That is a great kitchen and you have a good plan. Except I would suggest ORB for the cup handle/knobs. Since the cabinets are quite traditional, the brushed nickel may look a bit too contemporary for the cabinets and your future mix of antiques in the space(s). Plus, the darker granite lends itself to the darker knobs. Here is a sample of the white cabinets with ORB knobs/cups with a dark counter...(BTW...I think it would still be okay to do the brushed nickel school house pendants for interest and coordinate with your stainless appliances).

I had the exact same oak cabinets from the 90s ! And yes when you paint them the grain does show through but it looks good. Lighting makes a huge difference and ofcourse the paint color. Don't go semi gloss, it'll enhance the grain visually. I went wi satin behr powdered snow. Everyone loves it. I dealt with the oak for 10 years and was too scared to paint them. Don't regret it at all. I also did satin nickel hardware and love it. I mixed pieces, for example, I have a black wired sphere light fixture and a black sink. Wood floors. I love the mix of it. I think you're in the right track. You can never go wrong with nickel. It's timeless.

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I love the idea of a wood range hood. Does anyone have a good source for something simple and affordable? I am still set on going white with the cabinets and light walls.

I would like to replace the fluorescent light and housing as well but wasn't sure what to do since the lights over the breakfast bar will be schoolhouse style. I definitely want to add some florecent under cabinet lights like I have in my current kitchen.

Please keep the suggestions coming. Again the style should be classic but clean and simple. I would consider ORB pulls and handles and even the black schoolhouse pendant. If we change the countertops down the road we will stick to a neutral but probably not pure white. I was afraid with white cabinets and tops that ORB handles would be too prominent.

The flooring is all dark hardwood in the home but light 12x12 role in the kitchen. I plan to replace with herringbone patterned dark tile down the road. My budget on the kitchen is only $5-6k to start with.

Here are some ideas...

Highly functional kitchen! Maybe replace upper cabinet doors - that's the problem. Consider glass doors. The bottoms aren't that bad. You could use a different color on the island so its not so samey samey. Brushed SS or nickel pulls go well with your appliances. There are some awesome semi-flush mount rectangular fixtures that would kick it up a notch for the bar.

The wood range hood can be made from panels and fillers, I also can propose you standard hoods that are all wood and perfect looking

Often the cabinet company is stamped in a cabinet or drawer somewhere. Mine is stamped in the inside of the drawer. If the cabinets are from a local cabinet company or home center store, you could order the wood hood in unfinished oak to match the cabinets when you paint, or maybe it would look fine in a paint grade wood. You could also take the measurements and see if a home center store can order one that will fit.

I am doing this same change this summer. My cabinet company has 3 hoods, but I also am going to talk to a local cabinet maker who has helped me out with some things and see how much he would charge. The vent fan is also often sold through the home center store - but they are charging quite a lot for it and I've seen a good company's wood insert fan online for much less. I need to talk to my installer about it.

JHmarie - I would be interested to see how it turns out for you. I would like to have it vented to the outside/attic and don't want an elaborate hood. I wonder if it can be done for under $600.

You have a vent now and it should be venting to the outside somehow, so hopefully all you will need is the wood hood and the new vent insert. Look in the cabinet above the vent. The vent might run through it and then into the wall and to the outside. You can do a search of "wood range hood DIY" on google or Pinterest you will get lots of info - but like all things internet, check it out:)

If I go with the hood I was looking at that is made to go with my cabinets and the vent provided by the company, it will run $1100 before labor - approximately $500 for wood hood and $600 for the vent insert. My cabinets are from a home center store. My cabinetmaker that has helped me out on some other projects, charges $40 an hour (small town - midwest), so I was thinking he might be a little less for an unfinished wood hood of simple style. The vent I saw online was a Broan brand ranging in price from $200 and up. Search "wood range vent insert". Actually, there were some at $100, but I was getting concerned about quality at that point. I also don't know if I need a certain size for a certain hood - so I need more info. I did see some inexpensive wood hoods on amazon - $200 and up, but again, I am unsure of quality.

I have 25 boxes of hardwood flooring which hopefully will be installed this week - not by me - and a prom dress to make. After that I am going to get back to my kitchen, so it will be a few weeks before I have more info.

If I replace the fluorescent light would it be best to do a hanging light or just recessed lights? I will probably use small schoolhouse pendants over the breakfast bar so using those might be overkill above the island. Or I could do another simple vintage style light above the breakfast bar and schoolhouse pendants above the island...

I love the idea of the cup pulls, but believe an antique pewter finish would work out better than the ORB. Top Knobs has a great cup pull here, and a matching knob here. One thing you might want to also consider if you do end up painting these cabinets would be adding a glaze. This will add a little more character to the finish.

Here is a sample photo, without any glazing! Looks great!

That hardware is great looking and Classic although a bit expensive for my budget I will definitely consider it. I agree that a pewter or nickel will be best. I don't want the knobs and Bulls to dominate the look. I'm not sure I want to do a glaze but I do want to make sure the color is a warm white vs cool or stark white. That's why I am leaning white dove or Swiss coffee.

Am I crazy to remove a tumbled travertine backsplash to replace it with subway tile? We currently live in a 1933 bungalow and the only thing we didn't do that we wanted to was add subway tile in the kitchen. This is me living out that dream here. It's cost effective and I think it adds a little vintage flair that should keep the whole thing on track with our decor of eclectic antiques and mid century pieces mixed in.

i would remove the travertine for sure -- too modern of a look. subway tile would look great

Thanks Lori I agree. Subway tile it is! Now to pick grout. I am thinking a medium gray or mushroom color...

