caryscott: I'm curious about your cork colour...where is it from? name of colour?
I'm looking for a floor to match natural maple cabs and flow into my LR and down my hall... thanks.

downsy I really love the look of your off-white hood against your rich stained cabs. Lovely kitchen altogether and I particularly admire your floors, both the colors and the pattern,

Ours kitchen is a chocolate and yellow mix done in Dec 2011 and we're so happy with how it turned out:

Susie, cutting and pasting links is a pain in the keister. Photobucket is sketchy as it does not interface well. I love my iPad for bill pay and general surfacing...my six year old lives his for games and movies (ok I like that too) but my favorite sites (GW and the old house web) are difficult and actually almost painful to contribute to from my iPad.

If you just type and don't use pictures in your posts you will be fine. But if you like to share pretty pics...as most do on GW....the iPad does not live up to the hype.

Taggie and Dwonsy - what are your back splashes? Lovely kitchens!

Hi, New to the forum and pretty desperate for answers: I have a small kitchen with candy red Northstar appliances that I intend to keep. I have ordered cabinets from Crowne Point and am trying to figure out a non-white paint color that will work with the appliances and a carrara marble counter and island top.
I received their F&B colors and am very tempted to have the cabinets painted gray. The trouble is that many of the gray colors are muddy and have greenish undertones that will clash with the red. I looked at Downpipe, but since the kitchen is small, it may be overwhelming. I am doing bottom cabinets only with open shelving on top, if that helps any.
Anyone had experience with a gray that is not blue, green or brown in undertone. The marble is "real" gray and I would like to compliment it.

Any advice would be really welcome.

suibne-

I wish I could help you myself, but there are lots of people that can!

Just wanted to let you know that you'll get much more help by posting your own thread.

Good luck! :)

Taggie - thank you - we have similar tastes! I love your kitchen too. My floor pattern was something I came up with at the 9th hour when the original pattern wasn't going to work (hopscotch) and we had to switch to using rectangle tiles with square tiles!

a2gemini - my backsplash tiles where a combo of subways by Adex in hampton olive color and the accent over the cooktop was WZ - waterfall rain moss/oyster/onyx mosaic tile. I'm not sure what the WZ stands for but I assume its the company that makes it! I used Adex rail moulding around the mosaic detail and the small dark glass tile around the mosaic was something I picked up at Home Depot in a brown/copper color.

Suib....take a sample of your marble and have the gray you want color matched at a sherwin Williams. I never use the stock colors anymore but always match to what I'm seeking. It's not more expensive and they will work hard to get it right. I just bought six gallons of floor paint....each one matched to a handkerchief :).

I have both white and dark (espresso stained) cabinets and after a year of living with dark cabinets, I regret the decision to go with dark cabinets. The dark cabinets show such much more wear and tear, not to mention they are much harder to keep clean because they show fingerprints and dust. White is much less maintenance in my experience. Getting dark cabs was a compromise b/c my partner wanted them, and he now even regrets the decision. We've even discussed painting white them to match the rest of the kitchen.

Here's what the dark cabinets look like after just a year (and this particular cabinet does not even get daily use):

We'll probably have to get them re-stained before we sell -- right now I use a brown marker to hide imperfections.

This is probably more of a problem when you stain a naturally light colored wood dark. Our lyptus cabinets also have these kinds of knicks and but don't show quite so much. But the cabinet company gave us a touch up kit to use for this kind of thing.

In general...this is natural with wood cabinets of all kinds. Even white painted cabinets. The cabinets develop this kind of patina and sometimes, people pay extra to have it done ahead of time (i.e. special distressed finishing) :-)

IDK about "patina"...

I had wood cabinets in my previous house. They were in good condition when we bought it but they had yellowed or something over the years and looked like they could really use some "conditioning". However, to re-finish stained/varnished cabinets, you need to strip the previous coating (don't you?), while it is realtively easy to re-paint.

I have never used the new gel-stains though. Maybe, those do not need to be stripped?

