Need Renovation Ideas for a timeless Kitchen

[uromac]

Hi Everyone!!

After 20+ years in our home we have decided to do a complete renovation of our kitchen. FYI we now have the '80's pickled oak and I'm afraid of falling into the same trap of looking dated in the future. Full disclosure first I hate making decisions and always second guess myself and DH can make decisions without any regrets. Dh and I have come up with a floor plan with a kitchen designer with a dash of industrial look, so that is basically set. However, I think both of us are drawn to a transitional look, but all of a sudden I'm getting cold feet picking out the cabinets fearing I'll make a mistake. I don't want to look it to look like everyone else's kitchen but I want a timeless look this time. Now every time I look at a photo I like both stained cabinets as well as white painted. Also, we are not compulsively clean nuts so white scares me. We have a very large kitchen open to a great room with brazilian cherry flooring, so I'm leaning towards a tile/slate look flooring (perhaps in a pinwheel design?) and I love the look of soapstone - but tonight the designer was not a fan. Now I'm just dazed and confused and afraid to pull the trigger and make a commitment.

Finally, is there any must haves or things on your wish list to have appliance or 'cabinet' enhancements - besides recycling bins, e.g. warming tray, etc. Double ovens in the wall or a range with ovens underneath. As everyone knows here on this board this is quite an investment, so I'm asking everyone's help with ideas and emotional support !

Thanks in advance for everyone's help!!

 

[NotUrsula]

Unless you are renovating specifically with an eye to putting the house on the market, my advice is to go with your own tastes as to style, except that you want to go as low-maintenance as possible. You are the ones spending the money on it, and you should get what you feel good with living with.

Pickling was an odd fad, and short-lived, so it does have a special place in the annals of "dated". If you stick with stained wood cabinets in a style/wood that matches the period of the house, and stay away from "special" finishes -- you should be fine. (Note that certain woods "go" with certain architectural periods and always will, so if you don't feel equal to creating timeless, go with what fits. For instance, natural maple doesn't easily work in a Craftsman bungalow, but usually looks great in a mid-century ranch.) White always works, too; but white kitchens can be dated by their hardware and the style of the cabinet doors.

The issue with the soapstone could be the size of the kitchen; it is hard to get really large pieces, so it can require visible seams unless you design so as to break up the expanse of counter.

 

[DawnM]

Unfortunately, there is no such thing these days as a timeless look.

HGTV ruined that for everyone.

I am getting my kitchen redone and going with a slightly off-white even though that is NOT my style at all. I don't even really like the granite we picked, BUT we were told over and over again that OUR style was completely outdated (it may be about 5-7 years old).

We are selling, so I wanted to go with something that was more current and buyers would want.



Man I hope this house sells......and I am being picky about the kitchen in our new house as I DO NOT like white cabinets nor do I care for the cooler colors for granite (I much prefer warm tones.)

Dawn

 

[antmaril]

Honestly, I think everything becomes dated eventually. Ûnless you are planning to sell in the near future, I think you should choose what you like.

I highly recommend you check out gardenweb.com. That is a very active forum for people who are planning kitchen remodels. You can learn a lot from the folks who frequent that forum.

I recently moved into a condo and completely remodeled the kitchen. I chose white shaker cabinets and black pearl granite. I am pretty sure it is dated already, but I don't care -- I love it. I, too, was going for timeless, but I really don't think it is possible.

Good luck!

 

[Gracie09]

We redid the kitchen in our old house. We went with white because the space was kind of dark. We had the same wood floors that were in the rest of the house. Tin backsplash. Thing I miss from that kitchen
- the pull out spice rack
- the garbage/recycling area

 

[SGB13]

One thing I wish we had done in our now 2 year old house, would be more pull out drawers instead of cabinet doors for lower storage. It is much more accessible.
I do agree with the others, you live with it every day, find something that you love! Don't worry about what others think.

 

[mrsp1030]

If you have the space, I would go with a professional range and then a built wall oven/microwave combo. I like this look better than the cooktop. Also agree with PP that having drawers is a more functional approach and a great idea.

