What do you think about stripping the cabinets and going with a natural finish?

I like your update to the kitchen and agree a lighter or whitened finish on perimeter cabinets would compliment the new island. I recommend painting oak trim throughout the home white, shinier finish than walls, to continue the update and finish the solid wood interior doors similar to perimeter kitchen cabinets. Black hardware in kitchen and throughout the home would be my first choice. Great work so far & please keep posting updates.

Everything looks out of place because the cabinets scream country and you picked out much more modern finishes and stools for the island. Look through lots of interior photos of houses and settle on one you love, and redecorate/remodel consistent with that style. Not many people can do a whole house all at once. And your style should work with the exterior of the home as well. So figure out your style, post some pics of what you love, and the good people here will make suggestions to get you where you want to go.

You have combined a more modern style and color with a country style and color. It doesn’t work. I would have the perimeter cabinetry and all the trim in the same open space painted to match the island. If you have honey oak anywhere else, it may need to be done to match, too.

Following. I really like your new island.

Start with a black modern cabinet pull and see how far that gets you.

The pictures of the other rooms--and the kitchen before--show the oak as a little darker. Is that just photography? It makes me think you need to glaze or antique your cabinets which is something I've never said before. (I really do love your closet doors...)

I agree with @roarah - This could be an easy, not high $$ update. Change out the stools (choose something less modern/more transitional, with oak bases) and add heavier black/espresso hardware to the oak cabinets. Further meld the island/cabinet colors together with a rug underneath your dining area that blends all colors and install updated fixtures.

I agree that I went too modern on the island. I was very pregnant when I made my selections and rushed a lot of things just to get it done. I love my new island very much but more for the functionality of it than the style. I would consider painting it but want to try to make it work first. I have attached the hardware that I selected (after returning what feels like a billion pieces I finally fell in love with these). I've also attached some of my inspiration pictures. I am very open with my style and feel like I want to embrace the original style of this home while bringing it a little out of the 90s. This house is in Florida where this style isn't common at all but I'm from Mississippi so I love the country feel. My husband is from New York and wants everything black. We're all over the place. I love natural woods and the look of black on wood.

More inspiration photos. Also, in regards to the stools, I love them. Mostly because of the functionality but also the black metal on the bottom. I could probably redo the seat parts of them to help bring everything together. I definitely need to get new light fixtures but haven't even started looking. For the backsplash I've been wanting to do something in black or maybe marble. Another issue with this kitchen is how small the perimeter area is in comparison to the island. Originally it had a small nook area but it was too small for a table so just wasted space. I added a picture here that shows the other angle of the new island. Whatever backsplash I do I plan to go floor to ceiling with on the wall by the window to bring the two spaces together

The island itself isn't really country; the only thing saying "modern" is the seating.

seconds on replacing the stools with some that bring the wood back in. That was the first thing that jumped out at me...not so much the island, but the style and color of the stools. @roarah provided a good visual incorporating the lighting fixtures (fluorescent tubes don't do you any favors) and suggestion of black hardware would help immensely. Maybe a black and brass or only brass colored faucet to coordinate with black & brass lights. Also agree on the rug idea for dining area to tie colors together to soften the contrast of the floor.

I really like what you did with the island. Paint the perimeter cabinets the same as the island, add chrome knobs and paint all the trim in the house and doors white. It'll look 100x more updated! Good start.

I think you are on the right track with the black hardware for your existing cabinets to help the “old” and the “new” relate to each other. The styles that you and your husband gravitate towards are always going to be a bit at odds, but that is nothing new and there is always a middle ground! It is not so much the style of the new island with the existing cabinets as it is the warm/cold combo you have going on that is throwing things off. Your existing cab, trim, doors & flooring etc are all warm & the new island & counters & existing white paint are cold… I would add the hardware, leave everything else for now and spend some with your husband looking at colour swatches and which hues/tones you gravitate towards (warm or cold?) By what you have described above, it sounds like he is more cold and you are warm. Until you solve that problem & come up with an overall plan for the look of your house, things will continue to look “off” There are great online tools to help you visualize your space & I would start with looking at neutrals (NO GREY) & use the “colour snap” tools to play with different options for repainting the white walls, which is your biggest source of “cold” look & is making your cabinets & trim look more orange.

place better molding atop cabs. your room has height. redesign the molding up there....bulk it up a bit..... add a strip of black. black hardware...white subway with dark gray grout lines for a backsplash. you need black punctuations on the perimeter you dont need much else. you could in the future reface the perimeter doors. you have to get quotes its not cheap but you can pick a different aesthetic style/color and redo the overall theme that way. the space overall is not going to be difficult to get right

Case Design/Remodeling, Inc. · More Info

La Grange Kitchen · More Info

w a few chosen things as tweaks right now.

