I find it dark, but it is pretty. Green is all the rage in Victorian kitchens, it seems. Would you be at all interested in a lighter color scheme? Can you post an image of your space? If you're not sure how to do it, consult the "New to Kitchens" thread.

I had thought about green as well. Do you think doing the lighter color on the lower cabinets with maybe the darker color on the range hood? Unlike the photo i plan to have open shelving on either side of the range hood. Im trying to do this remodel without being able to be at my house due to work. I'm about to have a mental break. Thank you for your response!!

Oh sure. More folks will chime in in the morning.

In most two toned kitchens, the lighter colored cabinets are on the top. That's not necessary, but something to think about. Nothing says Victorian like leaded glass and fussy trim pieces, but true Victorian kitchens were much simpler than the rest of the house. Are you at all interested in an unfitted kitchen?

That was my initial thought but due to chopped up wall space i was drawing a blank on making it work

Personally, I prefer (and really like) the cabinet color in your inspiration picture - but that's a personal preference, not a statement about what a "Victorian" Kitchen would have.

I question whether this Kitchen is a working Kitchen, though. That horse and those pictures may be getting a bit grungy over the range like that. While a good hood will do wonders at removing grease, steam, smoke, etc., no hood is perfect and some will escape! That horse, the pictures, and the shelving contents on the right all look like they belong in an office, not a Kitchen! (And, there's no work or landing space around the range - but you're looking for aesthetic advice, not whether that picture shows a functional Kitchen!)

I'm with Buehl, that is not a working kitchen and I like the wood. Lighter cabinets on top gives the feeling of open space. Lighter on bottom would seem odd. Butter cream is going to change the ambiance completely.

I've renovated my share of historic houses and installed new kitchens. Obviously there is a difference between renovation and restoration. Restored homes are not really comfortable or useful to live in. Practically speaking, most of us end up renovating with a sympathetic eye towards the period of the home.

Old House Journal will have lots of pictures of old home kitchens. You can also go to Zillow and do a search for homes built before a certain period of time. Look through those. See what you like. Google vintage kitchen images. At least you will understand what is attractive to you. You will also see a lot of kitchens that will elicit a negative response. Look at them carefully and try to determine why you don't like them.

I tend to like the hallmarks of the American sanitary movement. Subway tiles, tile floors, linoleum floors, marble or soapstone formica counters, simple white painted cabinetry or medium-stained wood without decorative corbels and geegaws, glass doors, and farm sinks. The list goes on.

The one thing that you must do, make function paramount. If the layout doesn't work, you won't like the kitchen regardless of all the elements you try to include. Put your floorplan on GW and get the function settled. Remember, we love drawers bases because they are so efficient. They work in every kitchen.

i think these examples would work almost anywhere..simple, non-fussy, strikingly beautiful at the same time..probably much closer to historically correct kitchens too, and making sense

look at them..maybe you'll like them. the idea behind these i mean

https://laurelberninteriors.com/2017/01/25/beautiful-classic-kitchens-not-white/

search also other posts of hers on the kitchens' topic..lots of inspiration on traditional, simple, gorgeous kitchens. unfitted as well, as eam suggested. that's a good blog. it's not always my style -but it's always a good read. with tons of useful info

as regarding the function-you've arrived to the right place. folks on this forum are amazing. i'm not one of them-i do admire from the distance though. i wish i knew about the GardenWeb before our reno and not after.

aprilneverends, I was thinking of that exact post!

For OP, what do you like and dislike about the inspiration image? The dark, moody look is very striking, and it seems like buttercream cabinets would have a completely different feel.

True victorian kitchens were plain as someone else mentioned. Inset cabinets with plain lines painted white or another light color. It was the workspace for the "hired help" and not the domain of the lady of the house. However, that was then, and this is now so the question is do you want to do your inspiration which reminds me more of a dining room (and that's all good if that's the direction you want to go) or do you want to go more towards a slightly more literal interpretation (I say slightly, because function still needs to trump look.)

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That feels more like a library than a kitchen and the range is dressed more like a fireplace than an actual cooking area. Which I suppose is the point. Besides damage to the pretty things above, nobody in their right mind (certainly nobody that has that much) stores their wine a foot away from a commercial cooker. Not even in the kitchen, in fact, unless it's in a wine fridge.

Anyway, that kitchen doesn't feel like it's inviting me to come in and cook or enjoy coffee or breakfast or anything. Not necessarily the cabinet color...just the way everything has been selected to feel imposing.

The only Victorian kitchens I've any experience with are in England both SILs and one of my DH's BFFs live in Victorians with ground floor kitchens (as opposed to those there that are below street level) .. Cabinets along one wall, large range on an adjacent wall, and large table for workspace and eat-in kitchen. The cabinets go all the way or almost all the way to the high high ceilings, so light colors are important to keep them from feeling heavy and imposing.

As mentioned above, find inspiration photos and pinpoint what you like and don't like...overall feeling, pro cooker, cabinet color, ornate details, etc.

What Buehl and Homechef59 said. Take that to heart.

When you speak of a chopped up space, it again makes me wonder whether keeping things simple in an unfitted kitchen might work well for you.

It also makes me want to encourage you again, to post your layout diagram and images of your space. You'd be amazed what the layout gurus here can accomplish.

Your picture looks nothing like a kitchen would have in a Victorian house. Remember, in Victorian houses, the kitchen was for the help and was kept quite simple and functional. The lady or the house rarely ventured into such!

If there was no help, this meant that the family was of very modest means (help was pretty cheap) and it would be even simpler.

Do a simple, classic painted kitchen and it will be fine in your Victorian house.

You can lighten the room up with a light quartzite on both the island and counters with a matching whitening of the floor tile. Calacatta Macaubus is an example on the island. As hard and imperious as granite.

Cpartist and Anglophilia are right about true Victorian kitchens. I like the kitchen that The Kitchen Place posted - it keeps to the mood you are looking for while being at the same time a modern cook's kitchen. It doesn't have the cloying artificiality of a fantasy of what a Victorian kitchen would look like, and its accompanying lack of functionality from all the doodads.

Here is a pic of what an actual (and somewhat famous) Victorian kitchen looks like. Note the buffet hutch for storage, the cream-painted lower cabinets, open shelving, wood counters, and the "2-bowl" shallow apron-front sinks in copper.

Setting aside the conveniences of modern appliances, a kitchen like this would be a nightmare to clean, and in fact they did have a large staff to do it.

I read your post earlier today and then this afternoon I randomly checked a local designer's portfolio to see they've posted a project. I saw this kitchen that might offer inspiration to you...

http://www.jhinteriordesign.com/victorian-kitchen

I appreciate all the comments. I will post layout drawings soon the ones i currently have are chicken scratch... I'm having some issues with it also. I originally was toying with the idea of the two tone cabinets because the wainscoating in the room is dark and i thought it would give some separation from that. And i will only have open shelving on either side of the range hood . I cook a lot when I'm home but that's only about 2 weeks out of a year. With the horrid cabinets i have now about 40% of them are empty. And the counters would definitely be different than the pic. I appreciate the link and helpful comments there is so much to decide on i feel like I'm not going to ever get this done