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.
I hate the idea of having to perch on a stool for every meal, or alternately go to the dining room; I also hate the trend of the dining room being just one side of the living room. So if you're anywhere in the public areas of the house, you're in the kitchen. Nope, not for me, I lived in an efficiency apartment when I was 22 and broke; now I'm all grown up and I want to live in a grown up house. One with a kitchen where you've got a kitchen table (could be right in the kitchen or a breakfast area set to the side) that you can sit at for breakfast and ordinary meals, walls between the kitchen and all the rest of the house. Perfection to me is an actual DOOR between the kitchen and the rest of the house, that you can CLOSE (the house I grew up in, lousy as it was, had this - one house we had after married had it, too - loved it! And you can shut the dog in there when you need to, without worrying about accidents on the wood floor or carpet or rugs). Having a separate dining room is optional but preferred. For "fancy" meals you go in there; it's also great when you need to do something like spread out all your tax forms and documents each year in February.
I also dislike the kitchen with the sink on a flat top aircraft carrier. In the real world of cooking and cleaning up, you're going to occasionally make puddles and the idea of that (usually dirty) water running off the far side (and onto the upholstered seats of the bar stools, with my luck) is not on my priority list.
Again different strokes. I previously had a separate kitchen and did not like it. Our grown up house has that open kitchen by choice and we love it! We have also never had any water roll off the bar top. It's a level surface. So the rare extra water from washing dishes just gets wiped into the undermount sink. Super easy! Never anywhere near the barstools
Again different strokes. I previously had a separate kitchen and did not like it. Our grown up house has that open kitchen by choice and we love it! We have also never had any water roll off the bar top. It's a level surface. So the rare extra water from washing dishes just gets wiped into the undermount sink. Super easy! Never anywhere near the barstools
I was gonna say, if your island/counter is anywhere near level it's just going to pool right where it's spilled and wipe up easily. More than enough time to grab "the quicker picker upper!" lol
I hate the idea of having to perch on a stool for every meal, or alternately go to the dining room; I also hate the trend of the dining room being just one side of the living room. So if you're anywhere in the public areas of the house, you're in the kitchen. Nope, not for me, I lived in an efficiency apartment when I was 22 and broke; now I'm all grown up and I want to live in a grown up house. One with a kitchen where you've got a kitchen table (could be right in the kitchen or a breakfast area set to the side) that you can sit at for breakfast and ordinary meals, walls between the kitchen and all the rest of the house. Perfection to me is an actual DOOR between the kitchen and the rest of the house, that you can CLOSE
I also dislike the kitchen with the sink on a flat top aircraft carrier. In the real world of cooking and cleaning up, you're going to occasionally make puddles and the idea of that (usually dirty) water running off the far side (and onto the upholstered seats of the bar stools, with my luck) is not on my priority list.
In my last house, the kitchen was divided from the family room. I hated it because the cook is cut off from the rest of the family or friends.
I love having a kitchen that looks into the living area. We don't even have a dining table now. The choices are sitting at the bar or at the high-top table out on the lanai. (I'm in Hawaii and I understand that most people can't eat every meal outdoors.) Otherwise, we use folding TV trays.
I was never a fan of the totally open concept. Our traditional house came with naturally stained maple cabinets and while there is no wall closing off the kitchen from the family room, there are arches in the wall -- three of them -- that allow people to view into the adjacent room but there is clear visual separation.
While I am not a fan of the natural stain, I can't see myself painting non-paint grade cabinets with paint, and my experience with painted cabinets in other rooms is a mixed bag. I've had chipping issues with the bath cabinets that were painted using Sherwin Williams' best paint.
I like gray paint but wouldn't do an entire home with it.
There are a lot of shades of grey, light, dark, warm tones, cool tones that go well with white trim AND allow the accent colors in furniture and art to stand out and not look cluttered.
Add to that the desire for a kitchen to be bright feeling and not like a cave and you get the desire for lighter tones in it. Especially if you pan on selling. Yes, you can say that a prospective buyer can changing it how THEY want instead of doing it before you sell, but, I've found that if they walk in and say "that's too dark we have to change everything" then you're not going to get a timely sale. Yes, there's always someone for every style out there, but if it takes linger to FIND that someone, you might be out of luck.