I like that your stools are simple shapes, not 'adorned', so they 'agree in look' with straight posts above the wall...

You can try? transitional, organic, easy to blend in accessories.

If you happen to like blue with white / and blue with conservative grey / well, and blue with oak --- can bring LR item like this?

Mercana Rofi Pouf · More Info

Or let the kitchen 'be' and go bananas with color --

Rainbow Connection Pouf, Cube · More Info

If this camel neutral [like oak color] seems good, you could 'cool' the vibe a bit with this color of leather item.

Moloney Modern Microfiber Chenille Square Pouf, Yellow · More Info

Get some bar stools they're on the other side for sitting at the kitchen you can get them colorful if you want or neutral

Charcoal color on the island would be nice

Your kitchen will look 1000% better once you replace those horrid lights on the ceiling.

You could paint the existing cabinets or restain them.

@mamamocha what a crappy entitled comment. Why?

How do you feel about the microwave hood? I find they are pretty much worthless for capturing cooking fumes.

What about replacing it with a black painted hood that matched the island? Something like this person did.

Yes to removing the ceiling lights. Maybe change them to be recessed lights? Could you also add pendant lights?

I am bad at making things to be to scale, but hopefully this gives you an idea.

The island looks great! I actually like the stool style and that they blend in to the island.

@rebunky I actually found those exact pictures today while looking for ideas. I love that kitchen. I don't personally care for a hood like that but I think that the wood on that kitchen would look really good. It's essentially the same cabinets as mine but a tad bit darker than mine. My cabinets are just too orange. So I think I'll either go slightly darker like those or lighter almost like unfinished oak. 

I also like the pendant light idea. I've been thinking about replacing one of the lights with a recessed light and doing pendants for the one over the island.

I'm looking into accessories now. I think if I put some light wood crates with flowers on the island it'll help pull things together. The rest of my hardware just came in so I'm going to put those up soon and I'll post updates.

Lauren, getting those oak cabs stained darker (and having it done correctly) will cost as much, if not more, than painting them. (or even purchasing all new cabs for that one corner!)

Yes I know, lots of tutorials on pinterest for "gel staining those cabs in a Java shade without stripping them"! they look like crap.

You've combined a more modern trasitional, 2020 island, w/1990's honey oak. The styles will never work together.

there is one way to get it to work; paint the island a lighter color.

with the new island everything looks out of place.

Yes, it does. and it always will unless you make the rest of the space catch up to the new island.

you can buy new, or try and paint those and do a few other things.

Like:

those horrible ceiling lights need to go. I don't understand why that wasn't the first thing on the list! (after the vertical blinds) Again, 1990 paired w/2022 doesn't work.

bring some pendants over the island and some recessed lights. If you can 't do pot lights, then think about some semi-flush mount lighting fixtures

since you like a bit more coutry, you could something like this

this would give you some good light, but may be too modern.

Do you have any plans on changing out the carpet or tile floor? If you do, make sure and replace all of the baseboard to something higher if and when you tackle that. for right now, paint it. It doesn't look country, it looks dated and builder basic.

I don't know that you want dark hardware since it will blend in w/the stain on the island.

But you do need some type of pull on the other cabinets.

are you doing a tile splash?

can you bring in a runner?

So what to do? Honestly, the oak cabs that are there wouldn't be worth painting since for the cost you would have to spend, you could by all new cabinets. It's a very small space. new cabs and countertop for that small L shape area would be less than 5K (and you could get taller cabinets in any color or stain you like.

Look into RTA cabinets you buy by the piece. just match the measurements you already have.

That's what I'd do

Update(ish): so I went to install my cabinet hardware and 90% of it was chipped. This seems to be a common occurrence with all of the black hardware I sampled, even when trying out more expensive items. So I'm back to searching for new hardware with antique brass being what I'm leaning towards. I don't want fake antique brass or oil rubbed bronze though. I might even go with an unpolished brass and let them wear on their own.

