I have green gray painted cabinets in my pantry and beadboard under the cabinets on one side and up 38" on the opposite wall. Here is the link to see if this is what you are envisioning.

Here is a link that might be useful: Beadboard Pantry

I don't think it would look dorky at all. I love beadboard, especially if you're going for that cottagey look.

I also don't think painting the island will look weird, plenty of people here do that. Sounds like you're on the right track...tell your hubby he doesn't know what he's talking about (in a nice way!) And go search the Finished Kitchen blog for examples. There are lots of good example pictures there you could show him. Check out the Lettered Cottage blog too...her beadboard in her kitchen and dining room is higher than 'normal'.

Here is a link that might be useful: Lettered Cottage

Willowdecor: I LOVE your pantry !! Thanks for the link. Your beadboard looks higher than 38". I'm going to show it to my husband though so he can get a visual of what I'm talking about ;-)
Donka: Thanks for the reassurance !! I think it will be beautiful, but talking him into could be like pulling teeth,lol. I'm going to go look at the blog & the link, thanks for that ;-) What do you think about the paint color being the same for the island & the upper walls ? Do you think they should be the same or different ?

Luv2Design - I am sorry- the beadboard is 60" with a 3.5" crown moulding. Thanks so much for the kind comments about the pantry. My kitchen has a bead board ceiling and the back of the upper cabinets is beadboard. It tried to add a bit of beadboard in both rooms, but did not want it to look to cutesy. Here is the kitchen link.
xx-Willow

Here is a link that might be useful: willow's Kitchen

I thought it looked taller, but I thought maybe it was just the picture or angle ?
Gorgeous kitchen !! Thanks again for posting.

I can't find the finished kitchen blogs ? ? ?

I guess the link to the FKB would be helpful :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Finished Kitchens Blog

I did beadboard paneling built up from 1x3 strips in a high-ceilinged bathroom and went as high as the door frame. I painted it semigloss white. I think it looks great. The area above the beadboard is painted an antique cottage white, really a beige.

We're planning on doing 5-ft off-white beadboard paneling in our new kitchen. (The rest of our 1st floor has 5-ft painted paneling (not beadboard) so it would maintain some consistency.) We're still under construction, so I can't tell you how it came out. But there's certainly nothing strange about it!

I'm laughing because you are ME! :) I painted my solid oak cabinets white...GASP. ;) My husband was so horrified but I LOVE Them. I also punched out the middle of the framed doors and put a beadboard panel in them. Then I put up beadboard all around the dining room to blend it. My husband's buddy is a contractor and he came over and said the beadboard was too high. :) Anyway, do what you love. Everyone that saw the kitchen loved it. I'm in the process of tearing it apart but only slightly. I just wanted to say...You have great taste! ;) Have fun and good luck with the new house.

Thanks to everyone for all of the reassurance !! I'm going to go for it ;-) I "plan" on this being the home we retire in (we are in our early 40's) so I really want to do things so we will all be happy there.

brutuses: You bring up a very good point. There is one continuous wall that leads from the kitchen to the LR. I am going to have a heck of a time figuring out how to divide the two. I have to come up w/a solution before I can go any further, so if anyone has any suggestions I'm in desperate need of some, lol. Right now there is a simple piece of 3/4" trim going up the wall ? ? Pretty boring. . . . . I plan on making a trip to Lowes before heading to the house this morning to see what I can come up with. I basically have until Thursday(movers deliver everything) to get 2 more room stripped of wp & 10 rooms painted !! AAGGGGGHHHH
+ on top of everything else I have laryngitis & can't tell anyone what I need done, LOL??

Wish me luck ;-)

jan jan : Thanks for the laugh !! My husband would FREAK if I did that, lol. My thinking is if I start out slow (Island only) I can eventually talk him into doing the rest !! Ha ha

donka:thanks for the link I'm headed there now ;-)

luv2design, is there anyway you can post a photo of the wall you speak of? My DH can look at it and tell you how to make the transition.

Are you going to try to paint 10 rooms in 5 days? Then what's the next event, your funeral? LOL, that's a lot of painting.

To answer your question about the paint.

No, I don't think the walls need to be the same dark green. In fact it may look better to have a lighter version, ie up or down a few spots on the paint card, or whitened up.

I would tie in the stain colour with your existing cabinets, ie a similar shade, could be darker, but at least the same tone.

Would love to see some before pics, and obviously the end result! Willowdecor- I'm supposed to be outside gardening, and now you have me thinking about beadboard... love your pantry! :>)

Here is the wall I am having problems with trying to decide how to "divide off"(taken before the previous owner moved out).It previously had a trim piece between the paper(kitchen) & painted wall(LR). I also included a pic of the island. I will try to post more pics of the rest tomorrow evening. I am beyond exhausted. The wallpaper in the kitchen took ALL day, & there is still about 3 more hours to go. So yes, I think my funeral WILL be the next event, LOL.

