You need to be working with a kitchen designer.

I like the wood you picked for the cabinets and the floors. It's very neutral and will be easy to work with.

I'd stay away from the traditional oak look for cabinet and floors. Also stay away from cherry.

When you say quartz for your backsplash are you planning to use a slab?

Supposedly we do have a "designer" but everything we put together, she just says it's your kitchen, as long as you like it...... It's not easy for us to just picture everything coming together

Let her put something together and see what she comes up with. I assume she's working with the builder. It sounds like she's lazy. Is there a floor plan you need to stick to?

I'm guessing you are using a tract home builder and are mostly able to just choose the finishes available from the builder. We were in a similar state with our new home in 2014. In our case, the builder had a custom cabinetmaker who only did cherry stained cabinets. We had natural cherry shaker cabinets in our existing home, so I wanted something totally different, which was white. I fought with the builder until I got what I wanted. We had our previous KD design, order and install our kitchen. So glad I did. Our neighbors come into our home and just shake their heads. They wanted white cabinets, too, but were told they weren't available.

Long story short, don't settle.

Hire an independent kitchen designer. Don't rely on a cabinet seller to do anything but push expensive stuff onto you.

leelee,

Yes, we are planning on using a slab. It is expensive so I am debating if I want to use a slab for all the backsplash or just behind the cooktop. I am stuck on if I am just using the slab behind the cooktop what should I use for the rest of the backsplash if that make sense.

What if you did the quarter sawn oak on the lower cabinets and the white on the uppers??? That is a modern look and gives you some option for the lighter cabinets but the durability of oak.

Congrats on the new house!

I am never for changing a backsplash in the middle of the counter. I would go all quartz or all tile but not a mix of the two. To me the look is so much better. It doesn't chop up the area into sections. Tile has so many great colors and options.

cawaps,

The picture of the kitchen you see is what the kitchen looks like in the model. I just attached it to show the layout of the kitchen.

I like the gray floor, but I do want to stay away from gray as much as I can this time as our current house has a lot of gray and it actually got boring really quick for us.

I am not a fan of gray at all. It's way overdone. Even though the cabinets and floors are weathered you don't have to do any other features in gray. No gray paint.

Looks like a very workable layout. The main thing I question is the lack of a counter next to the fridge but I guess the island is close enough. It doesn't look like a builder's home design--much better.

Quartz behind the cooktop is risky as quartz cannot handle heat.

leelee,

The kitchen picture you are seeing is the model home kitchen. We are going to use Alabaster for the whole house interior paint. No more gray for us for sure this time as we used Reposed Gray in our current home and it's actually kind of gloomy.

luckyblueeye,

We currently have a quartz slab in our house and it held up really well, but I will definitely do some research into quartz not be able to handle the heat.

Picture of our current kitchen.

I would suggest a wider plank, at least a 5”. A pale stain will help the oak from showing too much orange/yellow tones as it ages. Also pictured are some of my favourite Silstone quartz samples :D

Great idea on using quartz for both your countertops and backsplash. You have some very nice neutral options but you can also choose striking marble looking quartz stones. Caesarstone gives a lifetime guarantee on their quartz options for residential use, and I haven't heard until now about quartz not being able to handle the heat.

Reanne Olson,

Those two silestones are great looking. May I know the names of them?

Unfortunately, the builder only offers up to 4" wide as I am in Dallas, Texas, and wider plank can't handle the temperature and moisture =(

Hi Steve, the grey one is Eternal - serene, and the white one is Eternal - pearl jasmine. Both of these samples have the suede finish but also come in a polished finish. The suede finish is interesting as it is not as rough as the leathered finish but it will still be very forgiving to finger prints/streaks.

I'm planning my kitchen now and going for quarter sawn oak with an almost natural finish, and white quartz countertops (Caesarstone Frosty Carrina). My backsplash will be white subway tile. Still deciding on the floor, it will either be hardwood or gray marmoleum.

Originally, we were thinking about using painted cabinets, but after looking at our current white/gray painted cabinets we noticed there are a lot of chips and we have only been in this house less than a year.

You are right that painted cabinets have a shorter lifespan than stained cabinets; stained cabinets are also cheaper. However, you need to be happy with what you choose, so keep in mind that cabinets can always be re-painted.