We had a real fun time with our flooring buckling in the foyer (a result of 20 years of wear over bad install). So now I'm having to rush to make decisions about the floors that we weren't planning to replace for a few years. I'm doing black herringbone in the foyer and a pattern tile in the neighboring laundry so I have to decide on the kitchen and extended foyer. Most of my inspiration for this house has wood look tile but I'm afraid to introduce another wood tone so I might pick something more basic like a creamy square tile.

I've thought a lot about what the overall style that I'm going for is and I've decided on ultra traditional with country flare. My grandmother's house in Mississippi is the inspiration, I've included a few little pictures I have of details from her home.

I know everyone hates my lights. I do too. I'm just trying to find the perfect one. I want to do a chandelier over the island and it's difficult to find something of the right scale for this island. I hope to have an update on it soon. 

As far as the cabinets go, I have decided to stain the perimeter dark to match the island. I think having it all uniform will allow me to focus more on the smaller accents I want to do. I'm thinking about calling my cabinet guys back on the island though to replace the legs. I feel like the legs that are currently on it don't match the scale and it throws me off. I want to do much thicker legs in a super traditional style. I also might add a third leg to the corner at the front of the island.

I would also paint your wainscotting SW snowbound paint color. It goes well with wood.

I am in the same pickle as you. I have honey oak cabinets that are in great shape. No one seems to like honey oak cabinets anymore, and it's a shame if they are in great shape. Those will last longer. I want to add an island in my kitchen, but not honey oak. I looked at darker wood and exploring cream. All that I have researched, dark wood seems to win the, just like you did, compliments honey oak. I did a test project in my bathroom and stripped the stain off and left it natural with clear stain. The oak tannins are coming through, so it's starting to amber a little bit. I stopped reading how to stop this process of the wood to do this and that as it gave me a headache. Before you start that process of staining, you can try some other things.

What I did was removed all the gold hardware from my honey oak cabinets, and added antique bronze. Added stainless steel appliances, and the kitchen looks so much better! (Plus I just love my new appliances, had to replace some anyways) No idea yet what I am doing with the back splash. Anyways, The antique bronze really complemented the honey oak and pulled in more of the granite countertops that I have that desert color and black. It will still look nice with your lighter countertops. Before everything looked drab. Im thinking if you do darker cabinet hardware that will look really nice! Amazon has some nice and inexpensive hardware. I added 5 inch cabinet hardware to the cabinets. Those really dressed up the cabinets nicely versus the knobs. Order a few different modern styles.

My opinion, paint the walls as well. There are some nice colors that compliment honey oak and will help pull it all together. Creams, beiges, some blues, greens, reds. I have Moroccan moonlight from Glidden in my kitchen with the honey oak and it looks clean. All my furniture is ebony or black wood, and I have honey oak hardwood floors.

As for stools, how about those that have a back rest to it?

From my point of view you didn't go modern with island, because it seems a good style with furniture type of legs. Is the island black?

Incorporate golden stain in nearby areas - with items you like style, features, etc. Do you happen to need new coffee table, etc.? Not hard to find black metal too. This has wood floors already, but what do you think in general?
Amazon.com has lots of LED lights in all shapes and sizes.

Caldera Rustic Modern With A Twist Of Industrial · More Info

IMG_4993.PNG · More Info

Not saying the backsplash area, but this Scandinavian country look is so nice! imo... if adding pattern anywhere - white lights?

Oscar 5-Head Pendant, White · More Info

North Scottsdale Custom · More Info

Modern, but I wouldn't go too chrome-y or glam-gold. But I like this play with floor tile shape, silvery like appliances -

Adagio Collection Six-Light Pendant · More Info

If small, might be nice to have 2 over the island. This is 24 x 25"

If larger, might the fluorescent stay, but a bit like the island light?

6-Light Chandelier, Soft Gold · More Info

Alexia 25" Abstract Integrated LED Adjustable Pendant, Black · More Info

Generation Lighting Lighting 5-Light Chandelier, Satin Bronze · More Info

Posting in case you like anything about them, and please tell. Your kitchen is basic, and if basic lightbulbs is a 'like' here's one [Ive never seen] -

Modern Chandelier Lighting, Art Deco Dining Table Light, Model No. 6975 · More Info

boxy, $99 for sloped ceiling -

39W x 24H x 13”D / six bulbs (not included), and three GU10 bulbs (included) controlled separately by integrated 3-way switch for tasks, in the central columns. Oval or rectangle tables/ islands. Dimmable. Seeded glass?

