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If you live in the Los angeles area, give me a call. I offer free in home consultations and estimates. 1818-633-5462 or 1800-840-5377

I live in st.louis

But an estimate would greatly appreciated.

Are you wanting your cabinets to have a darker look to them? I personally like white cabinets with wood floors. You could also have your cabinets glazed if you want to give them a more antique feel. The glaze would highlight the details on your doors.

Yes I'm wanting to go for a dark look. Would dark wood and dark counter tops be too much? The floors are a rather light wood as well.

Thanks!

Dark cabinets and dark countertops look good together.

You can find great looking inexpensive black counter tops which will look great with the appliances. Maybe Minwax Wood Finish Jacobean 2750, or 221, 225, 2716 or something dark that will go with the wood floor color

I agree, if you have enough natural light dark on dark can look great. You are in desperate need of better lighting. A dark gel antiquing glaze may give you a dark enough look for you. I have tobacco stained maple cabinets with an espresso glaze and that is not really dark. It is more a med dark look. I do not have these counter tops this is the store display for my cabinets.

Noooo....too much darkness....room is already too dark....maybe the island bench a charcoal but the rest of cabinets a lighter grey...keep the tops light !...glass splash back will reflect light

I would say simply scrape and stain your cabinets, it give it a great facelift. As for the countertop we are getting a concrete one poured exactly to fit ours! So excited :) Have fun, go crazy, thats what design is all about!

Dark and dark work but can get heavy in a small area. Have you considered having a refacing? That is to restain or paint the frames and have new doors put on. Changes the look more but doesn't cost as much as a full reinstall. I would also try to lose the trim around the tops, it looks dated. If you go dark and dark, I would try for a backsplash with some metallic to it in a lighter color to open up that space and reflect some light. Glass tiles or subway tiles would look good. You need to replace the flourescent fixture with either some pendants or a nice, larger modern chandelier. I am thinking oval or rectangular shape, layers of crystals/paua shell/something with a sheen or that will reflect some light. For a real twist you could have the entire island clad in reclaimed barnwood or with ply and painted. Something that doesn't blend with the cabinets.

Preference for sure, but thumbs up to white counter top against the dark cabinets. If you do get dark counter tops, keep in mind the dust -- even with my white Quartz counter tops, on sunny mornings/days everything shows..even when you thought you cleaned them well the night before.

For my opinion, the only ugly is the wall paint, the kitchen is perfect. I like it!!

You can go one of two ways in my opinion... But either way... A tile backsplash should be number one on your list... It will be a huge difference. 1. You can paint the cabinets black and leave the counter white for contrast. It will showcase those nice wood floors that currently blend too much with the cabinets. 2. You ca leave the cabinets the same and change the countertop to an Absolute Black or Black Galaxy granite. If money is a factor, option 1 would be the way to go. Also, upgrade the light over the bar and sink to an oily brush bronze or even black for price savings. Those light boxes don't offer much in style even though the give off good light but you have can lighting in tha soffit so it should be ok.

I have the same ceiling light...looking for ideas for something new. I had a similar looking kitchen. Went for new hardware, chocolate color granite, beautiful tile backsplash....and i love it. Light tan walls. Wasnt too expensive and made a huge difference!

I think dark wood and dark counter tops would be too much in this particular space. It might start to feel too heavy.

You can definitely do dark cabinets as long as you add more lighting to the space. Perhaps changing the lighting above (which I think you should - I assume that very dated light fixture is fluorescent and I personally believe fluorescent lighting has no business in a home) and perhaps add under cabinet lighting as well. Lighting will be your friend here. The cabinets can be spray painted by a professional - it's very cost-effective vs. new cabinets. A lighter coloured countertop will give you some great contrast, as will a lighter coloured backsplash. If you're not married to the wall colour, I would lighten that up a bit too.

I would put my money into beautiful granite countertops, (dark would be beautiful), gorgeous backsplash tiles, update the hardware on the cabinets and update light fixtures. If you like the wall color OK, but I would want to paint something different depending on your color favorites.
I'd save my money on changing the finish on the cabinets (unless they are much more worn and/or faded than they look in the pictures.

If you can tell us what kind of styles you like that would help with ideas... rustic, contemporary, etc

If you want to paint or stain them have a professional spray the doors. The bases you could do yourself. I have a quarts counter with flecks of blue in a brown beige with a little grey. Best money I've spent......

