Kitchen design - (Updated w/ info)

[Minnie]

We are in the middle of a kitchen remodel. We are to the point of picking colors - walls, cabinets, countertops. We have an old farm house that has most of the rooms redone.

Small room so I want the colors light - so far I think we're going with:

Walls - light blue
Cabinets - white
Floors - pine wood (original flooring)
Backsplash - white / tan tiles (current - DF refuses to redo this )
Counter tops - solid surface formica
--> Travertine (tan)
--> Labrador (dark grey/tan)

Any suggestions would be very helpful... We need to make a decision soon - no idea there were this many options

Planning to decorate with the blue/white WDW Mickey kitchen

 

[barkley]

go with the darkest grout you can live with or plan on spending your days and nights trying to keep it all consistantly the same shade.

we had white tiles in a former kitchen, went with the best sealant on the market and despite religious cleaning and bleaching the tiles in the 'high traffic' areas ended up stained darker than the adjacent areas.

and we're just talking counter top tiles-don't get me started on the ones that made up the back splash.

 

[shelly3girls]

We had travertine in our bathroom in our previous house. I cannot imagine having it on a countertop. I would think that it would stain very easily. It is beautiful but I would never think of using in my kitchen. Also, if you get it unfilled it is even more difficult to keep clean. If you don't mind the higher maintenance and tend to be very careful then I am sure it would look beautiful.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We are in the middle of a kitchen remodel. We are to the point of picking colors - walls, cabinets, countertops.

So far I think we're going with:

Walls - light blue
Cabinets - white
Floors - wood
Backsplash - white / tan tiles
Counter tops???
--> Travertine (tan)
--> Labrador (dark grey/tan)

Any suggestions would be very helpful... We need to make a decision soon - no idea there were this many options

Are you sure? I don't think I can be that helpful. I am not a "cool colors" person so your choices do not sound good to me.

Why white cabinets? Do you have a Cape Cod style house or something? White cabinets are so 90's and "out". Since you are doing a wood floor, go with a darker cabinets, cherry, walnut, more natural. Anything but white or honey colored oak.

I would never do tile on a countertop. It is impractical. Go with granite or something else similiar if you cannot afford granite.

As far as white tiles on the backsplash? Would not do white/tan.

Now maybe you have a style of house that matches all of that? Is that why you want white? I am just saying I would change it with a remodel and make it more modern.

 

[ksjayhawks]

I would not do travertine tiles for countertop. Go with a solid surface or granite.

White cabinets--not real popular around here. Darker woods are more in.

Backsplash--would stay away from white/tan. Pick your countertop first and then get the backsplash tiles to highlight the countertop. There are so many neat choices out there.

 

[Minnie]

I have added some details to the original post that I hope helps clear up what we're working with....

Solid surface countertop - not tile
Old farm house - mostly redone
Small kitchen - want to stay light and open
Planning to decorate using WDW - Mickey theme

Web page that shows a similar style:

http://www.hgtv.com/designers-portfolio/room/traditional/kitchens/2344/index.html

I really appreciate the thoughts please keep them coming as I need all the help I can get

 

[scrapquitler]

Walls - light blue
Cabinets - white
Floors - pine wood (original flooring)
Backsplash - white / tan tiles (current - DF refuses to redo this )
Counter tops - solid surface formica
--> Travertine (tan)
--> Labrador (dark grey/tan)

Personally, If I were doing white cabinets, I would not put tan countertops or tan tiles on the backsplace. I'm just not a big fan of the tan and white combo. But that's just my personal peeve.

 

[themilesfamily]

We just redid our kitchen & dining room -- both very small -- and we went with a similar style. Here's what we did and it turned out GREAT. It has a really nice country feel to it. We decorate with a lot of Warren Kimble artwork and other folk art, so it worked for us.

