I agree; hire a Kitchen Designer. Also, get the dishwasher.

I did gray lowers and white uppers in my 1930s kitchen and was very happy with it, despite usually preferring colors or wood. I like your inspiration photo. Keep looking at pictures and saving what catches your eye.

I also didn't have a dish washer and never missed it, but I'm sure it didn't help resale when the time inevitably came. Who is designing the new layout, or are you planning to keep it roughly the same?

Congratulations on taking on this project. I went through something VERY similar although my kitchen was smaller and not as nice as yours. My project took months and did involve moving plumbing, a structural engineer and other “extras” but in the end I am very glad I did it. Yes to the kitchen designer recommendations and I assume you have great confidence in your contractor. I am widowed as well but am glad to have a dishwasher for when company comes, particularly family gatherings. You don’t mention your age but if you do plan to stay there for a number of years I would suggest taking into consideration all the facets of making a home suitable for “aging in place”. In the kitchen, for example, drawers on the lower cabinets are a great help. Good luck!

@jslazart - I am keeping the same layout other than having the cabinets/counter ran another foot or so to the trim of the back/mudroom door to give me a little more counter space. I will also place the microwave above the stove. I'm also going to get a smaller kitchen table.

@Mom - I am in my mid 50's but I do plan to stay in the house probably until I die. I recently renovated my bathroom and got rid of the tub so that it is just a small step up. My elderly mother stayed with me and my husband for a while before she passed and it was difficult for her to get in and out of the bath tub so I knew when I renovated, I wanted to make it easier for when I age. I am also converting my back porch to a laundry room so that I will not have to go up and down the stairs to my basement to get to my washer and dryer. Figured I would do both rooms at the same time since the back porch is right off of the kitchen. My husband passed back in 2016 and I have slowly renovated the entire house. I saved the kitchen and back porch for last because that is the biggest reno. Thankfully I am on one level. My house has three levels but all of the living space is mostly on the first level. Upstairs just has a small spare bathroom, a small bedroom and storage closet. My basement, or what I would call a cellar, now has my washer and dryer etc. I am saving the basement for last as I need some work done down there with the old cinder block walls (i.e. some waterproofing), although I don't flood or anything like that, but since the house was built in the 1930's, the cinder block walls and the cement flooring needs some work. Will tackle that after kitchen and back porch.

The contractor that I am going to hire has told me they have a cabinet company that they deal with and/or I can use any cabinet company that I desire if I don't want to use theirs. They have also told me that they can also assist me with picking out products etc. I just wanted to get a jump and try to figure out what I want. There are so many decisions for one person to make and I hate to make all of the decisions myself. Just redoing my bathroom took me months to make a decision but I figured I would try to figure some things out prior to meeting with the contractor to discuss the contract, etc. We met back in July and re: my budget and what I wanted done, but they are supposed to be coming back out so that we can discuss more specifics. I have been reviewing and getting bids for the last year and now I am ready to move forward.

IMHO, Gray is a very trendy color that will be dated in a few years;. I lived through the trend of avocado green, harvest gold, etc., and gray will be that color one day, too.

You can't go wrong with white or cream color cabinets.

There are a lot of red flags in your post. No contractor is a designer, and “helping you pick out things” is the biggest red flag of all. That’s far from the only one. This is a very expensive undertaking. 100K+. Maybe double that in some locations and with some material choices. Educate yourself a lot more before signing anything. Pay special attention to the specifications and the change order procedure. That’s where the cost to do what you really want vs the easy cheap way that the contractor wants will happen. And have an attorney go over that contract before you sign anything.

https://www.remodeling.hw.net/cost-vs-value/2019/

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/5332686/10-tests-for-you-and-your-contractor-s-first-meeting

It looks as if you have voided corners. I would make the back wall a straight run on the left, which will make it easier to add a DW. Just guessing at the length of the wall to show the general idea:

You need a Kitchen Designer way before you need a contractor. A contractor at this stage is going to force you into making bad decisions just to keep the project moving. This is a way too expensive investment of time and money to not have it turn out right.

JMHO ... To keep costs down, new flooring and new cabinets that go up to the ceiling might be all you need, unless the current layout is unlivable. (please remove all the items on top of your cabinets, it really closes in a space) Swap out the dark paneling for drywall, or just seal and paint it a cream color, to brighten up that space. This can be done on a budget, just don't let what I call "the HGTV effect" take over with ideas. ;-) A good kitchen designer is worth their weight in gold. Often cabinet places have them, but you have to use their cabinets. Our local Lowe's has kitchen designers on staff, and they sell nice cabinets, too. YMMV

Lowes fired all of the actual experienced designers in January in yet another a cost cutting “restructuring” by Marvin Ellison. Only half trained software wannabes are available at their stores. Buyer most definitely beware.

No relevant kitchen advice, but I like your 1st Cav patch.

Your contractor is not your KD get a real one to save many mistakes I would like to see a to scale floor plan since I do not think you have the best layout I can’t get a feel for the space at all form the pictures I do however see a huge need for storage . Do you need a table in the kitchen? IMO if you have a DR you can use the table space much more wisely.livewire is absolutely right you need real help and if you share your budget that will be helpful to us too.

