I think your idea of a fairly contemporary, slab-doored kitchen is a good one. A number of manufacturers have some greys, blue-greys and greens in doorstyles and there are a number of new quartz countertops, solid surface countertops or laminates in greys blue-greys and greens as well.

I think the kitchen is attached to the house, and as such is part of the interior architecture as opposed to furnishings, so working with the house makes more sense than working with your antiques. In fact the contemporary background probably serves to display your antiques rather than compete with them.

Thanks. You have expressed what I felt intuitively. While I think I'd like a contemporary look, I want to be sure that it is warm friendly rather than slick modern. Possibly a combo of natural and painted wood. I would also like to incorporate 4 old stained glass cabinet fir doors that my husband rescued from an old house of his. I think that I could put them on the dining room side of the island and make it look like a separate piece of furniture. Would that work?
For the counter, I would really like granite, though I know my colours are harder to find. I have seen a few pics on this site, of quartzite, I think that were grey-blue, grey-green.

Medium wood tone, Shaker style cabinets? Maybe with some blue/green/gray glass tiles, for the backsplash? If you do choose glass tiles, I'd pick a darker grout...the white grout can be distracting from the tile. For countertops...maybe soapstone? That would look classic and still go with your antiques.

I like your idea of working with colors to complement your outdoors! :)

Thanks Lavender lass,
I love the look of soapstone and agree that it would look good with the dining room furniture but don't think it is easy to get here (west coast of Canada). There certainly isn't any locally though I haven't tried Vancouver. I will need to go there to look at granite in any case as our local suppliers have minimal selection. I know you are into blue colours - can you think of any granite that mimics the ocean (blue, grey, green combos)?

My mom's condo that she recently moved from had beautiful views, and we discovered something amazing when we painted the kitchen. At first the kitchen was green--a medium green, not the usual light green that you see in kitchens. It was a pretty color, but the kitchen was too small for anything that dark. So she repainted in a warm cream color, and suddenly, POP!!!! WOW!!! The view jumped right at you. We realized that because so much of the view WAS green--grass, trees etc.--having the kitchen be green too made the view kind of blend in. Once she painted it the lovely warm yellowish cream, it framed and highlighted the view wonderfully. So at least around the windows or on the window wall, you might want to play with using colors that contrast with the view so as to play it up.

Lucky you!! I agree with other posters. You could use Shaker, flat front or a combination of the two. Also what Ideagirl said about framing the view is a great idea. You want your view to be like a painting on the wall and not one of the items in the sea of green -- so feel free to bring in totally different colors like browns and light wood tones.

Thanks, I am lucky. The windows are all trimmed with natural douglas fir - kind or orangey-brown, and they work well to "frame" the view which includes lots of green, grey and deep blue in the distance. At the same time, because they are wood, they blend into the outdoors. I am wondering if I should carry the same wood to the cabinets or will that be too much orange, too much matchy-matchy? The point about using colours that contrast the view is well taken, though. I thought I wanted to bring the outdoor colours indoors, but perhaps the contrast works better. I will have to play with this one. Thanks for the suggestion.

ideagirl2 is very right. We had slightly darker beige tone paint with painted trim that was the same color as the walls. We replaced the trim with doug fir and lightened the walls. The view "pops" alot more.

I think you are in the west coast of Canada perhaps in the gulf islands. There is a very vibrant modern architectural style that complements with the natural beauty of that landscape. Go to the local library and check out some architectural books featuring local architects, including the Pacific NW of USA. You may get some great ideas browing through those books.

I would take the queue from the house. If the house predominantly has slab doors and flat features of trim and moudling, flat/slab cabinets would look good. If the house has paneled doors and more traditional features, shaker cabinets maybe more appropriate. You really need to remodel in a way that one walks in and see that everything in the house is coordinated with other things in the house. The permanent things in the house sets the tone for the remodel.

The furnishings you use is like costumes to the house. You should be able to pull off just about any thing if the underlying architecture has integrity. For example, you may not be able to use chintz or foile type of fabric in your upholstry but you should be able to reupholster your davenport to work with the house. You may have to edit some of your traditional furniture so that it looks good in the house but you should be able to pull it off, IMHO.

I wish you the best. I live in Seattle. I love PNW modern arthitecture using lots of wood and natural materials. We have such long winters with low light that we NEED alot of natural light. The lattitude works quite well with the Scandinavian sentiment which has the similar natural setting. This is a very local brand of modern architecture. Another good source is to look at some architectural books of famous Scandinavian architects that built in Scandinavian coutry side. Another thing that works well here is Scandinavian traditional/farm style.

Good luck

Thank you kaismom. There are lots of great modern buildings here and I've collected a ton of pictures but your idea of library research on architectural style is a good one. I'm in Victoria by the way, the closest Canadian city to you. I am planning to come to Seattle at some time in the near future to cheque out some of your cabinet places, eco friendly shops and hardware, etc. choices. Victoria has a pretty small selection.

Oh, Victoria is so pretty! I've been there twice and would love to go back :)

Blue pearl is supposed to be a very pretty granite. I've read on the forums that it looks more gray, until the light hits it, then you really see the blue. That might work well, with your colors!

Thank you kaismom. There are lots of great modern buildings here and I've collected a ton of pictures but your idea of library research on architectural style is a good one. I'm in Victoria by the way, the closest Canadian city to you. I am planning to come to Seattle at some time in the near future to cheque out some of your cabinet places, eco friendly shops and hardware, etc. choices. Victoria has a pretty small selection.