 

[Scootypuffjr]

Cabinet rollouts for the lower cabinets.

 

[MAJPLO]

Double wall oven is easier to use than under the range. My mom says drawers don't maximize the space but honestly if my stuff is difficult to get to in a cabinet then who cares how much space I have - I like my drawers. Walk in pantry if possible! Corner cabinet with lazy Susan style shelf. I hate my built in fridge and can't even imagine what we will do when it needs to be replaced. My kitchen was remodeled by the previous owner and there is no counter on the left side of the sink. I'm sure you won't make that mistake since you are using a designer. I like soapstone so that's disappointing that the designer wasn't a fan. What the pp said makes sense though about size. Have fun and good luck

 

[dpswift]

Cabinet rollouts for the lower cabinets.

This and the roll out shelves in the tall cabinets. We have a small kitchen so I ordered 2 tall cabinets. One with the pullout shelves and one without. I regret only getting the one pullout cabinet.

I did not get large drawers because I had them previously and did not find them convienent they just tended to collect junk.

We went with the cabinets that we liked. We are the ones living here.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I agree that everything eventually looks dated as styles change, and that you should go with what you like, otherwise you will have to live with your regrets for possibly the next twenty years. We were in our house the same amount of years before we finally did our kitchen renovation and I'm sure, like me, you've thought about it long and hard, lol. Stick with those instincts...

I have white cabinets in an active household, and I wipe them down occasionally but am not a slave to them by any means. If people wipe their hands as they're cooking, then you don't get splotches by the hardware. (Why I prefer to keep my trash bin out in the open as opposed to inside a cabinet, also, regardless of cabinet color.) The stains you do see mostly are spills on the lower cabinets from something that's leaked off the countertop, like coffee or something liquidy, and those clean up quickly. I think the color you choose for cabinets has a lot to do with the rest of the house. You didn't mention the style of your great room near the kitchen, but ideally these rooms should flow together nicely.

From your description, I LOVE the sound of slate and tile flooring as I think it would be a nice compliment to your cherry floors, seeing as there are a lot of nice brown and other tones in some of the slate choices. You would have a lot of fun picking out what you love.

I also like the sound of a slightly industrial look, it does sound sort of unique. I wouldn't worry too much about how and when it will be dated, just enjoy it now and I'm sure you can work around it later if you want to. Would love to see a pic of what you're thinking. (I'm also thinking white might not be the best choice for that ? maybe a gray-ish or something like that but you can pull all the colors together with your tile choices.)

As for the soapstone countertop, I think that is a very specific look, and IIR it is very porous and uneven, which makes it a not-so-great choice for countertops. I might try to find a similar look (if my instinct was to use it) but in a material that's better suited to countertops, like quartz. Be careful about being "too dark" in your choices, but remember that lighting plays a big part. One of the best things we did was put in undercabinet lighting. It looks beautful both during the day and at night, and lends a softness to the whole area.

 

[LauraLea]

Cabinet rollouts for the lower cabinets.

Skip the rollouts and go with lower cabinet drawers. Love my 36" wide drawers for storing both pots and pans and dishes.

Laura

 

[antmaril]

Skip the rollouts and go with lower cabinet drawers. Love my 36" wide drawers for storing both pots and pans and dishes.

Laura

I agree. My kitchen is small, so I only have one 18 inch stack of drawers and one 30 inch stack (for pots and pans) and I LOVE them. I do recommend roll-outs for the pantry, though. Very handy!

 

[BCV2003]

Definitely make sure you get slide outs for your bottom cabinets. I really thought I wanted some bottom drawers but we couldn't get them through our builder but thinking about it now, the sliders aren't as restrictive as I think the drawers would be.

We also went with 42" cabinets. I like the look of the tall cabinets. I can't reach the top shelves but they are great for those serving pieces that you only use 1-2 times a year.

 

[barkley]

all of my lower cabinets have pullouts-LOVE THEM. the funky little corner cabinet (where two other cabinets on separate walls meet) has a lazy susan that I use for smaller appliances I don't want on the counter.