You definitely need a kitchen designer, or your will make costly mistakes. I am sure they can make layout changes that will make the kitchen function better for you, even if it means closing doorways and opening others. The fridge seems very out of place and a good kitchen designer can fix all that. As for the color of the cabinets, I think white would be a better choice. Gray is already on the way out where I live and the rest of the country will follow in time. White with a shaker door is NEVER out of style, especially in a 1930's house. Another pet peeve of mine is the LVP flooring. Whoever came up with the name Luxury is a genius. It's just plastic, similar to the linoleum currently in your kitchen. In a 1930's home, I am assuming you have hardwood floors in your home, and if this is the case I would lace in new hardwood in the kitchen. Nothing looks worse that cheap plastic floors in a vintage home. If there is no hardwood in your home, I would opt for tile. Yes to a dishwasher.

Thank you all for your comments and advice, it is very much appreciated. I met with a design person from a local cabinet company on Saturday and he sent me some preliminary concepts.

@Bob W - Thank you, it was my husband's vest that he wore all the time and I don't have the heart to remove it as he always hung it on the chair when he took it off.

@User - thank you for your input. I work for attorneys so I am going to have them review the contract prior to signing. I meet with the contractor next week.

@Patricia Colwell Consulting - Thank you. I am going to get rid of the oversized pub table as well as the small bench sitting under the mirror. I plan on putting a much smaller standard height square table and/or rectangle to sit maybe 3/4 people. I am a cooker so I spend a lot of time in my kitchen. As far as storage, I have more than enough as it is just me.

I do have a dining room (below) off of the kitchen, which after the kitchen is complete, I may or may not put a small dining room table in there. It is empty right now. I have had it both ways over the years (i.e. dining table and I also had it as just another sitting room). It never really got used as a dining room. My budget is around $50,000.00 so I would like to stay around that. Considering the house was built in the 30's. I have been getting bids for the job for over a year now and have had contractors bids from $45,000.00 to $75,000.00 but that also included the back porch and bathroom. The bathroom has already been completed. The contractor that I am going with (I have not signed the contract - meeting next week) has bid the job at around $45,000.00 including materials. We are supposed to go over specifications when we meet. I have a detailed list of my specifications which need to be included with the contract.

@Design Girl I'm not going to change the layout, other than I am going to extend the cabinets over a little i.e. on the other side of the stove and also extending over to the doorway to the back porch door. I have also asked him to send me an image with white cabinets as well.

As far as the LVP flooring, I have it just about in my entire house. Unfortunately when I started renovating back in 2017, the only wood flooring in the house was a mess and could not be salvaged when I tore out carpeting, so I opted for the vinyl plank flooring because it was within my budget. Would love wood flooring but I just can't afford it.

The wood floors were a mess and I also had a large iron metal return vent where you see the plywood square. I wish I could have salvaged the wood floors but they were so damaged with nail holes, digs, cracks etc.

This is my current vinyl plank flooring:

I have to say that I do love my vinyl plank flooring. I also put vinyl plank type tile in my bathroom and even my best friend who likes the finer things in life, thought that the bathroom tile was marble. She had to take her shoe off to feel the floor LOL. As far as tile, I had ceramic tile flooring in my bathroom prior to remodeling and I ended up with 3 cracked tiles from dropping stuff (I am clumsy), so that is why I opted for the LVF.

The cabinet company sent me some computer images of what it would look like in grey. I do not like the countertop. Also, I want the cabinets to go to the ceiling with crown at the top. My ceiling are an off size. Right now they are 8'9". I want the ceilings tore out so that I can have recessed lighting installed so the top will changing depending on how far down they come with the ceiling after tear out.

Thank you all very much, any suggestions and/or comments are appreciated as I am all over the place right now.

Don’t let that contractor talk you into using all of these cheap import things in your old house. It’s almost better to keep what you have than to put in disposable quality things into it. That kitchen design is not suitable to the bones of the home. There are SO many issues, starting with the gap to the ceiling, and space to the right of the range.

@User - Thank you. I agree.

Yeah the gap at the top has to go. With 8'9" feet, I am having the ugly tiled ceiling tore out and new recessed lighting installed. So the top will be boxed in somehow with crown. Also, going to move the stove to the left some and place a small cabinet/countertop to the right of the stove.

Are you wanting your fridge to stay where it currently is? I think you should move your fridge into your kitchen area and have its previous location turned into a built in pantry using the cabinetry that you choose. You are undertaking a big project, and the advice of a designer would be good to maximize your space and budget.

You would need a counter depth fridge when changing locations, but I really think you should consider moving it to the main part of kitchen and panel the sides. It could go across from your stove.

Looking at pics again...maybe moving the fridge is not a possibility.

@kristaj - I really cannot move the frig. I already have a pantry, see below.

Door on the left is to a small bedroom, then pantry door and then back porch door. Lots of doors off of kitchen LOL. There are basically four doors in kitchen. Strange layout but it was built in 1930's.

dd

I also have that lovely NOT LOL - chimney going up in the middle of the wall. Gonna place a much smaller table in front of it and also get rid of small bench and maybe place a small buffet/sideboard in that little niche next to fridge with another mirror above it.

Something like below: