Typically tile gets run under the cabinets as well. How will you deal with this?

I dislike wood looking tile next to beautiful hardwood like yours. The dark tile that BeverlyFLADeziner posted would look great.

Bent/Sliced House · More Info

Saw this tile and thought of you...

Edwardiana Wide Plank Flooring · More Info

Start at the END of the kitchen reno - as in PICK all the colours and finishes (not materials...just COLOURS) and then start replacing each one in it's turn. Be prepared for a DISJOINTED looking kitchen until you have EVERYTHING finished. Be prepared for that to DRIVE YOU NUTS!

And remember: floors are done LAST!!!!

If you insist on changing flooring BEFORE you do anything else...then be prepared to deal with the consequences (like damaged floors).

You can replace 'like for like' without issue. That means you can remove the tile in the kitchen. You leave the tile that is underneath the cabinets. It won't matter. Your new tile should be same height as the old = cabinets stay in place.

If you want to do the floors first then do them first. Do NOT use wood-look anything. Go with a stone or tile look product. Remember: one of the EASIEST ways to design a kitchen is to get the floors to match/compliment the COUNTER TOPS. And the walls and compliment the cabinets. And the backsplash pulls the walls and counters together.

Whew. If you are GOING to paint (white...or anything else that is lighter) then I would look at a deeper coloured floor to go with your deeper coloured counter top. This will FORCE YOU to get moving with the painting. Yes the kitchen will be dark...UNTIL you paint. Then everything will balance out again.

Besides: dark slate looks BEAUTIFUL up against wood. Don't worry about what it will look like up against your existing hardwoods. They look stunning together.

See why you want to do floors LAST??? Because you want to have all the coordinating things *done before you finalize the look of your space. The floors unite the ENTIRE house. You can't unite something that has not been DESIGNED.

So take 2 weeks and get your story board (the colour picks for the kitchen) ready. NOW you go ahead and do ONE project at a time.

Thanks for all this @SJ McCarthy We're actually only changing the tile in the kitchen. I'd LOVE to change more -- especially the color of the cabinets , but my husband isn't going for it. The tile wasn't done right by the previous owners, so the grout starting cracking yrs ago. Now it looks so bad, we need to change it. The other kitchen elements are not "Needs" and the main project we need to spend $4 on is finishing the basement. Lol!

Having said all that, how do you think our cabinets would look if we painted them? Maybe you can help me convince my husband. Could we paint the cabinets , change the tile and leave everything else the same? :) Thanks!

A white set of cabinets will look SPLENDID with the counter top. The style of cabinetry is VERY handsome (traditional looking but handsome) when painted white.

Remember: if your OLD tile/grout is cracking, then your subfloor does NOT have the right deflection rating. That means you will need to "bulk up" your subfloors before trying again. NOW we get into height issues with counter tops and appliances, and floor transitions, etc.

I would be very cautious about putting down real tile. It is possible to find a handsome vinyl click together tile...I would think about it.

The other thing to remember: many men (and a lot of women) LOVE the look of wood. They cannot STAND to have 'good wood' covered up with paint. This is most likely what you are up against. You can paint a picture (financial picture) of resurfacing these cabinets/doors (donate the old doors to some place that will use them) VERSUS painting. Point out that EITHER WAY you are getting a new kitchen colour sometime in the future (ahem...remember that 7 year plan...now's a good time to pull it out).

It looks like you have factory stained maple. This particular colour was BIG 15 years ago. I'm not fond of it...but there you have it.

I love Beverly's rendition and I particularly love the light fixture. Where is that from?