balcksmith could have made while the cabinets have s brushed silver (not sure what it's supposed to be, but it looks softly weathered) in another style with some flourishing details.

If your KD is good, they should be able to help you pull these details together. Have you seen photos of mixed finish kithens he has done? That might help you see how he puts things together and whether you like that. If not, search for more photos here and figure out what makes the differences you like. It's YOUR kitchen. Take the time to make it what you love. There is no one size fits all.

I found a few more pictures with the cabinets divided more like what you had in mind. I love the look, myself. These all came from the Canyon Creek website. As far as the light uppers in a room with lots of light, I don't feel like it would be a problem especially if the walls are painted a contrasting, darker color. I think doing lighter lowers, darker uppers has been discussed here. You could search for it, if the search engine will behave.

I don't know how to post multiple links so you will have to copy and paste. Sorry.

http://www.canyoncreek.com/photo_gallery/fullsize.asp?image=HOU5019.jpg

http://www.canyoncreek.com/photo_gallery/fullsize.asp?image=BRE2054.jpg

http://www.canyoncreek.com/photo_gallery/fullsize.asp?image=MOU2098.jpg

Oh! How lovely all three of those kitchens look. My fav is the second and last link. Thanks, quietlife3, for sharing those. Using these two tones makes me wonder . . . how does one determine which to use where? I think I've ruled out darker lower and lighter upper cabs (and vice versa), but now I'm trying to decide which point to highlight and with what tone? Is there a rule of thumb for determining this?

I was thinking, too, about the staggered heights. It seems staggering the cabinets on the wall solves the problem of the crown moulding. Am I thinking right on that?

Lascatx--The kitchen with all the colors is a marvel. I can't imagine being brave enough to do that myself. Not with the way I shudder over this shouldn't-it-be-simple decision.

Do you all think a red island would be too much? Though the hickory stain has a reddish tone, I wonder if the two colors would clash. That's probably a dumb question, but these are the type of questions where I can't see the product, so I have to guess, and color-matching isn't my strong point.

You're welcome. I love that website. The last two are my favorites as well. It looks like they divide the different cabinets by "areas" - sink area, stove area, pantry areas could have the cream cabinets, for example, and the others the hickory or vice versa. To me, it seems like the division is very symmetrical and done in a way to make it look like the pieces are furniture in nature. I agree that the staggered heights seems like a good way to deal with the crown moulding issue - and again it references furniture pieces.

As for the island, I think you're right that red could be tricky because of the reddish tone you say your cabinets have. But it doesn't mean you couldn't find something to go. I like the idea of black, or maybe even a green if it fit into your color scheme.

I'd never thought of that--a different color for each work area. That's a agreat way to approach this. As soon as my KD gives me the final suggestions for cabs based on his measurements, I'm going to use my pencils and go to town. Thanks all!

Have fun!

Just to give you an idea, the link below will show you my final color scheme. The next photo in the album is my storage wall, but you can see part of the island and bits of the white perimeter. The colored drawings helped me be sure, but it was especially important to DH. He can't picture things -- he needs a road map.

And I think you can use any of those colors for the island. The red might be trickier to find the right shade, but possible. I think I like the idea of black with hickory.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Wow! You used blue, lascatx, that is lovely. And very brave of you. Here I am trembling at the idea of using three colors and you did it without a hitch. Beautiful!

I had another nerve-wracking moment today. Flooring? What color hardwood would match my colors? But I had to take a deep breath and realize I've got time to consider all these things. First, though, I need to get my final design from my KD, then do the colored pencils, THEN I'll worry about the other elements.

One thing at a time, right? ;)

One thing at a time -- and it will come together. Just look at the samples together in daylight and in your kitchen light.

If it gives you any confidence, I have seen two color kitchens I didn't like at all, but I have yet to see a 3 or 4 color kitchen that I didn't like. Maybe more thought goes into them or maybe I just like the personality reflected in them (but I'm sure that as soon as I say that, someone will post photos of something absolutley hideous just to prove me wrong).

Thanks for the kind words. I was the first 3 color kitchen my KD had done. By the time we had the cabinets installed, she said nearly every design she was working on had 2 finishes. I'm not sure if she had any other 3 finish kitchens then, but I'd be surprised if she hasn't done more by now. I just had 3 finishes I loved and I glad I went for it all. LOL