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melissa_seanard

Biggest Bang for my buck with my Kitchen

2 years ago

We moved into a house that the previous owners had painted in all grey. We have concrete floors that we are now going to be replacing with a light oak wood floor with more golden tones and we will be replacing the counters with either a solid white or a Calcutta gold silestone. We will also be changing the backsplash .The house flooded in march so we are now getting the opportunity to make a few design changes and I would like to know what would improve my kitchen the best. We live in the Texas Hill country and have rough and sawn limestone on the exterior of our modern Home along with a taupe grey stucco and Ipe wood accents.
would love to paint everything but sadly that is not in the budget. I know that the wood floors will help warm up the space and I am not sure if the light grey walls, light grey trim and darker grey cabinets would bother me as much. They are solid wood cabinets so I think there is the possibility of sanding and staining them. I am also playing with the idea of removing the wood accent wall next to the fireplace.
I would love advice on what i should paint to get the best change in my kitchen. They light grey trim and doors (same color as the walls) is throughout my house and will be extensive for painting. The walls as well but I can get away easier with those being painted since they will not be as time consuming to paint. We are planning to keep the darker grey cabinets and just touch them up but am open to suggestions. Thank you!

Comments (15)

  • 2 years ago

    "light oak floors with golden tones" ..care with that.... as "yellow " sometimes becomes the end result. Have you brought samples in...have you viewed the samples under day/nite and various lights on/off conditions. I would be sure with that option and get to the final result before any furthur plans. To tell you the truth I'd go shopping for bar stools and floor mats...new table/chairs.... probably solar shades too....and likely leave everything....for a period of time anyway. Congrats on the wonderful property.

  • 2 years ago

    I like it just the way it is.

    add a colorful large art canvas and more colorful rug and live with the new flooring.

    sanding paint off of cabinets to stain is a pain.

    refacing may be a better solution if you want a wood finish.

  • 2 years ago

    What was the cause of the flood? Any chance it could happen again?

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    Don't replace the floors. The current ones look great! I agree you should simply find area rugs for the family room that work with the gray walls, e.g. blues, greens, etc.


    The place looks practically new and rather well done. Why fix something that doesn't need fixing?

  • 2 years ago

    Flood won’t happen again, husband’s attempt at laundry. We are tired of the cold hard floors and want to do wood, looking at the options pictured below. The fantasy brown counters are very loud to us especially with the mother of pearl backsplash. This is year three of living here and we just don’t care for them. Our exterior is very clean and modern and we want to reflect that in the interior.

    If we did paint, could we get away with painting walls cream and leaving the trim grey or would that look more farmhouse than this is?

  • 2 years ago

    I would do this step by step. Change the floors first. Then seeing how the room looks, select counters, then a backsplash, then finally figure out what wall color to use. I think wood floors are going to make a huge difference to the space.


    I agree that the wood next to the fireplace should come down.


    Lastly, these seem like pics from the listing, yes? You've lived here for three years. What do your furniture and accessories look like in these rooms? It makes a big difference. Also, do you have any inspiration pics? Hard to know your style.

  • 2 years ago

    You can add warmth via some wood furniture and/ or decor- bowls, sculpture, planters— and also textiles. You can experiment with shades of caramel, oranges to see how you like that, vs cooler browns. And art as mentioned, will add a lot of life and personality.

    And for example, bar stools dong need to be black & chrome- could search for warmer looks, even next to gray cabinets.

    I agree that just installing warm gold oak flooring may not fit with your gray cabinetry even if you paint walls, especially if trims are gray. It’s even hard to tell by bringing home a sample of stained wood, unless you spread out a whole boxful.

    So if you’re new to the house, maybe work more with some decor items , especially at first.

  • PRO
    2 years ago

    Noted

  • 2 years ago

    Agree with Kendrah - step by step for sure, don't put down new floors and then not have a way to change paint colors as needed


    (I would leave the floors and use all the money for the most fabulous rugs but that's me)

  • 2 years ago

    What if you replaced the perimeter counters with a solid - leave the BS and island - kind of like this photo. Make sure your DW will fit if you add the wood floors.

  • 2 years ago

    My husband is set on getting wood floors so I want a good neutral light oak floor that would work with anything. Right now we have the baseboards pulled in most of the house from the flood so those will need to be replaced and painting done as well. The first pictures are from the listing but we moved in during COVID and purchased the furniture from the previous owners. I have young boys who are rough on things so they will eventually be replaced but for now are holding up quite well. Not really my style but will address eventually.

    My style is not the crystal chandeliers for sure but more modern Scandinavian with neutral tons and textures rather than color. I prefer to work with natural colors and materials and let those shine and keep things very minimal.

  • 2 years ago

    Would love to change up the rug but with two dogs and two boys, not about to invest in another rug 😬😂

  • 2 years ago

    My style

  • 2 years ago

    More inspiration. We have incredible vast hill country views along the back of our house and I want my interiors to be muted with one’s focus being drawn to the outside

  • 2 years ago
    last modified: 2 years ago

    You cant just sand cabinets, to stain, you have to strip them, and then sand them. Stain absorbs into the wood. You would have to get every single bit of paint off them. quite honestly, that is a very difficult job, and its very time consuming, and could take months and months of prep. Cabinets look good now, I would work around them. I would redo the floors. I dont like the cold look of the concrete, especially in a kitchen.