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kristen_sheppard

kitchen change—got any advice?

9 hours ago

Hi all. Bought house with this kitchen. Not really my “cape-cod” seacoast style— despite being in SW Florida. There is nothing structurally wrong with the kitchen or design— i just don’t love the colors. Ideally i wanted upper cabinets to be white and lower (plus islands) to be warm oak stain. Unfortunately, it seems moving from this verathane smoke gray stain to a warm oak will be an excessive project. Options are to go completely white (trim is currently Ben Moore cloud white so could use that color), or keep smoke gray on bottoms and do just the top white—- however, the smoke gray is what really bugs me. Again, it’s not ugly— it’s just not me. House gets ton of sunlight. I”m not into dark colors, greens, reds etc. Any thoughts? Im reading that white kitchens are so overdone— but yet, my other house has one and i still absolutely LOVE it. Would i be making mistake going all white here? Should i bite the $$ bullet and do the warm oak on the bottom?

Comments (7)

  • 9 hours ago

    Here are some pics of my kitchen. Sorry i couldn’t add them above.

  • 9 hours ago

    I dont think its the cabinet color that is wrong with your kitchen. The kitchen itself looks to be a very nice kitchen, and the cabinets look very good. However, the room, looks like no one has every worked in it, and it looks unloved and unused. It needs accessories, and it needs some color to take away the cold hospital sterile look, it has now.

  • 9 hours ago

    You like a white kitchen, I like a white kitchen, so do a white kitchen. You are correct to match the existing trim color white. The only hesitation I would have is there'd be little contrast between the counters and cabinets and walls. I bet you could have the back and short side of the peninsula re-done in wood (new doors, refinish frames?) for maximum impact and less $$, adding some contrast to the all white kitchen. And then decorate with useful and beautiful items to bring life.

  • PRO
    8 hours ago
    last modified: 8 hours ago

    The exaggerated ceiling/trim is what bothers me the most, so much so, I would put a flat ceiling over it all.

    As is, I would paint all the walls and ceiling Cloud White and the upper cabinets. Hoping the island is directly under the ceiling, I would add a chandelier.



  • 7 hours ago

    I agree with Judy about the ceiling. Is that detail repeated elsewhere in the house? If not, I would level it off before doing anything else.

    It is a nice looking kitchen, but yes, the cabinet color is off. It clashes with the flooring and the wall color. The easiest to change is a wall color - perhaps a different shade could tone down the gray?

    And, as cat_ky said, the room looks sterile. Add some pops of color - a red Kitchenaid mixer on the counter, something other than clear glasses in the uppers, something bright on the shelves, a bowl of apples on the island.

  • 5 hours ago

    The room is sterile bc we just moved in. One of the pics was from the listing :) I’m leaning cloud white cabs and walls to match trim and keeping center island blue. Any issues with cab and walls being the same color?

  • 17 minutes ago
    last modified: 14 minutes ago

    Is this a 1990+ faux-Mediterranean that was updated by the previous owners? The tray ceilings in the kitchen are very 1990. A waterfall counter also wasn't the best design choice.

    So many of these 1990 houses in SW Florida, with new kitchens and bathrooms that don't quite complement the overall style of the house. Unfortunately for these "modern" updates to work, you have to gut/remove all the faux-Mediterranean details, or you just end up with a strange mix of design trends from very different decades.


    Nothing wrong with a white kitchen, if that is what you like. I put in white cabinets when we built in SW FL in 2021. I had stained cabinets in my two previous houses and was ready for a lighter/brighter kitchen.