Our current kitchen cabintes have "unpainted" interiors while the bedroom built-in dresser and all closet cabinets are painted inside and outside. The difference is striking. The (dark) wood finishes look old and dirty while all painted (white, btw) surfaces look practically brand new.

Oh, and don't forget about colors/finishes going out of style! Good luck re-staining when cherry is out and oak is in or the other way around, wink.

I know that all my cabinets will be painted from now on (though not white, probably). :-)

Suibne, have you seen Allison0704's kitchen island? Her's is painted a F&B Gray, (don't know the exact color) it's beautiful and doesn't appear to have a green tone. She posted a pic in this thread a little farther up.
Also, she posted a link to her kitchen and you can see much clearer pictures of the island and color.
I think it is the perfect gray.

Also, Rhome has a gray painted around her cooking area. She has posted a pic as well, don't know the brand and color, but it's very pretty too.

When I was a kid at home and most of the world was poor...the thing to do to make your kitchen look cleaner was to paint the cabinets white...

I wouldn't touch a white cabinet now...I don't care how "in" it might be. To me it just shouts I can't afford new so I just have to paint it white"

patti

This post is getting me so excited. We just pulled permits to get started on our own remodel, and I can't wait...

Like many here, we're going with cherry cabinets and soapstone counters. We're even using similar Bruck pendants over our peninsula as the ones leela4 posted.

If these pics are any indication of what we can expect, it's great to see how beautiful our new kitchen (hopefully) will be!

In our house we are currently selling, we did cherry cabinets with original Douglas Fir floors. The cabinets pick up on the red tone in the floor, but purposely don't match it.

Of course, for the new house we're doing white painted cabinets... Our architect says cherry is so over now. Whatever.

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

I have both white and dark (espresso stained) cabinets and after a year of living with dark cabinets, I regret the decision to go with dark cabinets. The dark cabinets show such much more wear and tear, not to mention they are much harder to keep clean because they show fingerprints and dust. White is much less maintenance in my experience. Getting dark cabs was a compromise b/c my partner wanted them, and he now even regrets the decision. We've even discussed painting white them to match the rest of the kitchen.

Here's what the dark cabinets look like after just a year (and this particular cabinet does not even get daily use):

We'll probably have to get them re-stained before we sell -- right now I use a brown marker to hide imperfections.

sorry about the double post, folks. my toddler was banging on my keyboard and apparently clicked refresh.

lisa I love your current kitchen. I guess i'm "out" it is beautiful!

Just catching up with this thread. When we built our house 19 years ago, complete with builder grade oak cabinets, I hoped someday I would get my dream kitchen with cherry cabinets. It took 16 years to finally get them. Never considered anything different.

My kitchen won't be white--we are going for a Spanish style, so its pretty colorful. Just now putting order in for cabinets that will ultimately be stained very dark--they are clear alder. My granite will be red, prep and main sinks will be cobalt blue, island will be distressed cobalt blue with a wood top. The backsplash is a colorful hand painted 8x8 cement tile on one wall and a neutral on the other. The floors are stained concrete. Hopefully, when it all comes together it will be a fun, happy room and I will definitely put up some pictures. Find a kitchen that makes you happy and reflects your personality. Also, here in the Dallas area most new builds are stained, knotty alder cabinets.

martina2

Light colour is Golden Beach (dark is Black Beach) from a company called Forna out of Richmond BC. I'm using a glued down tile but they also produce floating floors. Tile is pre-finished but then you top coat that. They don't ship their finishing products certain places in winter so I haven't ordered yet and still have to consider if it will be better to get the "glue" and poly from them or if I should just substitute something I can acquire locally. Samples are free and you really cannot tell what the true colour is from the website images.

Here is a link that might be useful: on-line vendor

nhbaskets: I LOVE your corner stovetop and hood! I have been going through photos and trying to decide where to place ours as I wasn't sure how well the corner would work, but you've just shown me it will be great!

