You've talked a lot about color choices and how you want things to look, but not at all about how you want the kitchen to function. For me, a kitchen remodel is an awful lot of money to spend just to change the look; I would want to improve the function (or at the very least, not make it worse).

What works in the current layout? Other than looks, what are your goals for a remodel? For example, in my case the goals were to increase storage space so I could get stuff off the counters; increase the prep space between the sink and range; add pantry storage. I kept the same basic footprint, but increased storage and efficiency dramatically - it was a joy to work in! The last thing we did was choose wood species, door style, counters, flooring, and paint color.

I think you are smart to keep the wood floor! Blue and green hues look dreamy with wood.

The stained island in your reconnaissance photo does not look good with the floor. The island is cool-neutral and the floors are warm-golden. The issue is not the busyness or "too much" of the woods but the failure to color match. Your current kitchen actually has the same scenario with the wall tiles vs the floor. The gray samples you have set up there will have the same problem. Look at brown stain options that would connect with some of the darker grain lines in your current flooring. If your friend-cabinet salesperson doesn't understand how to choose good colors here you may need to do some more reading on your own about color undertones to get it right.

AnnKH, we do have some functional changes. We are removing a "desk" and replacing it with a tall pantry cabinet in the corner to add storage. A new wine rack will also pull some bottles off the countertop and give them a place. The added stacked uppers with glass will give us some display space to relieve the cluttered fireplace mantel. But the "issues" driving it are primarily aesthetic (too much orange, dated cathedral arches). It does feel a bit wasteful to undertake major projects just to update the look, which was why I really struggled to come to terms with the original designer's recommendations. Even now, our local realtor said we should not feel compelled to do much of anything, especially since we have no plans to sell/move in the near term. Our carpet is worn & stained; it is one of the few things that NEEDS to be changed, but now is the time to move forward if we want to update the look elsewhere, so the new carpet will coordinate with other finishes.

rebasheba, I appreciate your input on the stain color. I thought the greenish tone in the "Sage" stain would complement the wood, but I do struggle to discern temperatures & undertones. I have been able to look up descriptions/analysis on BM paint colors, but I've been on my own with the stains. We can get help from a designer at the cabinet & flooring company, but we haven't met with her yet. Your comments underscored the importance of getting her input on all of the color selections!

We know we have mostly warm tones now; trying to get away from orange, and my husband isn't a huge fan of brown, so I've been hoping to find more neutral or blended taupe/greige tones that can play well with what we we have. I was putting sample doors over by the island stone, thinking those colors already "work" in the room. Perhaps that could be an erroneous assumption!

I think it is going to be really hard to find a stained wood that goes with the floor. The sample pic you have looks like an odd combo to my non pro eyes-definiteky a miss. If it were me, I'd be much more tempted to grab that blue door sample you have as the 2nd color. It looks great with your existing floor.

The tricky thing with colors is that if you go all the way to the complementary color, blue (orange) or green (red), then you choose the one and it will really sing with the gold floor. But if you go just a little bit of the way, like a cool ish gray or a cool taupe, it will just look off.

Suggest you do a search on here for photos and filter it to medium wood floors and blue and green color. There are ways to make this work! You could also try searching for "red oak" kitchen floor (it is hard to get the quotes to work in search for me) and see how others have handled it. What about considering a red oak island? This one is quarter sawn so it doesn't have the wavy grain that people dislike about plain sawn oak. https://www.knockonwoodcabinets.net/cabinets/quarter-sawn-red-oak-kitchen-island

You like wood but your spouse doesn't like brown... something's gotta give! 😅

I have an appointment scheduled with an interior designer at the cabinet company. I can always stick with warm white for all of the cabinets if we can't find an accent color/stain for the island.

We always have the option to restain/refinish the floors as well. My favorite inspiration photo to date came from a houzz floor stain discussion. It has soft brown/gray stain on the floor, all white cabinets, and a bit of pale grey in the backsplash & countertop. This is one kitchen we both like very much. (The colors got dulled a bit in the screen shot from the original post, but I haven't figured out how to link directly to the photos on a Houzz discussion.) LINK

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