Yes, I do expect to have all 10 rooms painted by Thurs, LOL. My expectations are a little high I believe (especially after today,LOL). Lord help my body !!

[IMG]http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x278/polkadotsandposies/20090502_102.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://i186.photobucket.com/albums/x278/polkadotsandposies/kitchenisland.jpg[/IMG]

brutuses: Would you mind to ask your husband for suggestions for my wall dilemma ? ?

Or if anyone else has any suggestions, I would love to hear them ;-)

Anyone ? ? ? ? I'm stumped . . . . . . .

Hey there - we did a beadboard backsplash in our kitchen and had to just end it on one wall and do something between the subway tile behind the stove and the beadboard as well.

We just used a 3/4 inch piece of molding. I wasn't sure about it, but we also used fairly heavy molding at the bottom and top and the molding ended up working just fine - I actually had a smaller piece - it was 3/4 wide and half that deep (a rectangle) but we switched to 3/4 x 3/4 to have the scale go along with the heft of the molding...

Here's a pic, if I can remember how to do these pictures!

Here's where it just caps off the beadboard - you can see that it just sort of blends in - I tried to get it a little zoomed in!

And here's the beadboard to tile transition:

Congratulations on a new home/kitchen.
I think the center island a different color will look
gorgeous. Green is a great color that goes with
most colors.

Beadboard is the staple of cottage country and I think
you can pull it off just fine. I am not sure if the
antique combination with your current cabs will work
but I say go for it. You can always see how it looks
as you go.

I do not think you should paint the kitchen the
same color as the island. That will look too much for
the cottage kitchen. Keep in mind though too many colors
and you loose your flow effect.

I found some neat beadboard mixes in kitchens.
Maybe they can help you. Visual ideas always help
me with my own kitchen reno.
Best of luck.

Hi again,

Here is the wall you want to change.
{{!gwi}}

Is this a load bearing wall?
Perhaps it could be taken down.
If not you could beadboard half the wall to go with
your kitchen changes and paint the upper portion.

I will keep thinking of ideas.

I couldn't see the pics, but see what boxerpups just posted. Is the floor tile or vinyl? If it's vinyl, it would be *really* easy to add a stud and just make that opening into a doorway, so you have an inside corner in each room. I don't even think you need to add a header to separate the ceilings. Do you have a pic of the other side of the opening (where the cabinets end)? You'd want to line up with that wall, if the flooring transition (carpet in LR?) is actually on the kitchen side of the cabinet wall, then even if it's tile on the kitchen floor, you'd be able to frame out a small wall just to the side of where the clock is - just cut back the LR carpet.

Thanks for all of the pics & suggestions. Unfortunately it is a load bearing wall & cannot be removed.

I plan on painting the top portion above the beadboard. I am leaning towards putting up a piece of 5" molding between the painted living room & kitchen as a divider. That is really all I can think of at the moment. Kinda the same affect as what reedrune posted. Only it will go floor to ceiling.

If anyone has any other suggestions I will keep checking back in. I'm saving the kitchen for last, which who knows how long that will be, lol.

Don't remove the wall, add another (short) wall at right angles to it. Do you have a pic of the end of the cabinet run, showing the floor transition near the cabinets?

I just remembered, my contractor also suggested putting in the little square wood medallions in the corners and then running the larger trim down the side - I didn't want that much detail in a small space, but if you are doing a whole wall-sized thing, it might look nice -

The wall I am wanting to change is the wall with the plaid wallpaper on the left & the painted wall on the right in the picture. So it's just a flat wall without cabinets. Sorry if I didn't explain that very well.

Yes, but can I see the cabinet run and floor transition opposite it? I want to see where the LR/kitchen separation is there to see where it might make sense to put in a short wall perpendicular to the wall you want to change. I'd want to line the new app. 1-2ft wall (depending on opening size you want) up with the cabinet wall.

If you don't want to add a wall (1 stud) then the only thing I can see doing is run the beadboard and trim off the edge with molding like you already have there (just as high as the beadboard, to hide the edge). If the beadboard doesn't run all the way to the ceiling, then I think you'll have to paint that whole wall (kitchen and LR) the same color over the BB.

Kind of like this - it doesn't have to go all the way to ceiling, but if you make it the same height as the BB then you're still going to have to paint the LR the same color as the top part of the kitchen wall.

This wall is 30" wide, separates my kitchen from my breakfast nook/FR (which are painted in the same color anyway).

HTH