If you want to keep the ceiling as is, you certainly should consider its color when you choose kitchen cabinet. I think espresso or redish maple can be a little too dark. I think offwhite or natural maple color should look better. If you paint the ceiling soft white and only keep the main beams the current color, you could use espresso cabinets with light-colored floor. Are you also going to redo the floor? What color would you like on the floor? Everything has to work together.

Here is a better photo of the living room, and one of the bathroom

We don't want to change the wood in the ceiling; we really like it, and yes we are doing the floor; everything down to the studs and starting fresh. Here is the bathroom.

The floor will be pretty light; we are meeting with a flooring person tomorrow to discuss options like Marmoleum; maybe a couple of tones of light color for the floor; beige-ish with darker trim?

My computer shows the ceiling with a cool grey tone. I think your kitchen is big enough and with lot of natural light. Espresso cabinets may work better than redish color. One way to reduce the feeling of too much wood is to add many glass-door wall cabinets with interior lights to show off your collections. You could also use a lighter color for island cabinets. I've seen many designers use contrast color on wall and base cabinets. However, I seldomly find them attractive. Different color on island is a safer way. I think a light countertop and floor should make a nice contrast. If the kitchen floor is going to be lighter color than the bathroom floor the countertop may need to be even lighter than vanity countertop. Espresso goes well with white. You could choose sharp white or soft white based on your preference. Hope this helps.

Thanks so much; how wonderful to get input; this is terrific; what a great tool Houzz is...

If you like a two-tone look I think
That it would be wonderful to have espresso base cabinets and cream or grey wall cabinets

hmmmm. really interesting....thanks

Congratulations on your home! That's really a gorgeous house!

I agree with the cabinet color suggestions above. I do think the espresso or the gray would work much better than a reddish anything! A gray or dark lower cabinet mixed with white upper cabinets and perhaps white counters would look amazing with your ceiling.

As far as lighting, I feel your pain! We have a similar ceiling with similar limitations. The two suggestions I can make are:
1) flexible track. The transformer mounts to where your current overhead fixture is and the track can be attached at other beams. It can be curved or run in a straight line. The first photo below will give you an idea.

2) Regular track lighting. The transformer would need to be hidden in an upper cabinet or on a wall in another room. The transformer problem has always been a bit of an issue for us because of our layout. The 2nd pic below shows an example of this. This one is kind of interesting because they ran the cable THROUGH the beams. This is one of those things you have to be really committed to if you install! I do think it's an interesting look though.

3) Just for grins, I've attached a photo of a different way they've addressed the lighting. I like it - but not sure I'd want it. It does help address the lighting mounting in this type of ceiling though. I can't figure out though how they got the power to where the overheads are mounted. The lights I'm talking about are the ones over the dining table and the one over the peninsula.

I the the second picture that onthefence posted would look amazing

One other thing -- if at all possible, I'd avoid doing upper cabinets at all. At least not the ones that flank the window over the sink. I think you could do some great open shelving there.

Afterthought - i just remembered my own problem with this that I'm still thinking thru in my own kitchen is no upper cabs means no undercabinet lights.

love the lighting suggestions, and thank you for taking the time to find the photos, which are beautiful.

My husband and I are looking at these together and discussing.

Sorry... ;-) One other thing for you... I want pendants over my sink. No electrical in the ceiling there but it DOES exist on the wall. I found this mount which will allow for pendants. I think it stands 6.5" off the wall. Don't know if pendants are something on your list - but if they are, this may be helpful. It shouldn't be rough to get electrical into the wall over your sink.

http://www.amazon.com/Kichler-Lighting-4931NI-Pendant-Assembly/dp/B004ZNQJ2G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370673891&sr=8-1&keywords=4931NI+Kichler+Lighting+Canopy

Oh I love all of these lights; truly fabulous and any of them would look great; now I'm thinking about the living and dining room; not to get carried away with lights everywhere, but what a lovely effect.