Is the kitchen large enough to have a larger counger top on the island? If you could have an overhand on the side (in front of fridge) you could have a couple of funky barstools. I for sure get black or very dark counter tops and complimentary backsplash. Paint the cabinets white.

I would change the lighting,get rid of the box and invest in recessed lighting, perhaps with smaller cans in the sofits. I would change out the counters for granite or quartz. Rotating the island ,and adding a small breakfast bar would tie the whole room together and create a more social space. Lastly I would paint and change the cabinet hardware.

heres how mine turned out....of course those are colors I like. still looking for a light!

Since you are on a budget, I would repaint the walls and paint the base cabinets a dark paint color and paint the uppers a lighter paint color. The hardware is fine and so are the appliances. Remove the dark valance and roman blinds and switch out the fluorescent light fixture with a dramatic pendant. Depending in budget you could either do a stone or man made hard surface with a tile backsplash. And add a runner for some fun pattern between the sink and island.

The walls would be fine how they are, but I think they'd look nice with white cabinets - either painted, or replaced. And I've always loved the look of light wood counter tops.

You could just put in granite and add decorative hardware to the cabinets. We just did that in my kitchen, and it looks amazing.

I would go with leaving the cabinets the same. Paint the island black and add black granite countertops to the whole kitchen. Extend the island counter top either on the ref side or on one end to provide room for seating. Put a black with copper or silver fleck glass backsplash, or a stainless steel tile backsplash. Paint the soffit a rich complimentary color and then add pendant lights over the island; under cabinet lighting and recessed lighting in front of all of the cabinets.

Regardless of the color, painting the existing cabinets is a lot of work. Stain won't work unless they are stripped bare, so paint is the way to go. I vote for an espresso on the perimeter cabinets, leave the cherry island alone. Go with white counter tops throughout. The fluorescent fixture goes to the dump and a couple of nice pendants replace it. Not much can be done about the arch top of the upper cab doors...short of replacing them prior to paint. I liked the waterfall of the reclaimed wood top idea...pretty rustic though (read rough).

Hi Jake,

If you are leaving the wainscot and the yellow paint you could go this direction: Cabinets: paint white Hardware: get some new updated and more relevant in brushed nickle. Color palette to work in: white, black, grey and or silver. Back splash: put one in when you change counters. Get a glass and stone mix pencil horizontal set on netting. Countertops: Ceasar Stone in one of the blacks. Good luck.
For more tips and trends on my blog go to: www.ljacobsendesign.com

I agree that you need to decide what your style will be for the home. Are you more rustic or modern or traditional? Combination? Colors? We need more info.

That being said, I agree the cabinets should be painted lighter and then antiqued, such as.......below. I also think a slouchy comfortable seating area would be great too.

I see the island extended with a waterfall counter too. Add some furniture legs too, the island really needs to be beefed up.

I love darker cabinets on the bottom to ground and lighter cabinets on top.

I would start with the easy stuff; choose different paint color for the walls, change the cabinet handles to something more substantial and change out the light fixture above the island that is attractive, a couple pendants that put out good light. If those changes still aren't enough, I would change the counter tops to something darker, a back splash, and I would choose a larger counter top for the island.

You and I have similar kitchen layouts. We changed out the existing formica top to a black galaxy granite top and then immediately felt the kitchen was too dark. We tried to compensate by adding a light stone backsplash and under cabinet lighting. We also extended the depth of the island so we could add a couple of barstools.

I really like the existing finish on your cabinetry and I think changing out the tops would make them stand out more.

There is a site

Remoldanado mi casa

that has a kitchen redo that she did herself. It is your kitchen. Ive tried to copy the site for you but for whateverbreason have been unable to this morning on my ipad??? If is worth checking out! Good luck!

Your kitchen is beautiful as it is now. If you only have a little budget, how about a backsplash and some more lighting?

http://www.kitchengalleries.com/gallery.html#
check out DSCN1148
If you have an unlimited budget this kitchen gallery picture looks like your kitchen with some updates.