Lumos 9L Bronze Linear Chandelier Island Pendant Light Fixture · More Info

Lauren, from your inspiration photos it is very clear you love the look of wood mixed with black/dark colors, so don't feel the need to paint or replace cabinets on someone else's opinion. 

I love your inspiration photos.  Keep going and post updates. Others have achieved the look you're going for. You can too.

Hey everyone, I wanted to give an update. It's difficult to get much done with two little ones around so I've been focusing on small projects. We replaced the lights, added a backsplash, and I installed some unpolished brass on the island drawers. I haven't settled on knobs for the island or any hardware on the perimeter. I also added a rug that I'm obsessed with. My next project will be the other side of the kitchen. In the initial floorplan it was supposed to be like a nook area, but it's not really big enough for a table and I'm too obsessed with the window to block it. Right now it kinda serves as the vacuum/water bowl area. I need to replace this disgusting fan, the blinds (I want to get rid of them but my husband won't let me so I'll probably get some nicer ones). I know it's not super aesthetic to have this little play kitchen but I actually love it and so does my baby. Any and all suggestions are welcome.

As far as the floors go, we will be replacing them in early 2023. I've been leaning towards a beige stone look tile. I want to go super neutral on the floors so that I can change up the other materials as I please.

I'm also sharing pictures of my baby's room just because I love it. I'm obviously not a designer and this is where we live so nothing is ever perfect, but I try to embrace the little things. Like the adorable rose knobs on this dresser!

not a fan of hard tile floors so thats a bias but I can see just a plain factory finished 3 in wide oak floor . otherwise look at vinyl planks and vinyl squares.....they are getting better and better and resilient floor product would be the choice if it were mine. everything looks good. I thought black hardware on the oak doors but if you want the warm metal everywhere thats okay too. you can mix up hardware a little bit.. beware of a beige floor....beige tiles can be a lot more complicated and difficult than you might think....they can lean gray ..lean red.. lean yellow so it can be trouble. pick wood you have to bring in samples whatever product you want. look at cork and bamboo too....somehow I thought of that also..but maybe pricey. but there may be some inventory now being marked down. you could get lucky.

I love those handles on that kitchen cabinet that looks nice I don't mind the floor tile but it's okay to change it out you don't like the ceiling fan in the living room? The kids room and the dresser is so cute

I’m seeing your post for the first time today. One of the commenters called out mamamocha for what I gather was a negative comment, but has since been deleted. I was intrigued enough to take a look at her ideabooks and found these two photos that illustrate how accessories can harmonize the golden oak with your dark gray island. I love the glow of the cabinet color, and would look for art that repeats it in your decor.

Just came across this photo and thought immediately of your golden cabinets. I think painting the wall at the end of your kitchen black could highlight the outdoor views and look fantastic.

Oh love it! Do u?

black wall w the kiddie stuff.....i wouldnt. thats a very adult thing and anything against the wall shows up.. black is for a showcase situation. get a cute storage bench for now in a color or print if you want. slowly over time stuff can start going into the bench and be put away. the rest of that end should wait as the usage will change.

Madison Park Shandra Upholstered Soft Close Storage Bench, Light Gray · More Info

Laredo Storage Bench, 46W X 17D X 25H, White · More Info

If u like it JUST do it! The little girl had the nicest little kitchen. The art on wall will pop! But if u don't want black do olive green!

I think any of these types of pulls in the same finish as the island hardware would be fine.

The bottom left is Comsmas

To tie in the oak cabs to the island, why not go w/a counter stool w/oak legs? something a bit lighter to show up against the dark island? These are a 'woven loom' chair. they come in many colors and diff wood stains

Or try something like these

backless stool w/gold to match the hardware. I actually have this type

Runner options

Here is a great solution to make your existing cabinets match your island. You can use Aqua Coat grain filler to totally get rid of the oak grain and make the old kitchen look smooth like your new island. He says about a quart will do an average size kitchen. After the Aqua Coat grain filler, you just paint the old cabinets to match the island. Here are videos to show you how to use this product. Looks easy enough.

Video Part 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S6E1ufnn7U8

Video Part 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i956uY-WEyM

This guy has lots of videos on paining just about everything. So informative.

The cabinets don't have to match the island the Island is a good f o c a l