We have browse through thousands of pictures and everything is starting to look the same and we feel like we are in a design comma.

1. Walk away for a while. Sounds like you need a break.
2. It may not be completely you: we do see the same kitchens over and over and over ... and this picture is pretty much it.

Our choices for wood from this particular builder is red oak (cheapest), clean alder (more expensive than red oak), rift sawn oak (most expensive).

Cost is important, but which do you prefer for looks? How dark /how light?

What we are looking for is a timeless look that's modern so we are thinking either shaker or flat panel for the cabinets.

These two options are so trendy that they're pretty much all that's offered anymore.

As for counter top the builder does offer a wide range of quartz and granite, but we are leaning towards quartz since it is pretty maintenance free.

Granite is pretty maintenance free too. Depending upon what you choose, you may need to seal it once a year. Choose what you like -- don't let a 1-hour per year chore make your choice for you.

This is the floor that we are thinking about using.

It's a nice basic that'll look fine with today's trendy gray or beige /will blend with lots of style choices. It is moderately "patterned" though, so if you do go with this, keep in mind it'll stand out more strongly than a more neutral option.

Specifically, if you go with this AND one of the oak cabinet options, I'd be concerned with two strongly patterned woods. If you go with painted cabinets OR the alder, I think you're fine.

I'm guessing you are using a tract home builder and are mostly able to just choose the finishes available from the builder.

I was thinking the same thing. As such, you have a limited number of choices. Can your designer show you around some of the other homes that're being built /let you see these choice combinations in real life?

If you really want timeless, choose something that suits the vintage and style of your house and choose materials and finishes that are not currently super popular.

That's great advice if you have a house with a specific vintage and style, but modern suburban tract house's style is "Trend 2018".

Looks like a very workable layout.

Yes! L + island is -- in general -- probably the best /most versatile layout.

Mrs Pete,

Unfortunately a pure custom home is out of question at this point due to land pricing and the area we are in. We are in the city, so anything pure custom starts around a million and that's way out of my budget.

We've been through the building process a few times already and of course the builder is up charging whatever it is trendy. In our case the cabinets are actually the opposite, painted cabinets from our builder is cheaper. We are looking about maybe $1000-$1500 to do a two tone painted cabinets vs stained grade rift oak which will cost us around $5000. Wide planks are definitely in and we are looking over $10k-$15k for the wide planks vs solid nailed down hardwood which would cost around $5k.

What you saw on the kitchen layout picture is from the model home of our builder. It is what's everywhere right now, and I really want to stay away from that. As for the darkness of the cabinets, we are still deciding. I love the light color cabinets or even natural, but my wife loves the darker color. However, what we both agree on is that we want the kitchen to have a bright feel to it.

We tried to go through all the spec homes in different neighborhoods by the same builder and unfortunately, all of them have that painted kitchen with either gray or white cabinets mixed another color island.

Definitely yes on trend 2018. Everything in the neighborhood is =\

splurge and get the rift sawn oak. cabinets and flooring will be with you for a very long time. 15+ years.

rift sawn white oak

you could do shaker doors and slab drawer front

even quarter sawn isn't bad.

Get the stain on site oak flooring in a neutral medium brown, with a bit of gray if you must.

as for the rest of the kitchen, your builder makes his money on upgrades. you can do your upgrade yourself after you move in and save thousands. like a backsplash. just wait. have it done after you move in.

kitchen counters. What they charge you for 'upgrade granite' is a joke. costs them 500, they charge you 5K. If you want an upgraded quartz, do some legwork on your own and find out what the costs are. If your builder isn't charging you too much more, then pick a quartz you like.

if you want granite, I'd say wait. builders don't offer you any decent granite, and you'll surely pay through the nose for any slab that looks half way decent. If that's the case, I'd get whatever comes as a basic, no up-charge, and redo down the road.

Love your old kitchen as well as your new kitchen. We are building a new house similar to yours. Our design consultant, provided by the builder, asked what we wanted our home to look like. We told her we wanted it to look like the desert/southwest and she provided a palette of colors, tiles, floors, counter tops and backsplash, and cabinets that offered the look we wanted. We tweaked it a little bit, but her ideas were great.

I figure if we get neutral colors, we can add accents in decor item, rugs, and towels.

Pictures are our choices and the model home kitchen.