Have your flooring put down first. Easier installation without having to cut around cabinets and if cabinet locations etc change in the future, there is flooring underneath everything.

Alana, it is brand new so that won’t matter, I’m asking from a design standpoint. Pick the cabinets based on my flooring choice or vice versa?

But great advice! I hope they do it this way

Which is more important to you?

I chose my cabinets first because they were the most important design element. I wanted my floors to just be a background for the other elements and not the star because I was going to select furniture and rugs. My floors are innocuous natural finished oak.

You should probably look at inspiration photos to get a sense of what you like especially since certain types of wood flooring seems to work with other design choices.

Really the cabinets, flooring, and countertop should all be chosen together. But since the floor is running throughout the home settle on that first since it has to work everywhere.

@Sina - Agreed that everything has to work together but one has to make one design decision first :-).

In my place, the cabinets are everywhere - kitchen, dining room, open den/office with wall of built ins', room divider plus bathroom cabinets :-). Although floor is also everywhere the cabinets are (except bathroom which has tile floors), I was most concerned with the stain on the woodwork.

If my kitchen was in a confined area and was the only wood then the flooring might have been the primary design element.

But on some level it's pretty simple - warm or cool? floors should contrast and complement the cabinets. Which element has the fewest design choices - e.g. paint has infinite choices - generally counters and tiles have infinite choices unless one has fallen in love with a slab in which case the other design choices would be selected to complement the counter.

Pick the floor first (but remember your second and third choices), and change it if you can't find cabinets that work with it.

SJ. All of our choices are made at the builders design studio, one stop shopping. We do work with one of their design consultants. We think we have narrowed down our cabinet “color” scheme, i.e. Eggshell for the perimeter, Espresso or a dark Pewter for the island.

IMO the flooring is the largest item so choose it first. . This really needs to bedone in tandem IMO so a designer would be a huge help. FYI espresso cabinets are a dated look and IMO almost always some cheap ones from ??? The advice from SJ of course is great but not when working with a builders design center where choices are really limited Yes the floor should be down before the cabinets IMO a much cleaner looking install too

Floors ground a home. They provide a warm neutral backdrop to everything else that you choose. They hide dirt and wear and tear if chosen properly. And they last for generations if you don’t pick some odd colored 10 minuted fad of the moment.

Natural colored wood, the color that it is by itself, without stain, will always be a classic. Natural red oak, or hickory, or cherry, or walnut, all would be gorgeous for ages to come. A very light neutral brown stain on any of those that evens out color variations would also work well.

Unnatural bleaching, graying, blackening, or other heavily artificial finishes will have zero staying power and leaves people wanting to spend that 59K all over again in just a few years time.

Yes, pick the floors first. Ideally you would pick everything at the same time, but if you have to pick one thing first, definitely the floors because they're covering a larger area and will have a huge impact on the feel of your entire home. Try to intentionally pick a flooring that works well with different colors and other wood tones, as opposed to a bold wood floor that requires everything else to be relatively muted.

I agree, pick your fllrs first then select cabs that will work. They can be contrasting color or not, but you're seeing a lot more floors the cabs. Also, consider that darker floors, make the room dar and in IMO make them feel like a hole.

Also think about how the floors set (or reflect) the overall style of the house. For example, gray flooring supports some stark looks, but may not allow for changes in taste; light flooring has a Scandanavian feel, so goes with some modern styles; dark flooring can be classic or transitional; patterned wood is bossy and may require more retiring features elswhere in the decor; knots can feel rustic, etc. Try to keep some contrast with the woods of furniture or cabinetry you expect to use...

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It just depends what's more important to you. I personally care about my floors more & want a perfect floor for my space. Then I can find a cabinet that I like that goes well with my amazing floors. Other people would say the exact opposite.