One little picture, ten ginormous ideas for you!
- Bold Colors On Bottom – If you decide to paint your cabinets with some bold, bright colors, try painting the upper cabinets and large components like oven cabinets white. The contrast will make the colored cabinets look even better, and it will keep the color from overpowering your space.
- Integrate The Dishwasher – You do see the dishwasher, right? It’s just there to the right of the sink. Many of today’s dishwashers have the controls at the top of the door so the front can be covered with a matching cabinetry panel.
- V-Joint Ceiling – A picture is worth a thousand words… just look how nice it looks.
- Smaller Light Fixtures – I’ve noticed a trend in the best looking kitchen photos around. The use of multiple, smaller, surface mount fixtures is definitely the in thing to do. No big single fixture, and I’m seeing zero recessed lighting anymore.
- Tall Windows Above The Sink – I really love the effect of having windows that go all-the-way from just above the sink almost to the ceiling. We have this in our kitchen and it looks great. I love the way these are trimmed, too. I’m assuming that there is another single window to the left of the sink out of the shot, otherwise somebody needs to notify the Deparment of Homeland Symmetry.
- Simple Crown – Can you call a square board crown molding? Yes, you can! Check out that crown at the top of the cabinets. The square lines and flat panels in this kitchen make it work!
- Solid Black Counters – It works in this kitchen, though I’m not sure if I’d like it. If I did go with solid black, I’m sure I would want to use a honed finish.
- Stainless Appliances – Julia at Hooked On Houses asked awhile back if stainless was on the way out. I said I thought so, but I wonder what else would have looked good here? Any ideas? I’d like to hear what other color you think would have worked.
- Exposed Hardware – These cabinets are made where the doors are flush with the face-frame, generally a higher-end style due to the need for absolutely square cabinet boxes. It allows the use in this case of a really pretty type of exposed hinge. Similar looks are available for other door/frame styles and it might be a nice change from seeing no hardware at all.
- Glass at Top – I love glass cabinet doors and I think using them up-high, close to the ceiling for things you don’t use that often (but are pretty) is a great idea. It’s functional and it looks great!
So what do you think? Did I miss anything you would want to incorporate into your kitchen? Did I leave you hanging with some questions? Let me know in the comments!
I have a foolproof new system for keeping track of pictures I love. It’s supposed to make sure I never forget where they came from… hmmph. Not. If this picture is yours, please let me know so I can give you proper credit.
Great post! I am still in the planning stage for our kitchen redo so this was SO timely. I may have to think about colored bottom cabinets with white uppers. I’ve heard kids and white cabinets can be a bad mix. Hmm. Re the ceiling. We have textured ceilings throughout the house and it is not in the budget to change them all out right now. I like the look of beadboard/plank but how does that work with installing new lighting and cabinets? How do you put it up over a bumpy ceiling and How do we plan for the new lighting and cabinets which will go all the way up? Do we remove the ceiling fan and ugly light fixtures and just cover over everything and live in the dark until we get the rest in? Any ideas?
.-= Marjorie´s last blog ..Week 4: Reality Check – Venting issues =-.
Hi Marjorie –
One of the great things about wood ceilings is that they make installation of fixtures a breeze, especially heavy fixtures like fans. It’s really just a matter of running the wire wear you want it up in the attic and drilling through the wood. You should check with an electrician, but my thought is that it is n o problem to go ahead and run your ceiling wood with the plans to install lighting at your chosen locations later. Sometimes, in a situation where the project will be unfinished for awhile, we just install a temporary fixture for light.
You can go right over most textures with a solid wood ceiling. No scraping or any other prep required. (usually)
That’s a beautiful kitchen and you mentioned a lot of the best things. I love the look of the dark countertops with white cabinets. You might be right about the honed finish though. The only thing I would add is how beautifully the darker floors, table and chairs and woven blinds play off everything else. That floor grounds the whole room and repeating the color/texture elsewhere works great. What is your opinion on that type of sink?
@Vicki, I love a farm sink! The first time I installed one, I wasn’t so sure, but it looked great in a kitchen with beadboard doors. (very hard to find at that time) I’d love one. Seems easy to clean and more durable too.
Love this kitchen. And I personally love SS. I cannot see white appliances in this kitchen or black frankly. I’ve had white appliances and while they look good for a short while, they still yellow with age and after a while the cooking area gets stained with, well, cooking. Love the lights. Love the two colors of cabinetry. I want to do that, just cannot settle on a color for the bottom. I just know something must be done about the 80’s orangey oak. One thing is odd, I notice the pendant is not over the sink, and that would bug my ever loving symmetrical self.
