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Kitchen updates suggestions?

8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago

Hi there--

My SO and I just bought our first home, and we are not in love with the esthetics of the current kitchen since the current countertops are a poorly completed job of poured concrete. The house is a 1917 bungalow with original woodwork. The floors in the kitchen are natural slate and cannot be changed. I have always wanted an all white kitchen (cabinets, countertop & subway tile), but would love suggestions and/or opinions on if that would be too contrasting with the floors and the rest of the home. We are going to paint the walls either a light gray or white.



Comments (14)

  • 8 years ago

    Love those floors! I would change the paint color first.

  • 8 years ago

    What is your budget?

    Concrete countertops were an unusual choice for a hundred year old house - that is more of an industrial or maybe contemporary aesthetic.

    Have you considered white marble counters? Those are a classic. That and painting the walls might be all you need!

  • 8 years ago

    I think soft white kitchen cabinets would look lovely in your home. I am not sure gray wall paint would work. It's difficult to tell on my monitor but I think gray is just not right with those fabulous floors. I also suggest counters in soapstone. Would look great with the floors and against white cabinets. Some soapstones are harder than others, which is what you want, so do research and find a harder soapstone that appeals to you. I think all-marble counters might be too "glam" for the spirit of your bungalow. Plus you'd need to be OK with marble's etching and staining.

  • 8 years ago

    I also like the floors! I would paint the kitchen first along with changing the counters to something much lighter. I agree with latifolia that may be all you need to do. You may grown to love the cabinets after being in your house for a while.

  • 8 years ago

    We would love to stay less than $6000.00 if possible (Doing most of the work ourselves).

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    Benjesbride and I had the same thought about the cabinets being IKEA. Except I think they're Adel from the Akurum line. The kitchen looks like it was remodeled about 13 years ago, judging from the materials used.


    ETA: I would not go with white cabinets if you are going to paint the walls white.

  • 8 years ago

    White cabinets would be nice. I would look at Corian for countertops (many color options, durable, seams disappear) if you didn't need to keep true to 1913 aesthetic. A nice space to work with.


  • 8 years ago

    zmith - I wasn't sure, but these looks like the fronts I considered when Sektion was released. I ended up with Veddinge. I thought the right angle upper corner cabinet and the 5+5+5+15 base were cues for Sektion. I'm not 100%, though. Here's a clip from the 2015 catalog with what I was thinking was the same.


  • 8 years ago

    Benjesbride, if you look closely at the 2015 catalogue, the door fronts look to have horizontal rail/stile joints vs the vertical joints in Liana's kitchen.

    Liana, an all-white kitchen will not go with the floors, IMHO. I would recommend you keep the wall color as it suits the floors and fits with the bungalow/craftsman era.

  • 8 years ago

    Bummer!

  • 8 years ago

    DIY zinc counters would look perfect.

  • 8 years ago

    The kitchen is more contemporary than I'd want in this house but it looks nice and serviceable. You can paint now. The current color does look good with the floors and cabinets.

    What I noticed is the discoloration on the french doors. If that's water damage, most of your budget will go towards fixing the problem and replacing them, if damaged. Assess that first.

  • 8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    I don't know about white walls w/that kitchen. it will look very washed out. have you thought about doing a warmer, darker gray? Kendall Charcoal? That would look very nice w/the white ceiling, and the rest of the kitchen.

    quick mock up


    tried to put the colors in here to show you how nice the Kendall contrast looks w/the white door and trim. imagine the white trim around the window too. Simply White is the perfect white.

    All of these pics are Kendall. I have it on my own wall and love it.

    below is a pic of it on the cabs w/the white trim/counter, and a lighter gray on the walls. You could do the lighter gray in tile w/your new white countertops


    those french doors are not original to the house. Look at the black on both doors. I'd paint them. remove them if you can, sand them to smooth them out, and give the a coat of oil base primer. when dry, fine sand the primer, wipe clean, and paint. use a nice white. it will look great w/the Kendall color around it. paint the wood trim white around the door and windows.

    those french doors have also suffered some water damage at the bottom. I would look at your drainage issues outside before we get to winter.

    Countertop options

    Cambria Roxwell

    Caesarstone Pure White