Ready to redo kitchen in our 49 year old house. It’s a 11.5' long, 47" between cabinets, and 8' high ceilings, galley type kitchen. Counters, Corian "Antartica", will be reused. Essentially dealing with 'white' counter tops and almond appliances. Natural Oak trim throughout the house, the dining set is solid Oak, and that stays. Saw cabinets in a gray stain called "Smokey Hills" in the Dynasty line of Owen cabinetry. A medium gray color. How would this look, considering I have some much natural Oak everywhere? The almond color appliances are all in excellent shape, and we will probably keep them, for now. Would consider white or stainless if budget allows. We will remove the soffit, take the cabinets to ceiling. Will remove the cabinets hanging over the counter, those between the dining and kitchen. BUT, I hate losing that much storage space! To gain some storage, would bringing the upper cabinets around at the end (the wall on the sink side) look good? The 15" base cabinet beside the dishwasher is too narrow to make the turn so as to have a counter above the upper cabinet. So if the UPPER cabinets are extended into that short wall, they would not have a counter beneath. Also have to be sure there is room to walk through to the dining, and not hit on a corner of an extended cabinet.
Other idea is not to extend cabinets at that end of the room, but put in short cabinets over the peninsula (stove-side) counter. With soffit removed, say put in a 30" cabinet? I would still be able to 'see through' to the dining area. I would retain some storage, not as much as I have now, but with those cabinets totally removed, I lose a LOT of my current storage. When we bought the house (47 years ago) the oven was in the 'hole' you see next to the stove. It was such a narrow oven I couldn't stand it, so removed the oven and the flat-cooking surface and took out bottom cabinets and slid in a full size stove. We put in a shelf that hole and it holds the microwave. Should I extend a counter next to the stove and hope we can match the Corian, and put in a shelf above the counter to hold the micro? It would add a little counter space (25”) next to the stove. We do not like microwaves over stove, so that's out, nor do we want to just set the microwave on the countertop. Flooring? I have enough natural Oak. Don't like ceramic tiles, too cold to walk on in winter, and things shatter when dropped. Have seen a 'stone-like' but warmer and kinder to feet, as in the Mannington Adura or Armstrong Alterna. 12 X 12's. So all you idea people I am anxious to get started - give me some ideas! I'm stuck on cabinet color. We like quarter sawn Oak, but not the light natural color like we have throughout the house. Our budget is about $12-$15,000, and we are in NE Ohio.