.-= Susan´s last blog ..Sweet Shot =-.
@Susan, Hi Susan! You know I looked at that and couldn’t figure out what it really was! I can see the globe now that you mention it being a pendant, but the other stuff is beyond me. I totally agree with you on the location though!
Hey Tim,
Just wanted to let you know I found some help on that Coat Hanger Shelf and posted pics today. I LOVE it!
Thanks for the inspiration and help!
k.
.-= Kristen – Pajama Mama´s last blog ..Before and After: Our Entryway Mudroom =-.
@Kristen – Pajama Mama, Wow! I just came back from your blog and that shelf looks fantastic! So cool to see finished pictures! Thanks for letting me know!
Oh if only I could move in to this kitchen? Do you think it comes with a butler? lol. All great suggestions though, seriously.
.-= Tricia´s last blog ..Sweet Shot Day Reminder =-.
Love the picture and love the tips…noticed the ‘fine print’ at the bottom. I have a solution for you…try OneNote (usually comes bundled with Microsoft Office) if you have windows you probably have it. It is like a virtual, searchable notebook where you can have as many tabs/sections as you want. Best part? When you copy and paste something (as in a picture) into it it automatically pastes the web address too (as a hyperlink to boot!) woo hoo! It has saved me PLENTY of times when I remember the photo but not where it came from! 🙂 Plus I can search any words I put in so if I like a picture I just type a few descriptive words next to it and when I want to find it again I just search those words! 🙂
.-= Kristi @ Creative Kristi´s last blog ..Draft Stopper =-.
@Kristi @ Creative Kristi, Thanks for the tip, I’ll try it!
I have a weird question… am I suppose to be able to hang pictures with magnets on my stainless steel appliances? (‘Cause I can’t!) Are they fakes? (We just bought the house!)
.-= Carol H.´s last blog ..Our March 2010 Rotation: In the Garden of Gethsemane =-.
@Carol H., Hello… Well, I’m no metallurgist, but what I think I know is that most stainless steel used in appliances will not hold magnets. I don’t think it’s uncommon at all and it doesn’t mean that you have poor quality. Many fridges that have stainless on the front have a magnetic surface on the sides for just this purpose. Not much else to help that one, sorry!
What a great kitchen! And I like how you took us through the details because it made me stop and pay attention to them. Love the ceiling!
.-= Julia @ Hooked on Houses´s last blog ..5 Reasons Why I’d Make a Lousy Real Estate Agent =-.
We are going to put beadboard on our kitchen ceiling – now I see it’s shown in many decorating magazines (your blog, etc.) Love the look!
Contractor Support also is very about making sure that we were happy with the quality of their work. About a week after they were done it we discovered that one whole wall had not been properly primed and needed to be redone. The guys from Contractor Support were down there the next day to redo the work–no hassles and no extra charge. contractorsupportonline
I will agree with going with honed granite if you are considering black granite. It really creates a friendly aged look.
Love the ceiling lights too!
AK.
Great post! Yes, I think recessed lights are on their way out.
AK
I love this kitchen-we are knee deep in remodeling our kitchen ourselves and on a strict budget. I just bought some paint today to try out a color for my cabinets and one of the things I am considering is a darker color for the lower cabinets and a lighter one on top.
And-we recently had our ceiling raised and redone and removed all the recessed lighting. Now if only I could remove the rest of it throughout the house!
How wide are the boards on the ceiling?
Hi! I like the pointers that you gave. I have a question though.
We are planning on remodeling our kitchen in May 2013 and are fairly set on installing shaker style black/brown lowers and pecan colored upper cabinets with Kashmir White granite. I fell in love with a Moroccan style light blue tile (found the pic on pinterest) but am unsure how it will look with everything going on.
My love is currently deployed so we’re doing the bulk of this via email. He doesn’t really care and tends to go towards the more traditional side of style while I’m on the simple, yet want pops of something unique, side.
Any advice???
I definitely agree that tall windows above the sink can bring an entirely new look to a kitchen. The feeling of space and natural lighting that this could bring to a kitchen makes me think that this is an idea I should use for my own remodeling project so we won’t feel like we’re caged in or cramped whenever we do cooking or dish work. I’ll keep this in mind so that I can relay these ideas to any kitchen remodeling service I manage to hire.