I actually LOVE white kitchens, or at least I LOVE looking at photos of other people's white kitchens, somehow I just can't picture them in my new contemporary open space kitchen, dining, & great room. I want my kitchen to blend in with the rest of my furniture, so I'm going to go with dark espresso coloured cabinets.

As an aside, we remodeled our current kitchen to dark espresso cabinets about three years ago and they have held up quite well! I don't have the marks that pipdog shows, and my cabinets are actually cheap no-name cabinets I bought from a local supplier that brings them over from China.

Thanks a2gemini. My backsplash is metallic glass subway from Saltillo Imports (http://www.saltillo-tiles.com/products/tile/glass-mosaics/metallic-glass).

Fell in love with it when I saw it in Thynes' beautiful white kitchen, ironically. :) Linking to Thynes' reveal here. Just gorgeous: Thynes kitchen reveal thread).

Thanks Taggie - I am in love - just went to the website. I am sure I will come off my high when I hear the pricing...
Thanks!!

I put in a cherry kitchen 3 years ago (after MUCH lurking on GW). I love it!!

We went dark, too:

And Kiffgirl, I never tire of seeing your kitchen!

But wood is "dated" and white is "timeless". All of you blind fools have been misled! Your kitchens are dated and the clock is ticking.
Casey

Roulie, that's an attractive kitchen! Very serene, very cohesive.

Yes and no. My cabinets have been off-white since 1994, and when I replaced one run of cabinets with a vintage, butler's pantry-style, I painted it 'Adobe White' because that seems more traditional. On the other side of the kitchen I have a mix of off-white(old) and green(new) painted cabs. The perimeter counter tops are black(ish). The walls are also painted 'Adobe White,' because the kitchen is small and has no window--it borrows light and views from rooms on either side. There is a wall of shallow closets/cabinets in an adjoining room, visible from the kitchen, with the doors painted off-white, so I'm hoping it all flows.

I still think of it as a white kitchen, though I doubt that OTK owners would. I love white kitchens, but for me, the mix works better. All the pics above are beautiful, and I can certainly appreciate a craftsman-style kitchen with rich colors and natural elements--circuspeanut's, cotehele's, and sayde's are a few that come to mind.

I can't contribute much, barely having a kitchen, but I know I prefer painted cabs.

I spent years looking at wood. And door styles. Nothing twirled my world, so I just didn't invest.

Then.... I realized I always leaned towards the antiqued white/cream cabinets. Epiphany!

Then.... about 2 years ago I saw a vanity pic with beaded inset cabs. Doors were simple slabs. Lightening struck again. THAT is the door style I want.

In the meanwhile, though, I've built my kitchen and painted it. The bottom cabs, twice, so that's about 6 coats. I'm now just collecting my beaded inset cabs from any source I can, and will paint them all when I'm really finished. [whisper] I thought I was.

Interestingly enough, I've yet to see beaded inset that isn't a shade of white!

I have noticed that the wood cabinets I am even remotely drawn to are the extremely dark ones. I am putting some in my MBR with an Emperador Dark countertop I have on "layaway".
I think it's because I can't see the grain and they look painted!

If I chose a lighter color, it would definitely be that amazing grey/brown that looks like aged barn wood or grey with milk paint on it. Like this: Ikea grey. Pottery Barn had an entire catalogue a year or two ago with everything faux finished in antiqued grey. Of course, knowing how badly monitors resolve colors, check your Ikea catalogue. Admit it. I know you've got one! :)

Patti- Yes, people did paint their cabinets, when they couldn't afford new ones...and either wanted a change or to lighten things up a bit. That's probably one reason I like painted cabinets. They feel more 'homey' in my opinion and go so well, with the vintage style, I like :)

That being said, wood cabinets are beautiful! Look at all the examples, on this post. And then there's Anne's 1850's kitchen which is another wonderful example. I still like painted, but that is a lovely kitchen.

I love dark kitchens. White not useful for me.

I had painted off white cabinets so when we renovated I decided to go with wood. Love the look in our new addition.

jstehl, what are the details of your kitchen. If I ever were to go wood (White kitchen here!) in the future in my new condo this is the color that I like. What tiles and granite did you use?