Walls: Sage (Sherwin-Williams Svelte Sage)
Cabinets: Painted white
Countertops: Oak butcher block countertops. (Butcher block countertops look GREAT with white cabinets!!)
Floors: Oak to mach the counterops.
Chandelier: This from the Pottery Barn http://www.potterybarn.com/products/camilla-3-arm-chandelier/?pkey=cchandeliers
Appliances: We'll replace with stainless steel appliances as the old ones poop out.

Right now the trend in kitchen decor seems to be: Cherry cabinets/black granite countertops/bamboo floors/stainless steel appliances. We wanted something a little different.

Good luck!! I'm sure your kitchen will turn out great.

 

[pixiewings71]

Don't do tan with white cabinets, that will just look wrong. When we redid our kitchen (house fire, had to rebuild the entire house) we went with granite counter tops, Tiger Skin is the color, the wall with the stove also has tiles in the same granite. Let's see, my walls are a pale yellow, the cabinets are a light wood and our appliances are all black. The floors are ceramic tile, in a light color with darker grout. We thought about using travertine but decided it wasn't going to hold up well enough in the kitchen, instead we did the travertine around the fireplace and in our master bath/shower. I love the travertine but definitely think it's better for a bathroom then a kitchen.

Edited to add we did the white w/blue in our girls bathroom and it looks really good together, the blue in the link you posted is almost the same color.

 

[lovemygoofy]

OP, I have the cabinents in my kitchen you are thinking about. They are white and then I have some with the glass doors. I also have white TILE countertop and a white tile floor. Apparently the owners never intended to have people in the house or cook in the kitchen.

All I can really tell you about the white cabinents is to stock up on magic clean erasers. I clean mine down every so often especially around the stove with the erasers and they work great.

If you'd like, I can post a picture of my kitchen to give you an idea though I'm in the process of repainting it from the crazy tropical green that the previous renters used to the iced tea color I'm using now.

 

[abdmom]

I would not do blue walls in the kitchen. Bathroom, fine, not kitchen. The sage that a previous poster mentioned would be a good color. I love yellow, but it's a really difficult color to get right. Light or medium taupe seems to be in.

I had white cabinets with tan colored granite in my previous house. I liked it. But, I agree, I wouldn't do travertine in the kitchen.

The white cabinet vs wood cabinet preference seems to be a regional thing. Do what makes YOU happy.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I have added some details to the original post that I hope helps clear up what we're working with....

Solid surface countertop - not tile
Old farm house - mostly redone
Small kitchen - want to stay light and open
Planning to decorate using WDW - Mickey theme

Web page that shows a similar style:

http://www.hgtv.com/designers-portfolio/room/traditional/kitchens/2344/index.html

I really appreciate the thoughts please keep them coming as I need all the help I can get

In a small kitchen, white cabinets will look pretty clinical. I would warm up the kitchen with darker cabinets.

Unless you have top of the line stainless and dark granite (like in the photo above), I would stay away from white. Notice they have dark granite backsplash. You need to balance your "white" with dark.

What surface/color are you planning on your countertops?

You can have warm and cozy in a small space without using white.

 

[NAB]

Minnie I love the the picture you posted. Wouldn't do the gold knobs though do shinny silver instead. It looks very fresh and bright.

 

[Disney Doll]

See bolded

We are in the middle of a kitchen remodel. We are to the point of picking colors - walls, cabinets, countertops. We have an old farm house that has most of the rooms redone.

Small room so I want the colors light - so far I think we're going with:

Walls - light blue LOVE THIS! I had a blue kitchen in our 1st apartment. It's an unexpected color for a kitchen, buit it works.Cabinets - white
Floors - pine wood (original flooring) Nice
Backsplash - white / tan tiles (current - DF refuses to redo this ) don't like the tan/white combo, but then again, I don't like tan in general
Counter tops - solid surface formica
--> Travertine (tan)
--> Labrador (dark grey/tan) I'd go with this one, or one that was even more grey and less tan
Any suggestions would be very helpful... We need to make a decision soon - no idea there were this many options

Planning to decorate with the blue/white WDW Mickey kitchen

If I recall, the blue/white Mickey kitchen stuff has a touch of grey in it as well, so I'd try to make anything that you are currently calling "tan" into grey. Make your counter a deeper grey (like a pewter color or darker) to offset the cabinets a little.