I WISH my kitchen had a couple more outlets-esp. on the long counter (our kitchen is also open style into a "great room"). one of the best things the builder did (spec house so we had no voice in it) was on the back of the cabinets (under long counter so they face the great room). he put one door that's almost unnoticeable at the end near the sink. it's a great little nook for storing some cleaning supplies and a couple extra rolls of paper towels BUT the best part is it provides easy/close access to the pipes under the sink if there's an issue.

if you are going with tiled or slate flooring-consider a grout that is on the medium to dark side-that way if there are spills (like coffee in our home) you're not stuck with trying to get the grout lines cleaned (a friend purposely went w/ and espresso colored one so that her coffee spills didn't show).

 

[uromac]

Thanks everyone for your comments - please keep the thoughts and ideas coming!!

Spoke to my husband this morning, and I expressed my concerns - and I really want this to fit our lifestyle and needs and not just a beautiful kitchen. I want to listen to my inner voice that says take a little more time - but this is a big step for me emotionally as 1) really I'm a disorganized mess and fear someone in my home discovering this 2) Hate to make a mistake and this again is big investment 3) want this to be ours and not just doing it to be done with it and will be realistically be in our home another 5 -10 years.

Examples - there are pull outs in some of the cabinets but are there enough? Right now we have a cooktop on our kitchen island - now our stove/cooktop or whatever will face the wall - yet I'm used to cooking and talking/seeing things going on around the house, tv etc... not sure if I will like it even though in the design the cooking area against the wall makes a 'statement'. Friend has a faucet above her stove to fill her pots (she really doesn't cook but put it in anyway!) - does anyone have one of these? Also, I have in mind an image of a cabinet that opens up and stores all our counter appliances plugged in and can be pulled out for access - kitchen aid mixer, toaster, slow cooker, sou vide, pressure cooker/rice cooker, etc.. - does it exist is that too much to ask for or should they just be placed in a cabinet and pulled out (realistically I don't use every thing all the time) etc..

Have to call the designer today - and I'm nervous and procrastinating reading the disboards - So thanks again for all your support and help!!

 

[dlm1017]

Check out the site HOUZZ I have I on my IPad as an app. I love it you can see pictures of all rooms, you can create an idea book and save pictures also. I am totally addicted to this app.

 

[Pigeon]

I second the idea of looking at gardenweb.com. Many of the people there are very helpful. Many have a budget of eleven gazillion dollars, but some don't. It's a great place to get ideas.

I also agree that everything gets dated eventually and you are the one living there. I wouldn't do anything very unusual if I wasn't staying in the house forever, but you aren't going to please all potential buyers, so do what you want.

I have some lower drawers and I like them, but I'm not obsessed with them. I also deliberately put in a corner cabinet that isn't very easily accessible, but holds a ton of pots and pans that I only use occasionally. The kitchen designer tried to talk me into a lazy susan instead and I'm glad I stuck to my plan.

 

[KKB]

Unfortunately, there is no such thing these days as a timeless look.

HGTV ruined that for everyone.



Dawn

happytv:

It also ruined it for first time buyers--they all think their 1st home should be totally updated!!! We were all just happy to have a house that was our own!!

 

[KKB]

(well I have...not sure about DH)

15 year old home. Medium oak woodwork/cabinets. Thinking of just restaining them cherry or dark brown (fairly classic style). Anyone know a ballpark figure on that?

My mom said her neighbor did granite for $3K, about size of our kitchen, I felt that was very reasonable.

My concern is that we will be moving out of state (to a WARM climate) in 8 years or so (retire at 56). If I remodel now do I just need to remodel again??!! (THANKS HGTV!!) As much as I'd like to enjoy new, I don't terribly mind what I have...thinking of waiting a few years so it doesn't get dated...

BTW had white woodwork (coated) in our last house. LOVED IT. MISS IT. Much easier to keep clean than wood--it was easier to see & since it was a coating, it just wiped right off. And I love the look of contrasting walls/floors to white woodwork. Next house!