Drachiele, I recognize your kitchen from one of my kitchen magazines I vividly remember that sink and wall-faucet. Beautiful!

In fact, I love all the kitchens posted here!

ellendi, Thank you for your response. The cabinets are Kraftmaid maple cabinets and the color is cinnamon. I was very pleased. The granite is St. Cecelia. It has some gold in it. The tiles are just a Travertine and then I picked out a mosaic glass tile that 3 shades that were in the granite. We then spaced the glass tiles throughout the backsplash. My tile guy really liked the challenge. Just about every single tile had a cut in it. I'm very pleased with how it all came out. We were doing a large remodel with an addition with family room, laundry room and enlarged bathroom. There wasn't a spot in the whole house that was not touched. My married sons and families came over every Sunday even during demo but tonight and tomorrow will be the first entertaining that I will be doing with friends. No one has seen it except for pictures online. I think they will be surprised to see all of the changes. Let me know if you have any other questions.

suibne, check out Lamp Room Gray by F&B. I was looking for the same kind of "clean" gray that you are and this fit the bill perfectly. It was slightly darker than I wanted, but having found the perfect shade I was hesitant to lighten it with white.

florantha, I for one LOVE your kitchen. I think oak gets knocked unfairly, largely because there are so many plain oak boxes slapped up in crappy housing developments. Oak is warm, durable, and goes with anything. And depending on what you put around it, it doesn't have to look dated.

Here are some pictures of ours. The cabinets are quarter sawn oak w/ a mid to dark stain. I am still working to finish all the cabinets, but have the pantry wall and hood wall done. We are thinking of doing the island white. This was not built out of oak, but paint grade maple.

{{!gwi}}

{{!gwi}}

Late to the party here, but here's our not-white kitchen. The floor is Eco Timber bamboo in toffee:

FiveZs your cabinets are gorgeous (as are all these wood cabinets, I've become a total convert after coming here certain that I wanted a white kitchen.) Are they custom?

I agree. They are all gorgeous. But , I love FiveZs.

More pictures please.

Here is a sneak peak at our kitchen in progress. Note the color differences are complements of iPhone.
Brookstone Autumn Cherry with Black glaze

Note the fridge cabinet is not installed and the microwave goes away!!

My favorite part is the "caves" in the sunroom - I only posted one - but there is a bench between - one for each of us. It has a pull-out cutting board to use as a work surface and power inside to charge the toys!

Thanks. They are custom. I will take some more pix and post them. This has been a long project, but the outcome has been well worth it.

Thanks jstehl for the details,

Didn't they have a limit of 150 posts?

Thanks jstehl for the details of your gorgeous kitchen. I also love all of the matching GE Caf� appliances. I have the Ge Caf� Gas range and I love the function of it and the looks of it. If I was taller, I would have gotten the microwave also but I have problems reaching in the bottom cabinets and I do not want to spill anything on myself. I love the cabinets so much. what is the style door you have? I keep going back and forth between an off-white kitchen and a kitchen with cabinets the color of yours that would look nice with the Brazilian Cherry floors in my other room and the light tiles I chose for the kitchen. I also love your counters, light wood floors for contrast, hardware chosen, backsplash and faucet. Thank you so much for sharing. Are these cabinets frame-less? I love the full overlay look. Do your cabinets go up to the ceiling or is there crown molding on top to the ceiling or not?

lynn2006, thank you for the comments about my kitchen. The door style is Kraftmaid Huntington maple in Cinnamon. I had no problems at all with Kraftmaid. If at some point they are showing age, I will paint them then. That is what I did with my previous cabinets. The cabinets have crown molding at the top. I love not having the wasted space. With just a little stepstool I am able to get to top shelf. My goal was function and yesterday I had my first big party and everything went well. Even my husband says cleanup is easy because everything has a place. I attached a link to additional pictures.

Here is a link that might be useful: More pictures