Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
nic529, our new neighbors just redid their kitchen with dark cabinets, it did turn out nice. I was just thinking that dark cabinets might contrast too strongly with the white appliances and white-ish floor.
I think the dark might bring some style to it....but again.....I'm not a designer by any means - my cabinets are white......countertop is black....floor is tan with black and white running through it and I hate it all.....so don't take my word for it! LOL
I think the dark might bring some style to it....but again.....I'm not a designer by any means - my cabinets are white......countertop is black....floor is tan with black and white running through it and I hate it all.....so don't take my word for it! LOL
If I were going to keep the house and live in it, yes I would go dark. But because it's a long and narrow kitchen...I dunno, kind of think it might put off buyers into thinking it's smaller than it is?? If I were staying, I'd probably stain them some charcoal or ebony tone, and go with black or stainless appliances. But that's me, and that would be grossly overspending for the value of the neighborhood. It would have been overspending on the cabinets alone, if I hadn't gotten them built free for the price of the materials. It's good to have talented friends with whom to trade skills.
How is the natural light in the kitchen? I have a similar size kitchen with NE light so brightening up the room is really needed. With all the light surfaces in your room, I would go with a natural oak finish. The natural wood color would be light but not white and would bridge the off white floor tile with the white other stuff. I think a little contrast is good but you are right about not darkening it too much so it doesn't end up looking like a cave - something my kitchen suffers from. Maybe a glaze on the natural oak finish would look good, but it might be overkill for a flip. The new owners could always paint over the natural finish to suit their taste. I have a hard time believing glazing is all that hard if you have some experience and talent with doing stuff. You can always do it on a sample to get the hang of it before going with the real cabinets. It sounds like it will be a very nice room.
If I were going to keep the house and live in it, yes I would go dark. But because it's a long and narrow kitchen...I dunno, kind of think it might put off buyers into thinking it's smaller than it is?? If I were staying, I'd probably stain them some charcoal or ebony tone, and go with black or stainless appliances. But that's me, and that would be grossly overspending for the value of the neighborhood. It would have been overspending on the cabinets alone, if I hadn't gotten them built free for the price of the materials. It's good to have talented friends with whom to trade skills.
Now that I know more about your room and that you have new cabinets, I would go w/ light to medium stain. I think you will still have enuff contrast w/ your materials - and it will keep the room looking more open.
I get a lot of my ideas flipping through magazines. Also, Southern Living has nice online website. That is how i decided on my present kitchen - found examples using similar materials and colors . . . that was a big help in envisioning what the finished project would look like.
Now that I know more about your room and that you have new cabinets, I would go w/ light to medium stain. I think you will still have enuff contrast w/ your materials - and it will keep the room looking more open.
I get a lot of my ideas flipping through magazines. Also, Southern Living has nice online website. That is how i decided on my present kitchen - found examples using similar materials and colors . . . that was a big help in envisioning what the finished project would look like.
Yes that can help as long as you take into account that the magazines put about 5000 watts of lighting in the room to take their pics. It can distort what a real room looks like. And all too often, the rooms they showcase are really huge which also distorts what a normal size house will look like. With that kind of lighting and large room sizes, dramatic colors look great but would make a normally lit room and modest size look and feel like a cave.
....Speaking as someone who is remodeling a house that is in serious need of de-decorating... It is amazing how much larger and brighter a room seems once you remove 1/32 of inch of wall paper and put on light, warm colors.
He didn't build them in his garage, he built them craftsman style in place. I asked him to leave the wood unfinished because I had not decided whether to stain or paint at that point. They are cabinet-grade plywood shelves/boxes and solid white oak for the facing parts/drawer fronts/doors. They're actually very nice, and way way better than I could have put into this house if I had been buying cabinets, because I got them for the price of the materials alone.
Oh, and actually I never asked about refacing because they're new cabinets... I asked about staining, painting, or pickling as I recall. I'm just looking for ideas as to how to tie in the slighly almondish color floor with the white-background tile and the white appliances without it looking stupid.
I think I gotcha now. Take a scrap peice of your almond floor to the paint store and they have peices of those little stained wood samples. Hold up your scrap tile to the colors and hopefully something will jump out at you that you like. You can try asking a sales clerk in Home Depot or Lowes but they are just minimum wage clerks. Go to a specialty paint store instead where you will get professional help and opinions on color matches.
Again I have to recomend a darker color, not real dark. Of 13 colors, not counting wood species, that I sell, the hottest color resembles cherry even if the wood species is not cherry. Still many people are holding on to honey or cider oak as their favorite. I still like it and sell plenty of it.
Roamin, in your neck of the woods, maple is the hottest thing going right now, not the super light, but a medium honey shade.
I am talking stain color, it can be applied to any wood, will go with the counters and floors wonderfully, and will appeal to both traditional and contemporary buyers.
I have been using this shade quite a bit lately in the kitchens I have done, I really like it!
35 year veteran Kitchen Designer here. First off YOU CAN NOT PAINT OAK ! (because of the grain)
Well you can but you will be the laughing stock of visitors and potential buyers.
I do not feel you can paint any cabinets because it looks so very bad. So very ugly. Refinishing is almost always more expensive then installing all new kitchen cabinets. Yes I said that right.
Roamin Red... I own a construction company (new construction), I renovate old houses (only for myself, not other people) and I do the kitchens as a subcontractor for over a dozen other builders...
Yes... you CAN paint cabinets, and nobody is going to laugh at you. Here is a picture of what was an old dark oak kitchen that I recently painted, glazed, and added crown and trim to , and nobody laughed.
Personally, I would go with natural maple cabinets. I like dark cabinets, but with the lighter colors you have chosen for everything else in your kitchen, I think dark wood would probably be too jarring. I watch a lot of HGTV shows, and the designers on some of those shows always say that if you have several shades of white in a room, it'll make all but the brightest white look dingy. Just my 2 cents. Good luck!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
It is amazing how much larger and brighter a room seems once you remove 1/32 of inch of wall paper and put on light, warm colors.
