Decorating 101 : colors for my kitchen

[tonilea]

We are gutting our kitchen. DIY on a tight budget. New cabinets - oak w/ a light honey color stain. Cabinet top, I still don't know - one I like is a warm brown w/ black flecks - formica. Would white or black appliances be better? I think stainless is out of the budget.

ETA: Flooring will be either wood laminate or linolium (sp?). Should the wood flooring and cabinets match or contrast?

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

Ive seem flooring both ways. To my eye, having them the same looks really blendy, I like dark floors, light cabinates but thats just me. I would go dark on appliances. They just look cleaner (and stay cleaner IMO)

 

[tonilea]

Ive seem flooring both ways. To my eye, having them the same looks really blendy, I like dark floors, light cabinates but thats just me. I would go dark on appliances. They just look cleaner (and stay cleaner IMO)

*sigh* I really wanted white cabinets, but DH wants stained. This would be so much easier if I didn't have to compromise! lol

 

[tinah159]

Maybe get white and use the Thomas stainless steel paint to change them to stainless. I have white and am going to use it on mine. I dont want to buy new just for color

 

[cassiez76]

i like the contrast of different floors to cabinets. i love your cabinet color thought! that's what i would pick, but for now we have our old 70's painted ones. our floor though is the light honey laminate.


our appliances are black, except for the white dishwasher...which was discounted. i left the blue protective cover on it, so i guess you can't tell it's white. lol

good luck with your DIY! i still have a ton to do at my house and we've been here 2 years now.

 

[ToddyLu]

My DMIL and I purchased almost the same cabinets after Katrina and she has white appliances and I have black appliances. They are maple cabinets with a cinnimon glaze. Her appliances give her kitchen a country fill and mine give my kitchen a warm Tuscan feel. She loves hers, I love mine. I went with a drop in stove so the knobs would be at the front of the stove and instead of a stove hood I went with a over the stove microwave which works great. SHe has a split brick floor and I have a varied bown tile floor in my kitchen. I stressed mostly over the counter top and knew I wanted granite. I went with a granite that had more veins than spots on it. I am not a cook and have really enjoyed my fridge with the freezer on the bottom. I went with a glass top electric stove so I could use it as counter space for parties and stuff..just like the fact that it is flat.

Maybe you could spray paint large pieces of cardboard white and black and then alternate them around the appliance spaces in your kitchen to see what you might prefer.

With what you describe I would invest more in the flooring since it would be harder to change in the future..laminate would be more of what I would expect in a new reno if I were buying a home. I think more of a flooring contrast would work and would go with a dark appliance. To me white would be too much of a contrast. I would do a formica countertop that could be changed in a few years if needed.

I wanted a Kraftmaid knob for my kitchen and they were $11 a piece at Lowes. I searched for 2 weeks online and found the company who made them and ordered them for $6.

I am very excited for you and know that you will really enjoy your new kitchen.

 

[crz4mm2]

I have the same cabinets you are describing.I could not afford (nor really wanted to) to replace them. Floor is a darker color.Mediterranean Teak I think it was called.
Walls are a terra cotta color and appliances BLACK. The counter top is brown with black and a little gold. LOVE it. Was going to get black and then when I found this one it just clicked.
I LOVE my kitchen.
I also have the freezer in the bottom and the french doors in my fridge. Glass top stop, micro (with range vent) above the stove.
It works very well for us.
Stainless sink though.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I don't know that you ever need to or will be able to match everything exactly. You just have to try to do the best you can considering all factors: budget, preferences, availability, etc. I like the look of woods that complement eachother, but don't necessarily match. It gives the room a little personality, as opposed to showroom perfect (IMO - others may disagree, but that's ok, everyone feels differently). It's also a good feeling knowing you perhaps recycled an older or treasured piece.

And any of the appliance colors will look good with what you're doing, it's just a matter of personal choice. Are any of your current appliances salvageable? That might drive the color choice if you can save some. I've also noticed they have some appliances that are a combination of black and stainless which might be a good choice for someone who has some black that are salvageable but have to buy others and want to go a little modern but still match the others. There are also panels you can buy in different colors for many of the appliances which would also help you save if you want to go that route.

We just finished a DIY kitchen remodel, too. I was able to find granite for the same cost I was finding for some of the laminates, and the time frame was quicker for installation. You just have to shop around for the best deals on whatever you decide. We kept our black appliances and grey ceramic tile floor. We also didn't move any pipes or change the basic layout, which helped with costs, time and headaches. One of our biggest expenses was the electrician. We installed recessed lighting, undercabinet lighting (which I hadn't planned on and he suggested, which I'm glad we did), brought outlets up to code, moved switches and wired for a sunroom we're getting ready to build off the kitchen.

Something that helped me keep it all in perspective was just that, almost whatever we did was going to be an improvement, seeing as the kitchen was original vintage 1964. That may not be the case for everyone, but for us it was. I'm very happy with the results.

 

[RadioNate]

*sigh* I really wanted white cabinets, but DH wants stained. This would be so much easier if I didn't have to compromise! lol

White cabinets are very in these days. Will he go for a oak floor with the white cabinets?

Personally, I prefer white or darker cabinets (maple) but I definitely think you need contrast between the floor and cabinets.

ETA

i just looked at the HGTV site and found this.

I think something like the 3rd photo could be a great compromise for you. You get the white cabinets you like and he gets the honey oak color in the floor.

Honey oak cabinets can be pretty dated looking. Men always like them though. I don't get it.

My mom actually have a formica countertop that everyone loves. I think it is the BUTTERUM GRANITE. It is really nice.

On the HGTV site in the country kitchen section they have some with lighter cabinets and really dark floors that look really good.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

We put in white cabinets. Love em. (DH is not in charge of the decorating in our house, lol.)

 

[Minnie]

I finally got my DF to agree to white cabinets.... took some work - he wanted light oak. We have real pine wood floors (original in our country home) but the kitchen is small so I wanted to open it up with white paint.

We are going with a dark laminate counter top and I love the look.

Check out HGTV for great pics of kitchen ideas

BTW - Many on this board didn't care for my kitchen plans so take these comments with that in mind... I'm not a trendy person just go with what I like and I'm not looking at current resale value...