S/O Kitchens-- Now with a ML challenge to design our reno!

[sugarbear]

I wrote about our renovation plans in the kitchen thread. We're taking 90% of our first floor down to studs, opening everything up, moving our entry way, and re-doing the entire kitchen.

Do we need to hire a decorator? Our contractor flips houses and I know that when the time comes, he'll have good advice about colors, etc.

I think we've decided that we really want darker hardwood floors, navy kitchen cabinets, light gray walls, and butcher block counters.

How do we feel about navy and gray? We are debating between white subway tile backsplash and tin (like jenny1980's).

Anyone care to share an opinion?

Better yet-- here's a challenge:
We need:
cabinet (color or stain)
backsplash
flooring
wall color (kitchen, dining, living, all open)

AND you have ~$7k to spend on
dining table that expands to seat 8-10, 6 chairs
rug (8 x 10)
couch
bar stools for the island that MUST have a back.

[Deleted]

I'd say hire a designer (even an e-designer) to do some rough creative for you. Your contractor might have amazing taste but not get the vibe you are going for! It's a big job and a lot of money and I think a little guidance is a good insurance policy you'll love it.

[shopgirl07]

I think it's worth hiring a kitchen designer. There might be a design person where you get your cabinets. I personally wouldn't do navy cabinets but I don't think they're awful.

[kermit]

I wouldn't just because I pretty much know what I like and can picture how it will look. Walls are easy to repaint if you decide you don't like the color. I think navy cabinets sound really cool but I would wonder if I'd still like them in 10 years.

[pagas]

Dark hardwoods are a bitch to keep clean.

I wouldn't hire a designer, but I feel like I am competent enough to design a kitchen.

[pagas]

Jan 9, 2015 11:51:07 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

Jan 9, 2015 11:49:19 GMT -5 pagas said:

Dark hardwoods are a bitch to keep clean.

I wouldn't hire a designer, but I feel like I am competent enough to design a kitchen.

People always say this but I haven't found it to be true. Ours aren't *super* dark, but they definitely have a dark stain and I think our old house (natural red oak) showed dirt/water/etc. more. 

My main issue is cat fur, but ours are super dark.  And I never feel like they are clean.

[Deleted]

Jan 9, 2015 11:51:07 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

Jan 9, 2015 11:49:19 GMT -5 pagas said:

Dark hardwoods are a bitch to keep clean.

I wouldn't hire a designer, but I feel like I am competent enough to design a kitchen.

People always say this but I haven't found it to be true. Ours aren't *super* dark, but they definitely have a dark stain and I think our old house (natural red oak) showed dirt/water/etc. more. 

Ours are almost black and it is a nightmare. Never again.

[UnderProtest]

Jan 9, 2015 11:47:10 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

I will say that the tin works really well in the kitchen because it shows like, zero dirt. I love subway tile and we have it in both our bathrooms but it also makes me rage every time I am in the shower because the grout is all discolored no matter how much I scrub it. So, if you go tile, I would strongly recommend a dark (grey would look awesome with your walls) grout over light.

You know you can stain grout?  We had grout in our old house that was formerly white which was stained and yellowed and looked completely awful.  We had it stained a dark gray and it was SO much better.

And to the OP, I would hire at least a kitchen designer to help with the layout of the kitchen.  That isn't something to screw up and they should be much more experienced in getting the right configuration.  I would have to see some example pictures of the gray and navy before making any judgements.

[sugarbear]

Jan 9, 2015 11:48:06 GMT -5 oceanspray said:

Also if you ever plan to move people might not want to buy a house with navy cabinets. (I know it seems like such a little thing but it could happen).

We've debated this, too. I just really like painted cabinets, and we can't agree on a stain if we leave them wood. LOL. 

We are never moving.

We bought this house in the city limits for a fraction of what the other houses on our street cost. Houses within one block of us go for $1m... and ours did not. We bought four years ago. Our location is awesome and we have a huge yard. The house, itself, kind of sucks. LOL. BUT, we renovated the basement two years ago, adding a bath, laundry room, play room, and bedroom. We're gutting the upstairs (except the horrible bathroom) now, and we'll lose a bedroom. We have plans to go up in five years or so.