Lighting can make a room !!! Fab ceilings !!! You will make this home sing again !!! :-)

Wow. NO!! Redo and refresh!! Don't tear it out! You could do so much with that retro look! I actually had a similar kitchen - no telling what dates as the house was built in 1911 and it wasn't that. Had that bar thing rounded on the end you've got there! The old farm sink with ceramic drainers on both sides. HUGE windows over the sink.... oh, I'd kill to have that again, so much history and so much style!

With dark ceilings and limitations on lighting, I would be thinking light coloured cabinets. Even a nice butter yellow with white counter tops. Or antique white with wood counter top to compliment the ceiling. Keep it bright and fresh!

Hey, onthefence, the photo for the fixture to use with pendants doesn't make it clear how to use it. Is there a photo of it in use?

Hiya loryy. Unfortunately I never have been able to find a photo of this in use. I've even looked at the kichler ceiling mount canopies and there are no photos with them either! See this link for one of the ceiling mount ones: http://www.kichlerlightinglights.com/product/kichler-lighting-canopy-lighting-accessories-4100ni.html

I'm guessing (!) that the pendants mount to the little 'pins' on the end. Unfortunately not having any pendants, I have no idea how they're installed. I know that kichler sells extension stems so if you want a pendant to drop down even further, you can do that.

The thing I'll say though that I liked about this is that most wall mount fixtures I've looked at look like they belong in a bath or powder room to me.

If you do happen across a photo of one of these in use, please share!

Well, Vixter1, I agree with you in principle; this kitchen has the wonderful tile and the peninsula, but the counters and cabinets are not current sizes; they are too shallow. I just shot this view looking back the other way (aren't ipads wonderful?) That space to the right of the stove is a water heater, which we are going to take out of the kitchen so we can use that space. Also, the refrigerator is going to move more to the center of the wall across from the peninsula and so we need to open up the floor space to allow better flow through the room (plus make room for a dishwasher which the kitchen doesn't have).

loryy my hat is off to you! You've made a lot out of a challenging space. I do agree that the old kitchens have wonderful charm - they're just not designed for the way we live and cook today. Our kitchen is circa 1956. Cabinets are VERY solid but they're shallow and maybe 10% of the space is truly easily accessible.

Re: cabinet colors - I came across a couple photos I had saved in ideabooks and wanted to throw the ideas out to you. The first is maple stained in gray. The color looks very similar to your ceiling (at least on my monitor!) IMO this would be gorgeous with a light/white countertop.


Second is a white oak. I didn't see reference to a stain color but this just looks like driftwood to me!


Third is something I've read about here on Houzz. It's called Cerused Oak. I'm not sure whether they use red oak or white but I do like the look! I've seen photos of different shades of this as well.

The first cabinet color Onthefence posted was gorgeous. I would still probably do a cream/white color for the wall cabinets just so the amount if wood does not become overwhelming

If you did not want a two tone look, Having one would color be warm and one cool like in the photo below, the whole space feel less choppy http://houzz.com/photos/876030

Wood*

How funny carfreak! The pic above of House in Redding, Fairfield County is exactly the same one as the 2010 A-List Award Winner that I posted above (the track lighting thru the beams in a more rustic style).

I agree that color works well with the wood ceiling. I do like two tone kitchens though when they're well executed. Can't wait to see what colors loryy narrows it down to!

oh, Onthefence you are reading my mind. We just had a flooring person here to discuss what to do with the floor and she suggested maple (no grain to compete with the ceiling) stained in the colors you have posted here. I had't thought of those colors until just an hour ago and was getting ready to start searching for cabinet ideas in that color range. You just gave me exactly what I needed to start considering; WOW!

opps bad writing! I meant to say maple cabinets. The floor was a different issue, and, in fact, she suggested staying away from any wood flooring as it would be too linear and compete with the ceiling. She also said our ceiling is one of the current fashion colors in the decorating world...who knew?????????

Carfreak 13, that is the perfect follow up photo, and how funny that it is the same house in the lighting example.

I'm sold! you guys solved my problem; this just feel "right" and is even compatible with the look in the bathroom.

Thank you so much!

loryy, I can't wait to see what comes next! I confess I'm a little confused - I know you're looking at something with little grain which will avoid competition with the ceiling - but are you still looking at Marmoleum for the floor?

