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.
Please don't paint that fireplace! I have one, too, and it's the focal point of my first floor. I was completely smitten with it the moment I first toured the house. It's also double-sided, so it truly is the home's centerpiece. I don't find the fireplace dated at all. It's appropriate for architecture and has aged well since the house was built in the seventies, even as the other surfaces have been updated. I love it and would never, ever change it.
My house has a painted fireplace BUT...in my defense...I bought it like that. I wouldn't have painted it, but the previous owner felt differently.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Briolat21
I am a fan of painted kitchen cabinets. Once upon a time, I think I would have preferred stained finish-grade wood (likely either a walnut, or a other dark (low grain) hardwood).
But I've always liked a white kitchen. To me, they're classic. 100 years ago, white kitchen with soapstone wouldn't have been unusual (for those lucky enough to have cabinets); and today, still a classic look.
When we redo our kitchen (hopefully within a few years) we'll have white cabinets (which are really an off-white/cream color) for the majority of the kitchen, and grey (light grey) cabinets across on a pantry/coffee counter wall.
Everything cycles in and out of hot/cold moments. So, I'm sure no matter what I pick for a kitchen, the next people in the house will dislike it ... so I might as well put in what I'm going to like ('cause I'm the one paying for it and going to have to live with it)
I love a white kitchen. To me it's a timeless classic. I have a white kitchen (original to my '57 house) and plan to replace it with....a white kitchen! (With a subway tile backsplash. I LIKE them.)
Your kitchen (with the painted oak cabinets) looks marvelous. But I think just getting rid of the wallpaper and changing out the countertops would've still made a huge difference, even with the original oak cabinets.
I just happen to love the warm look of wood, so as dated as my oak cabinets are, they're staying.
And speaking of things that aren't "in", I have a distressed red brick fireplace that is floor-to-ceiling (at the "^" point of my cathedral ceiling in my greatroom) and there's no way it's getting painted white (or any other color!)
Oh, and I'm not dissing anyone else's decorating tastes... Just stating my preferences.
If you love your oak, by all means enjoy it! I think oak looks lovely with more saturated colors, and there you can go crazy more easily than with lighter or painted wood. (JMO)
I had a vintage brick (firebrick actually) floor to ceiling fireplace in my former house, and I always admired it. The colors were grayed corals. Very pretty. It absolutely made the room. I would never have wanted to change that. I totally get why you love your big fireplace.
Agreed. I love color, and white and grey just look boring and blah, or institutional.
I love color too, but as accents. My living room and entry hall is a light grey with white trim and shelving that makes the colors on the items on the shelves "pop," and goes nicely with the original hardwood floors (house was built in 1932).
One can of course choose from a multitude of colors, including or excluding gray for walls. If you want a color other than gray, you can choose something else. However, I think the idea that gray walls are institutional is simply not accurate. I mean, many of use went to school in rooms of institutional green, but most of us don't feel that light green walls are institutional.
For a home with wide white trim, gray works really well because the beautiful trim pops against the gray. I think that might be one reason it is popular now. And there are all sorts of grays. Some are grayed red tones, yellow tones, blue tones, green tones. Gray is versatile. There is a gray that will look good with almost any color.
If you hate gray don't use it. But you should not imagine that all gray rooms look like institutions, because they don't.
Barstools in the kitchen. Never ever ever do I want to eat in my kitchen, hunched over on a barstool.
I'm ok with barstools in the kitchen for people to sit chatting with the cook or as seating for kids when theirs a large crowd visiting, but otherwise I agree.
What I really hate are pub style dining tables where the table and chairs are elevated like you would find in a bar/pub.
I agree with you about those pub style tables, I find them very uncomfortable. I don't mind the barstools at a counter, if there is enough room, but in many houses they sit out into the traffic aisles.
I also agree about those pub tables, I don't understand the point of having them in your house.
I'm not that keen on barstools either - my island has a small overhang but when I replace the counter in a couple of years, I'm getting rid of it. I put in a double island and there are cabinets on that side, so the overhang interferes with my ability to easily access those cabinets. And the area is too narrow to put bar stools there anyway.
In my kitchen we have a pub level bar, which we equipped with comfortable, sturdy chairs. The only other eating area is an adjacent dining room, with a table that is too big for 2 or 3 people. We use the bar and pub chairs daily. I do hate the idea of sitting on taller stools! How uncomfortable! But we have adjusted to the bar setup just fine with our tall chairs.
We have also used the tall chairs as child seating at the dining table.
What I really hate are pub style dining tables where the table and chairs are elevated like you would find in a bar/pub.
What exactly is the point of that?
Given a choice of high or lower tables at a restaurant, my tall hubby will always choose the high ones so that his legs can dangle instead of being crammed under a low table. I can understand having a bar-height table if you have an additional entertaining space, but not as a replacement for a kitchen table. I have friends who have the high table in their kitchen dining area, and they have young children precariously perched on the high chairs. This I don't understand. I've also seen empty homes staged with a bar-height table in the kitchen dining area. I guess it makes the house look more updated.
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.
(With a subway tile backsplash. I LIKE them.)
