Your hood turned out so well. Thanks for sharing the info and picture. Our cabinets are so similar and yet yours look much nicer. It occurs to me that your lighter counters make a world of difference. Now I’m definitely thinking new counters are a must! Thanks again.

I love your large window! I did the hood and plate rail about a year before the counters - and I did the island counter (previously butcher block) a year after the perimeter counters - so stages for me:)

This is my wood kitchens idea book with both new and older, refreshed wood kitchens. Might give you some other ideas.

https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/75202366/list/wood-kitchens

The color of my cabinets are affected by the lightbulbs I use. I switched to daylight - which made the cabinets browner, but I did not like the feeling at first, but got used to it before I got around to getting other bulbs. I used a "short apron" Whitehaven apron front sink. The "short apron" style can be installed on a standard sink base cabinet. It was much more than I intended to spend, but I had a working kitchen so I put off my refresh a few months to save up more. There is also "tall apron" apron front sinks, but they require a farm sink base cabinet.

Be sure your cabinets have a good ten plus years of life before making any major investments in expensive counters. If you go with laminate, and there are some very pretty laminate counters, consider having them done without the small backsplash so that you can do a tile backsplash - or if you like cottage style, bead board can be a budget backsplash, though my tile was not that much either. I did the backsplash myself - if you have a lot of DIY to do, a small wet saw and some YouTube tiling lessons will be very helpful!

More pics of my kitchen in my "my pics" idea book.

https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/57579129/list/my-pics-work-in-progress

Are you planning on buying an insert? Or are you trying to figure out a way to use your existing under-cabinet vent and build around it?

Here’s the one we built:

Thanks Hillside House. I love what you built. Are you guys super handy? Was this your first time?

I don’t think I can remove all of our surrounding cabinets as you’ve done, but I love how the focus is all on your range hood and the painting. It looks amazing.

I was hoping just to build around what’s there now. The system has works well - I just want to hide it behind something pretty.

The problem with just building around it is you end up with greasy crud on the underside of the hood unless you block that area off from the grease. Built up grease is a fire hazard:(

We are pretty DIY-savvy, but this wasn’t super complicated. I don’t think you will be able to use your existing hood, though. Inserts are designed to fit easily inside a decorative cover, but yours isn‘t. It would take a lot of customization and configuring to make something fit snugly.

This one is similar to your second choice. It comes with the liner and then you need to purchase a vent insert. I use the Broan PM390 (390CFM) which has worked fine for my little kitchen. You don't want to go over 400CFM because then you may need to add "make up air" and life gets complicated and expensive.

https://www.kitchensource.com/range-hoods/na-r19c030smb1cuf1.htm#optional_accessories

There is a measured drawing which shows how the wood part is installed and notice how it sticks out farther than your cabinet - it needs to stick out more to do any good venting.

Vent insert:

https://www.kitchensource.com/range-hoods/br-pm390.htm

If you paint it white, I would add some of the same ship lap look to other areas - your island like you were thinking.

You could see how much a local carpenter or cabinet maker would charge for similar. However, I tried that and in my case he said he could not do it for less than I could get the unfinished one for.

Although your cabinets are oak, if you plan to paint it get the maple hood - it is a much better wood for painting than oak.

Thanks JHMarie! This is such a good lead. Any thoughts on what colour you wood do? I’m thinking white makes the most sense? Any suggestions on which paint brand/shade might work with the floor and cabinets?

I think white makes the most sense too. I haven't done any cabinet painting for a few years and i think there may be better paints then i used, though what I used has held up well - Zinsser 123 for primer and Diamond Vogel Nu-Cling for top coat (Diamond Vogel is a midwest area reputable paint store.) The Zinsser 123 is still a great bare wood primer, but now there are specialty cabinet top coat paints. I would ask at your local reputable paint store for guidance and check out some YouTubes. I think there are some threads here on cabinet painting.

You can start with just the white primer and see what you think - how close is it to the white you want. You might go with similar to the window trim.

My hood has room to place something on the main rectangular part. Right now I have the vertical small trim pieces, but they pop off. I did buy thin boards to possibly mimic a ship-lap look, but when I mocked it up I did not think it was working because there is no other shiplap in my house.

I do have areas of beadboard and it seemed I was adding one more different type of treatment with shiplap. I've considered staining a piece of beadboard and putting that in the space, but I've gotten used to it the way it is and moved on to other things. Maybe I will want a change up down the road and rethink it - so I understand trying to figure this out:) You might not feel like it fits till you add the shiplap elsewhere. I have seen sage green and black used well with oak, but with white appliances, I would go with the white.

This is a new style kitchen - with new cabinets - but I think the look of a mix of light with wood could work for your kitchen - but in a small space, contrasting grout on a subway tile backsplash can be a little busy - but that is a question for another day:)

So beautiful and just look at that range - a far cry from my old stove. This slow approach to making the space my own is a real exercise in patience. Thanks again

Yes - I have similar old range, but it actually has begun to blend in with my vintage style:)

One more thing - make sure the top coat of the paint is washable. Being so close to the cooking area, you will need to wipe it down on a regular basis - just like your present hood. I just use warm water or warm water with a little Dawn.