EXCELLENT Article on why so many kitchen remodels fall short (tile, sink)
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1. Why does the woman spell it "colour" and work in Chicago?
2. More seriously, there are "designers" who think that Photoshopping colors into (or out of) other people's photographs is somehow "design".
3. You can't make an intelligent decision from one view at one angle of half of a room. You have to walk around in it and see how it works, colors and all.
1. There are Canadians, British, and people from other anglophone countries in the US. Chicago is a big city, not surprising.
2. She is not designing the kitchen, rather using computer generated modifications to illustrate how a whiter palette would feel. You don't have to agree with her taste but do refrain from mischaracterizing her article just to make your point. And for what it's worth, many paint stores have similar apps and programs to help customers try on various paints virtually.
3. While having a fuller view of the kitchen and its surroundings certainly helps in choosing a color, having that one view is enough (at least for me) to know that the paint color in the listing does not work. The white works much better. Sure, a more comprehensive perspective of the rest of the house will help determine how well the white will work with the rest of the house, but that doesn't change how horrid the existing pinkish paint looks in that kitchen. Which leads to her final and most salient point: hire a professional before a remodel so you don't make these mistakes.
People in this forum must have very high standard. The kitchen I posted are from high end home with high end finish. They may not be what you like but I find it hard to believe that these are that bad to deserve:
"Those are all horrid. I don't think anyone around here would be caught dead in such a kitchen."
Or
"I would not have any of the rooms in those photos even if they were free."
People in this forum must have very high standard. The kitchen I posted are from high end home with high end finish. They may not be what you like but I find it hard to believe that these are that bad to deserve:
"Those are all horrid. I don't think anyone around here would be caught dead in such a kitchen."
Or
"I would not have any of the rooms in those photos even if they were free."
Seriously?
Seriously. Those kitchens are not at all something I would expect to see in a *real* home. It looks like they were done to show off individual design techniques, all together. Not a good look, in any of them.
Even when you're just comparing color schemes, a photograph doesn't give you the real effect. Being surrounded by a color is different from looking at it in a picture. Hanging stuff from the ceiling may look OK but banging your head on it is not.
There's a reason they don't put people in those real-estate developer photos: they don't want a scale that shows you how small and cluttered the rooms really are. Perhaps they should hire those midget families we used to see in small-car advertisements.
You need a BIG kitchen to make an island practical. True, it's the only way to fit everything in a small kitchen (that's not a corridor layout), but you will end up walking sideways.
Art Moderne chrome-and-white has been around for a long time.
Most kitchen remodels will fail expectations mostly because the home owner either has no clue what they want or can't express what they want to the designer who is drawing plans and specs. Commonly, a woman will lead the request for a kitchen remodel. She'll come with all kinds of pictures from magazines or brochures of products and start with "I want this and this and this" and none of it is viable in combination with each other. Pretty stupid to try to use new 42" upper cabinets in Cherry yet have a green and white gas antique stove with a stainless vent hood. It happens far too often. They like a lot of detailed items but none of them will work each other. OR if the builder just says "I don't care, I'll build it", then the H/O is disappointed because it looks like the kitchen literally fell out of the sky from a plane carrying trash. Rarely will you find a H/O that knows exactly what they want in a kitchen. That's why most fail. What its real dumb, the latest rage of putting rock in the kitchen area, especially around a stove. I guess nobody has figured it out yet that stoves create grease and it has a tendency to splatter or escape the stove. It ends up on the rock. The same thing happens at the floor level and it turns black. Now it looks filthy and nasty.
Looks pretty now but wait until it gets dirty. There's no cleaning it and not do damage to the rock.