As far as that backsplash, can you somehow get the tan tiles out? Paint them, cover them with some kind of tile cover, something to get rid of the tan and change it to a grey or stainless look. That, to me, is the only thing that doesn't seem to "work" with what you're describing.

As far as dark cabinets etc...I hate them. My cabinets are the honey oak which a PP warns agaiunst...honey oak with a granite counter that's a smoke grey with lilac, peach and light green color offsets in it and everyone who walksinto my kitchen loves it. I also hate the current "fashion" of tan, brown or other earth tones on walls. I prefer light, bright and airy. Most of my house is white except my 2 batyhrooms...one is a bright yellow and one is lilac.

Google "tile cover ups"...a lot of different ideas pop up.

 

[Jennasis]

Folks...is nobody reading?? She wants to do FORMICA countertops and "travertine" is the color. She is not suggesting putting Travertine stone in the kitchen.

That said, why would anyone redo the kitchen with formica?? That's like a huge step backwards and may well negate any value the reno would add to the home. Go with granite, quartz, even silestone. Or do what we did in our bathroom...12x12 granite tile. A fraction of the cost of slab granite and looks lovely. here:

 

[abdmom]

She said

Counter tops - solid surface formica
--> Travertine (tan)
--> Labrador (dark grey/tan)

Formica is not solid surface. So not sure what the OP is thinking. I agree though, I wouldn't do formica either.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Folks...is nobody reading?? She wants to do FORMICA countertops and "travertine" is the color. She is not suggesting putting Travertine stone in the kitchen.

That said, why would anyone redo the kitchen with formica?? That's like a huge step backwards and may well negate any value the reno would add to the home. Go with granite, quartz, even silestone. Or do what we did in our bathroom...12x12 granite tile. A fraction of the cost of slab granite and looks lovely. here:

I did not catch that.

I am not a cool colors person so I am not really one to ask. It is a matter of your personal style here.

I would never go with grey DD. It is very hard to match grey with anything but blue. Already went down that road in house #2.
I had honey colored oak cabinets/grey formica. It was very hard to match or to switch to a warm color palate.

 

[Disney Doll]

Well jennassis, while I agree that I would go with a granite or stone type look, it may be out of budget for the OP. Your counter looks great, but I have always been wary of having tiled countertops, especially in a kitchen, because of the grout. I have visions of spaghetti sauce stained grout or it being a constant cleaning event.

Believe it or not, DH is a realtor and most realtors would say a counter top is easy to change so it would not be a "dealbreaker" for most people when looking at/buying a house. When I was house hunting I found that to be true. I never really noticed a "cheaper" countertop, but what I did notice was an expensive granite countertop that I didn't like and then I had the thought "God I hate that but it would be a shame to change it because I am sure it's an expensive granite and I wonder how much work & cost is involved with changing that?". And believe me, some of the houses I looked at had some WILD granite which was SO not my taste. The granite we put into our kitchen when we redid it is a pretty low key look, so I don't think anyone would find it "offensive".

With the cheaper Formica tops,I just thought "Take off the clips pick the thing up and toss it our the back door".

 

[WDWorBUST]

Has no one seen the new Formica 180X? It's beautiful and really has an appearance of granite.

 

[Disney Doll]

I did not catch that.

I am not a cool colors person so I am not really one to ask. It is a matter of your personal style here.

I would never go with grey DD. It is very hard to match grey with anything but blue. Already went down that road in house #2.
I had honey colored oak cabinets/grey formica. It was very hard to match or to switch to a warm color palate.

I would have done red or burgundy with that combo, stainless steel or balck appliances. Could have also done a deep navy or raspberry.