Dark choices on every single element are pretty far from “beachy” as well. You have a lack of overall design planning and coordinating.

Stop, and rectify that first.

Once you get a plan together, then you choose the elements that fit the plan. If beachy is what you are going for, then almost none of your choices can be used in the room. Including those cabinets. Dark gray for a basement would have been a dismal dreary mistake. As is the current wood.

Ditch the cabinets. Unless you are wanting to paint them. I’d suggest a light blue gray like SW Rainwashed. IF you want beachy.

If you want warm bachelor pad, then they can be worked in to that. And the black furniture. But it’s going to take a heck of a lot more light. Especially for a basement.

Hi, thanks for the input. We were not going for beachy at all, I just said the cabinets now have a beachy look (which is the issue cause that's not what we're going for).

So, what is the Design Plan? What is the layout? Elevations? Material choices? Mood board?

Hi, The plan originally was just for darker gray cabinets and a granite countertop which we have yet to pick out. The layout is simply the cabinets you see against the wall and a fridge , with an island. I don't know about any elevations/mood board. I am not a design expert, hence why I am seeking help.

More concerned about getting the cabinets fixed.

Check out Cambria Windermere. It would look fantastic on those cabinets and probably bring in the brown from the furniture, but it has a lot of light and sparkle and movement.

Here's a pic(you have to click) with lighter cabinets, dark counter top and a light-ish washed floor. I think your cabinets and darker countertop can still work. Put a runner in front of them if you aren't loving them right next to the floor.

you can use a gel stain over it. varathane gel in weathered gray. you can get this at home depot or Lowe's. test it on the inside cabinet door first.

Would I just sand off the poly and then put this gel on? Interesting idea...

With a light sanding of the cabinets, it should it should grab the darker stain that you want. Worst case scenario, if you don't like it, then you can paint it, but it's worth a try. Try to do a portion that won't show as a tester. The counter then should be a granite or Quartz with beiges, and dark and light grays. Then you can use artwork to pull in other colors from the room to balance everything out. It will be beautiful once you do that.

Elisabeth

Gel stain is just thin paint. And a basement does NOT need dark cabinets with black sofas. Ever.

The choice of the wild grained hickory determined the fact that you were going to have wild graining. The only way to make those work as a whole is to paint those cabinets. NOT gray. Or black. Or anything in those color ranges.

The black sofas and gray paint also need to be changed. Unless you are going for the first bachelor apartment look? Is that your look too? Or just your husband’s? Is this both of yours room? Or is it just his? Because it seems very dark very man cave CAVE appearing with no light or color elements anywhere. Where are you in these decor choices? Where is a shared room?

I think you can use what you have by changing wall color and adding accessories. Use this as inspiration.

Sophie- we do not have a black sofa, I'm not sure where you picked that up. I said our sectional is darker, and its on the WAY other side of the room. Furthermore, I know its hard to see from the pictures, but the basement walls are both blue tones. This is a shared room, and I'm confused by your comment of it being a very dark man cave with no light or colors. The walls, carpet and trim are all light.

What about changing out that small area of flooring instead? Might that be easier and/or more cost effective?

Sorry, just realized you don't want beach look.

Question is do you like the cabinets or floor if you had to live with one because you are right they don’t go well together. If you like the cabinets you could go over the existing floor with a lighter LVP - one that blends with the carpet tone to give your basement a more cohesive and lighter look. If you like the floor then painting the cabinets is not the end of the world. Pick that paint color or new floor finish in conjunction with the counter top. Good luck!

I am not 100% crazy about either. The flooring was just put in (flooring we used in bathrooms) so we could finish a bar later. When we did the flooring, the bar design was not on our mind since we didn't know when we would finish it and we were in the midst of building our house and making about 1M other decisions.

I was hoping we could put a runner down and then with the counter tops/fridge/bar stools the floors would be less noticeable.

Don't panic, your cabinet guy can fix this. Because it was your mistake, take the cabinets back along with a sample of your flooring. Cabinet guy will have scraps of wood to test stain for your approval. He should be paid for changing the stain and delivery after he's done. Fair is fair.

Sanding off the old stain down to the bare wood and restaining is more labor intensive than building all new cabinets. And the price will reflect that. It’s either live with what’s there or paint it. Painting them would allow you to keep the floor. But you don’t like the floor.

So change it all. And add lighting as a priority.

If you don't like it, take it back and ask him to stain it darker. I like to give the original creator an opportunity to make changes, If he is unwilling, find some one locally. You can probably test stains on a scrap piece of wood to see what gives you the look you want.

My general viewpoint is that it is my house and within reason and budget, I don't have to learn to love it. :-) You are still building out this basement space and it is not like putting your kitchen out of commission. Take your time and get what you want.

It doesn't look as bad as you think. (A guy's opinion)

Go with black, leathered matte finish granite, add oil rubbed bronze hardware and toe kick rail.

Add some art that incorporates black, grays and tans.

Hi Ashley,



I am sorry you are unhappy with how the cabinets turned out! It is such a yucky feeling when you spend a lot of money on something that feels so big and permanent and you don’t like it.



The good news is that things can always be changed. It’s just determining how much different options will cost and how each one fits (or doesn’t fit) into your budget. I think reaching out to the guys that stained the cabinets is an excellent idea from chiflipper. Let them know they did a wonderful job, but you’re just not 100% happy with the color and get a price for restaining- you won’t know if this is a reasonable cost unless you ask. This kind of stuff happens and you’re certainly not the first person to ask. Also, reach out to a painter (or 3) and have him come out and get a quote on painting. Once you get an idea for how much this stuff costs you can make the best decision for you.



As tqtqtbw said it can be difficult to learn to love something and design the rest the room around an element you don’t like! Once you feel good about the cabinets the rest of the room may be easier to envision.

Good Luck!

I think the cabinets are interesting and different! I might not choose that look for my kitchen, but for a basement bar area that will be more casual, I think you can make it work. Be careful when you select granite. I’m tired of everything being painted grey or white.