I looooooove marmoleum. We have a good red oak floor which I won't be changing -- but if I did, it would be marmoleum all the way!

How very cool that you're right in style ;-) The color of your ceiling is just amazing. What a great thing that you're able to take this place that has been your home for so many years and put your signature on it!

Please post updates as you go along. It's going to be great to see where you go with design, countertops, flooring, lighting... and if either one of us ever bites on that wall mount pendant thing ;-)

Keep the ceilings, love them maybe add a Sky light or two that would brighten the room a lot. I did that with my old home in Redding California and loved them. I now have espresso cabinets and LOVE them, shaker style and I'm using a creamy white granite with some brown and gray veining full back splash, beautiful ( should be installed soon). As for lighting the sky lights will give you natural light then add what you need in certain work areas of the kitchen. As for flooring I would use wood, mine looks great and it's Brazialian Mahogany with all shades of wood from blonde to espresso..striking floors. Yours is a Beautiful house.! Good Luck !!!

Wow, my goodness, you all are so great! I will add updates. This is a house that has been owned by the California Dept. of Transportation. They bought up a whole swath of homes and buildings along the path of a freeway, back in the late 60's. They rented them out while planning the freeway, which eventually got cancelled and so they are now selling everything. Since we had lived in it for so long (1971) we had first right to buy it, which we did a year ago. We always took care of it as though it was ours in the hopes of owning it one day.

It's a small house just over a 1000 sq. ft. but full of windows that face the back which borders a wooded canyon.

All for now; thanks again everyone...

loryy, the pendant style lights are low voltage halogen track lights. We live in Europe and had those in our kitchen where we had a wooden ceiling that dated from around 1600 and it couldn't be touched. Ours attached to the walls on either end of the kitchen. The electrical part always attaches in one spot (wherever you have the electrical current, then you add pendents or spots as you wish. You can find models that you string across a long space (like we had to do) or models that have multiple points to attach additional supports. Several are on this site. http://www.evergreenata.org/kitchen-light-fixtures-for-perfect-kitchen-look/track-lighting-for-kitchen/

Good luck!

loryy, not to be a stalker but I think we may be almost neighbors!

I noticed the review you left of a contractor who is in the same town I live in. I was chatting with a relative of a new neighbor a few months ago who was explaining to me where he lived. He was telling me about the freeway. We moved to the area in 1985 so I was completely unaware of the freeway.

It's a small, small world ;-)

oh my! That is wild. I live near Cal State East Bay.

ROFL - yep, almost neighbors. I live just a few blocks up from the contractor you reviewed!

We've probably shopped together at Trader Joes ;-)

cool! let's stay in touch; share ideas etc. Here is my website: you can contact me directly if you wish; www.loryhawley.com

I like this house! Congratulations!

For a craftsman house with a lot of wood already, I'd go with painted cupboards. I am picturing a pale turquoise off white--something fresh but with a period feel to it.

Look at a colour wheel and stay away from things on the opposite side of pink (such as cool blue). It will make the pink look pinker (which, even if you like the pink hue, will be just too much). To make something look less blue/red/green/whatever, surround it with similar, not contrasting colours, to the blue/red/green/whatever colour. "Kill it with kindness."

My 2 cents….white cabinets and then a soft combination of the ceiling color as your backsplash.

I thought I would never have painted cabinets again, but that is a beautiful kitchen...

Arts and crafts was, as you likely know, all about showing the artistry of the craftsman. In its original incarnation, it was loaded with wood, but by today's standards, that usually makes for a room that is too dark. So, keeping with the style almost necessitates painted woodwork.

Holy cow I can't believe my vote might be to paint the cabinets along with that photo. Initially my vote was Espresso. Congrats on such a beauty of a home!

Our home is not an arts and crafts home; I wish it was; it is a post ww2 bungalow with an almost flat roof; it just has the lovely wood ceilings in every room, with lots of large windows in the back facing the woods. Point still taken about that beautiful kitchen, shown above with the white cabinets; I think the glass panels really liven them up.