Most kitchen remodels will fail expectations mostly because the home owner either has no clue what they want or can't express what they want to the designer who is drawing plans and specs. Commonly, a woman will lead the request for a kitchen remodel. She'll come with all kinds of pictures from magazines or brochures of products and start with "I want this and this and this" and none of it is viable in combination with each other. Pretty stupid to try to use new 42" upper cabinets in Cherry yet have a green and white gas antique stove with a stainless vent hood. It happens far too often. They like a lot of detailed items but none of them will work each other. OR if the builder just says "I don't care, I'll build it", then the H/O is disappointed because it looks like the kitchen literally fell out of the sky from a plane carrying trash. Rarely will you find a H/O that knows exactly what they want in a kitchen. That's why most fail. What its real dumb, the latest rage of putting rock in the kitchen area, especially around a stove. I guess nobody has figured it out yet that stoves create grease and it has a tendency to splatter or escape the stove. It ends up on the rock. The same thing happens at the floor level and it turns black. Now it looks filthy and nasty.
Looks pretty now but wait until it gets dirty. There's no cleaning it and not do damage to the rock.
Are these kitchen for show mostly since people nowadays hardly cook at home?
People in this forum must have very high standard. The kitchen I posted are from high end home with high end finish. They may not be what you like but I find it hard to believe that these are that bad to deserve:
"Those are all horrid. I don't think anyone around here would be caught dead in such a kitchen."
Or
"I would not have any of the rooms in those photos even if they were free."
Seriously?
It boils down to taste. I don't like dark kitchens. The greyish one was the best of the bunch, but still not my taste.
I had my kitchen remodelled 2 years ago...white and bright, except for a grey porcelain floor. Got rid of the microwave...and don't miss it.
Most kitchen remodels will fail expectations mostly because the home owner either has no clue what they want or can't express what they want to the designer who is drawing plans and specs. Commonly, a woman will lead the request for a kitchen remodel. She'll come with all kinds of pictures from magazines or brochures of products and start with "I want this and this and this" and none of it is viable in combination with each other. Pretty stupid to try to use new 42" upper cabinets in Cherry yet have a green and white gas antique stove with a stainless vent hood. It happens far too often. They like a lot of detailed items but none of them will work each other. OR if the builder just says "I don't care, I'll build it", then the H/O is disappointed because it looks like the kitchen literally fell out of the sky from a plane carrying trash. Rarely will you find a H/O that knows exactly what they want in a kitchen. That's why most fail. What its real dumb, the latest rage of putting rock in the kitchen area, especially around a stove. I guess nobody has figured it out yet that stoves create grease and it has a tendency to splatter or escape the stove. It ends up on the rock. The same thing happens at the floor level and it turns black. Now it looks filthy and nasty.
Looks pretty now but wait until it gets dirty. There's no cleaning it and not do damage to the rock.
Too heavy looking for me. I also don't get why they have electrical outlets positioned there. Still if they must be there, the old style plating and colour stand out too much.
People in this forum must have very high standard. The kitchen I posted are from high end home with high end finish. They may not be what you like but I find it hard to believe that these are that bad to deserve:
"Those are all horrid. I don't think anyone around here would be caught dead in such a kitchen."
Or
"I would not have any of the rooms in those photos even if they were free."
Seriously?
I'm sure some of it is hyperbole. As I said before, I'm sure there will be many people who will enjoy these kitchens. It's a matter of taste. When you ask for opinions from the internet, you have to be prepared for a range of responses.
Setting aside the color and styling choices, these model home kitchens really do lack cohesion for me. I feel like whoever designed these for the Toll Brothers probably abstracted a number of "now" elements and threw them into a single kitchen without thoughtful editing. As an example, the waterfall edge islands really don't belong. The display cabinets also don't belong. Or the kitchen that you like, with the Mediterranean tile backsplash, probably needs a little more thought and editing. These homes may be considered high end for your geographic region, but just because the finishes are high end they don't necessarily work well with each other. It's like trying to style a Hollywood Regency room and then throwing in some Chippendale antiques, Arne Jacobsen chairs, and Eames lounger into the mix because they are all trendy right now. But you know, the Toll Brothers are probably just trying to sell their products quickly, so it really doesn't behoove them to create a space that has a strong stylistic point of view. It would narrow the customer base too much. As long as you are happy with the kitchen, don't try to take too much offense if it doesn't speak to others.
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