I'm thinking it will be too costly to replace the cathedral style upper cabinet faces with simple inset to match the bottom. Does anyone have experience with that or suggestions on my lighting questions above?

Could these cabinets still turn out with the look we want to achieve by paining and changing backsplash, lighting and accessories?

I think your an is great. I could go either way with painting these-the advice to change upper doors and add hood vent are solid. Totally agree, though it is a waste, that the backsplash would be better as subway. Lighting for sure-get rid of the ceiling fan unless you like wind on you while you eat! One thing I will add to the above comments is that the island is in need of...well...get rid of it. The paneling and trim work are cheesy and add no interest, and you don't love the granite so here is the place to 86 it. It is the center of your kitchen, which is the center of your home. Miacometlady posted a great idea in another thread, which is to repurpose another piece of furniture, paint it (with all that neutral here is your chance to be "eclectic") and I would do a 1.5"-2" butcher block top, which would be useful and beautiful. I will try to find her photos or others.

Here is a "furniture" island and a cool replacement for that light as well!

http://houzz.com/photos/24341519

Not real furniture but it is trying to look like it! http://houzz.com/photos/131400

http://houzz.com/photos/116065

Solid suggestions. We were just talking about adding a medium/dark butcher block top to the existing island and painting it a medium gray to add interest but not sure how it would coordinate with the other countertops. I'm not into matching everything but I do want it to all work. At this point the island may have to work for a year or two until we have the funds to replace it if we go that route. I think a cost effective way to enhance the cabinets would be larger top moldings. I love the wood good idea but am struggling to find one that is affordable (

I love that charcoal island! Maybe we can achieve that look on a budget with the current island to some degree.

I just know that with removing the island comes floors which we want to do but we also have a lot of other updates to do around the home that will eat budget. Maybe the island and floors can be a year 2 expense.

http://houzz.com/photos/1368407 wowza. A bit fancy but shows that your options are limitless.

What about adding beadboard to the existing island, paint it dark gray and add a butcher block top?

love the dark island idea also!

as for the cathedral upper doors -- you don't have that many so I would get a quote on them.

if you paint all the cabinets white, they can just paint the new doors white also. and you would not have to replace all the doors, maybe, because I think you could put glass in a couple of them.

new doors from what I understand are pretty inexpensive

My builder does floors under cabinetry-you may be able to drill a hole in the bottom of that island and see what the floor situation is. If not, panels, paint, and better trim around the base are options. If the floors are there, I would get rid of the whole thing. A thrift-store sideboard or dresser, paint, a custom countertop (even an ikea butcheblock-cheap!) and you have a very cool, eclectic kitchen!

That being said, it sounds like you may want to do a major kitchen re-haul in a couple of years. Your kitchen doesn't look open to the rest of the house, which is what held me back from doing more color in my kitchen. How about having some fun with colors? Check out this plum island with orange cabinets. Talk about personality.

That being said, I did cream perimeter and black island...I guess I'm trying to live vicariously!!

http://houzz.com/photos/3102154

Luckily it's just a breakfast bar between the kitchen and the living area so it is pretty open. I will definitely see if the tile is under the island once we are in there and try to get a quote on top cabinet faces and a hood. All great ideas so far.

The good news is that in 2015, you no longer have to be 'matchy-matchy' with your decor! I like how you are mixing up and cup pulls will look great. I like the existing granite too. Go with whatever works for you, and don't worry about sticking to one exact style. Have fun with it!

While we are changing everything...I couldn't believe the difference when my husband boxed in our fridge and built cabinets that came out over the top. It really makes for a more finished look. Not a pricey fix.

http://houzz.com/photos/22409203

Wow that looks exceptional. I am trying to find a cabinet maker that could fashion something like that affordably. My current kitchen has the fridge sitting in a cove and I love it.

If Top Knobs is a little more then your budget will allow Amerock is the #1 Brand of Hardware and they offer some great items that are very minimalistic. This Cup Pull is much cheaper and here are all of the Amerock Pulls that are in a nickel finish. Some people really want their hardware to be stand out and dominate the room, A cup pull is a great way to compliment and add style without dominating.

When we did our kitchen a few years ago we did butcher block top on the island. Now we wish we had done some type of manufactured stone. We cook a lot and the butcher block has been difficult to maintain and clean. So, if someone is viewing your house that cooks a lot, like my family, they might not be excited about the butcher block. Food for thought.

That was just an example kitchen but yours is beautiful! I can imagine why it would be tough to leave!!

Thought I would post some updates that have been completed. Hardware will go on tonight.

We ended up adding the custom hood, crown molding on top of cabinets, white dal tile subway tile w pewter grout, kitchen aid gas cooktop and air king 600cfm vent insert. Cabinets are BM White Dove using KM dura poxy and walls are BM moonshine. What you can't see is the schoolhouse pendants over the breakfast bar. A new faucet will go in this weekend.

It is looking great! Keep us posted with more pics when you cross the finish line!

Wow! you are really moving along! Great job! I have only got one cabinet totally stripped and four partially stripped and hope to get those totally stripped by tomorrow - but I only started Monday:) Where did you get the wood vent cover from? I have a soffit, so mine will need to be a bit shorter.

Thanks! The hood was custom made by a local carpenter. The hood insert was actually more expensive than the hood itself. I had the cabinets painted so I cheated there. It's all been done in about a week or so. Crazy times over here.

It’s been a while since you posted. How are your painted cabinets holding up?

You have a good, spacious kitchen with nice cabinetry and granite and plenty of storage. The only thing I would change now is the horrid fluorescent lighting. Then bring in color with rug runners, window treatments and art. Live with it for six months or a year before making other changes.

feliz,,,,this post is 2.5 years old.