I agree your cabinets are in good shape - I would put the money into new quartz (or granite) counter tops, tile back splash, handles and light fixtures..and you have an updated kitchen. I was watching a design show last night (thought of your kitchen) and they had a kitchen with your style and colour cabinets; so they did a squirrel grey quartz counter top with a slate tile up the back, put some modern frosted glass on some of the cabinet doors and it looked great -- that and new lighting (and loose the curtains).. it will look great.

My kitchen setup is somewhat similar and it was a dark brown wood color in the wood areas a few yrs ago when we painted So will after I charge my camera share a picture at that time. My colors in there are are blue green and white now. Somewhat cluttered and because doing spring cleaning. Ceiling due to leaky roof does need replacing inside since my sons have sealed it till we can afford a new one, soon I hope. Till then I will do the best I can and have been considering dark brown cupboards again . I hace to be careful as I need to keep colors in line with the browns, beige in adjoining living rm. As kitchen counters are soft country blue the colors will need to grow from there to work with my livingrm area.Heavy colors cause my modular home to feel smaller and more confined so must be careful to keep it light. So just wondering when I can share photo what can be done CHEAPLY enough. I can sew my own toppers for the windows in the kitchen windo so maybe that will be the jumpimg point for the color co ordination to tye 2 rm together.

Im liking the bron topper and the yello paint as a possibity in my kitchen to tye the 2 rms together. Thanks for sharing the photo.

Formica's FX tops are amazing and much more cost effective than granite. They still have a glossy appearance which will help reflect light. Upgrade the edge detail to an ogee and omit the backsplash. Tile the space between the cabinets and countertop and be sure to include a couple of decorative tiles or a strip of skinny horizontal tiles. Pay the extra to undermount a new sink (yes, it can be done on a laminate top now) and change the faucet to an oil rubbed bronze.

A word of caution - dark countertops can be high-maintenance. They will show dust, scratches, crumbs, ring left from a coffee cup etc. So plan to wipe and dry often. Formica's Golden Mascarello is gorgeous and is much easier to maintain (and will go with your paint scheme and stainless steel appliances).

If your budget will allow for a stone top than look into quartz. It is easier to maintain than granite. Cambria has some really nice options that mimic granite. Maybe Cambria's Canterbury? I am a designer in Southern Illinois and I use K&D in Trenton, IL and Hallmark Stone in Fenton as fabricators for quartz countertops. K&D will remove your existing tops and install new ones for you too.

I agree with adding an undercabinet light kit (splurge and get a low voltage one on a switch - do not get battery operated!), replace the ceiling fixture (it's really outdated), and add some can lights on a dimmer. Replace the handles with something really snazzy in oil rubbed bronze (maybe a hammered finish?).

Lose the window treatment - I'm sure you probably like it, but it really inhibits the natural light over the sink. If you feel you need to have something then go with a much lighter color (cream?), something more sheer, and something that will drape down the sides (think - "flowing"). You can get something to match for the patio door too. There are some very pretty curtain rods with finials on the ends that a sheer scarf type material can be wrapped around - experiment until you get the look you want.

The cabinets are pretty and it is alot of work to change the finish. So you could make the other changes and then see if you still want to change the cabinet color. Or just do the island in a dark finish as an accent piece and distress and glaze the other cabinets.



Good luck with your project!

So much great advice I don't even know where to start, haha. Thanks everyone :)

I personally love everything about that kitchen except the counter tops. A nice, darker granite would look great then I think you're done!

Yeah that's kinda what I wanted to do with a back splash, new lighting, new wall paint etc.

I dont know how granite is selling out there..but if you go to fabricator they might have nice granite and maybe do the island in another color or wood butcher block...then just glaze your doors black..also that looks like corian tops which a solid surface fabricator can attach just a black edge of scraps..glue it on site then reprofile the edge and shape it without tearout , plumbing prices, etc. but I always laugh when people say cost effective or not expensive..I have no idea what the amount is for expensive..I think some materials are expensive to me..but o other people they are not.
here in St. petersburg Fl granite Uba Tuba and the butterfly colors are cheaper than Wilsonart HD laminate, its not that anything wrong with the granite..but many shops close down, market is flooded with slabs, etc..shop around granite yards and mix up some remnants also

Jake.... You also need to consider....Is this your forever house?....if not you will need to sell at some stage....make sure that what ever you end up doing is fresh and marketable !....kitchens are the heart of a home and can literally make or break a sale....you don't want to over capitalise , you won't get your money back !