I'm doing that in our kitchen right now. Going to a brighter more neutral palette that isn't beige. A very light cool grey that compliments the white trim is going on the walls (and the artwork will stand out against it) with white for the cabinets and a dark grey quartz for the counters. Again, accents will bring the color in and can be changed when you don't like the colors anymore. And the half bathroom off the mudroom is going to go to a dark, warm grey with white trim, again, with artwork to bring in color. The half bath has a couple windows in it so there's a lot of light so it doesn't end up too dark looking.
Open kitchens, clean lines, and stainless steel have been popular choices for many, many decades. Whether they are currently atop the trend list comes and goes. That doesn't change the fact that they appeal to a certain audience at all times. So I believe it is a misnomer that they will 'go away'.
While I believe in some color, I'm still a huge fan of clean lines, stainless steel, and open kitchens when it comes to kitchen designs.
And yes, my wife loves to cook and cooks on average 1 from-scratch meal a day. I'm also a hobbyist bartender and love this setup for hosting friends for cocktail parties etc. It's a really efficient kitchen from utility standpoint, easy to clean, easy to host.
However, some still say our kitchen is sterile, but it certainly doesn't feel sterile to us.
I have Vadara brand quartz in my kitchen and it stains. Would never do quartz in kitchen again. Has anyone else had issues with this brand? I’m only using quartzite in kitchens from now on.
If I hear that "clean lines" mantra one more time, I mean otherwise it looks dirty? For the life of me I cannot figure out why any self-respecting cook (microwaving dinner isn't cooking) would want a sterile, looking mortuary-like kitchen. Every little, drip, smear or splatter shows up like it's neon. Lately some designers are tip-toeing around the whacko concept of using an accent color, so perhaps there's some hope?
I never started. I hate the crap white and gray. I'm not into trends. I've always liked dark brown so it was great when it was a "trend" and practically every kitchen was like that. But then you know, the "trends" changed. But not my tastes. They don't fluctuate because I don't get influenced by suggestions. It will be so nice when the lame white is out of favor, especially with gray. Its looks sooooooo YUK. Just a horrible blah bland.
But of course that's just my taste. I imagine some people think my fav dark brown is crap too. (hey, it's even the same in color so they would have a more valid point).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Parnassia
Weeeel, I don't watch many home/decorator/design shows but when the realtor/shoppers start raving about stark all-white kitchens the first thing that pops into my mind is how much cleaning you'd need to do to keep them that way. OCD-inspiring. I also suspect folks like that don't actually cook very often. Take out/nuke culture. Still, whatever floats your boat...
I don't either but I look at homes for sale all the time. All the newly remodeled ones all have the gross white kitchens, usually with something gray or gray carpet (well, that wouldn't be in the kitchen of course). It's just yuk. So bland and boring. You'd have to pay me to live there. I'd rather slit my wrists.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cvetters63
There are a lot of shades of grey, light, dark, warm tones, cool tones that go well with white trim AND allow the accent colors in furniture and art to stand out and not look cluttered.
Add to that the desire for a kitchen to be bright feeling and not like a cave and you get the desire for lighter tones in it. Especially if you pan on selling. Yes, you can say that a prospective buyer can changing it how THEY want instead of doing it before you sell, but, I've found that if they walk in and say "that's too dark we have to change everything" then you're not going to get a timely sale. Yes, there's always someone for every style out there, but if it takes linger to FIND that someone, you might be out of luck.
I'm doing that in our kitchen right now. Going to a brighter more neutral palette that isn't beige. A very light cool grey that compliments the white trim is going on the walls (and the artwork will stand out against it) with white for the cabinets and a dark grey quartz for the counters. Again, accents will bring the color in and can be changed when you don't like the colors anymore.
Yep. That's kind of what I'm doing with my kitchen that I'm remodeling/building (moving the current small kitchen to a larger room). It is going to be (off) white with darker brown counter tops. I'll have to post a picture when it's done. I'm (hoping to) sell the house in a couple years or, if I was planning on staying here for a little while it would definitely not be white.
The house I sold a couple years ago was darker in color and yes, it did take longer to sell in a hot market because of the darker colors I preferred. Oh well. It sold. That's all the mattered. The buyer loved my color choices. Just not a popular one so it took longer to find her. (And that house had like my dream kitchen color--dark, dark brown cabinets with a brown/greenish quartz top; wish I could remember the name of it, was at Lowes. The name of that style/color began like with an M. I know that's helpful. Ahh, that was the absolutely most beautiful counter top color I have ever seen and it went perfectly with the cabinet stain. I was so sad to leave that kitchen! : (
Last edited by Basiliximab; 01-28-2023 at 11:28 AM..
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.