The point is, even with the $100k-ish that we've put into the house, we would never be able to move and buy the same lot in the same neighborhood. That, and our neighbors have pretty much adopted my kids as their own grandchildren, which is great in so many ways.

[Deleted]

Jan 9, 2015 11:47:10 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

I will say that the tin works really well in the kitchen because it shows like, zero dirt. I love subway tile and we have it in both our bathrooms but it also makes me rage every time I am in the shower because the grout is all discolored no matter how much I scrub it. So, if you go tile, I would strongly recommend a dark (grey would look awesome with your walls) grout over light.

Have you tried making a paste out of oxyclean and leaving it on for an hour or so? I find that helps tremendously.

[pagas]

Jan 9, 2015 11:54:02 GMT -5 @holly said:

Jan 9, 2015 11:47:10 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

I will say that the tin works really well in the kitchen because it shows like, zero dirt. I love subway tile and we have it in both our bathrooms but it also makes me rage every time I am in the shower because the grout is all discolored no matter how much I scrub it. So, if you go tile, I would strongly recommend a dark (grey would look awesome with your walls) grout over light.

Have you tried making a paste out of oxyclean and leaving it on for an hour or so? I find that helps tremendously.

Tell me more...I have white marble floors in our bath and the white grout AND tile is disgusting.  What ratio for the paste?  

[sugarbear]

Jan 9, 2015 11:49:19 GMT -5 pagas said:

Dark hardwoods are a bitch to keep clean.

I wouldn't hire a designer, but I feel like I am competent enough to design a kitchen.

I am not. 
Want to design ours? Our house is character-less. We like pops of color and hate blond stains.

Here's what we need:
cabinet color
wall color-- kitchen, dining, living, all open concept
backsplash
floors

AND, bonus, you have $7k to spend on:
rug (8 x 10)
couch and accent pillows
dining table (with expansion) and 6 chairs
island bar stools

[sugarbear]

Jan 9, 2015 11:56:41 GMT -5 oceanspray said:

Oh well if you're not moving I say go for it. Or maybe do a navy island and white cabinets on the wall? Might keep the room looking a little bigger. I get nervous with such permanent decisions

Or navy lowers and white uppers? But then what do to with the one floor-to-ceiling cabinet we've planned?

[Deleted]

Jan 9, 2015 11:55:40 GMT -5 pagas said:

Jan 9, 2015 11:54:02 GMT -5 @holly said:

Have you tried making a paste out of oxyclean and leaving it on for an hour or so? I find that helps tremendously.

Tell me more...I have white marble floors in our bath and the white grout AND tile is disgusting.  What ratio for the paste?  

I haven't tried it on marble so do a patch test to make sure it won't etch it, but i usually just mix a couple drops of water at time until a little bowl of oxyclean feels the same consistency as wet cement or grout and then apply it to the grout lines for an hour or so. I come back and spray it all with a misting bottle to keep it wet and use a little brush or tooth brush to give it a little cleaning and then rinse!

[Deleted]

Jan 9, 2015 11:59:11 GMT -5 sugarbear said:

Jan 9, 2015 11:56:41 GMT -5 oceanspray said:

Oh well if you're not moving I say go for it. Or maybe do a navy island and white cabinets on the wall? Might keep the room looking a little bigger. I get nervous with such permanent decisions

Or navy lowers and white uppers? But then what do to with the one floor-to-ceiling cabinet we've planned?

If it's a forever kitchen I wouldn't do different color on upper and lowers, instead do the island or freestanding cabinets in a different color. I just don't know if mixed uppers and lowers are a long term look.

[sugarbear]

Jan 9, 2015 12:00:12 GMT -5 oceanspray said:

Jan 9, 2015 11:59:11 GMT -5 sugarbear said:

Or navy lowers and white uppers? But then what do to with the one floor-to-ceiling cabinet we've planned?

I think you could go either way on that one.  Maybe fade from white to navy?  That might be silly LOL.

Ombre kitchen?

[sugarbear]

Re: the kitchen designer--
we had plans drawn up by an architect / interior design firm when we did the reno of our basement, but since we had to basically rebuild the side of our house, we ran out of money. So we know (and like) the exact structure and placement of the cabinets, but haven't decided colors. And we don't want to go back to that guy because he's expensive and we weren't terribly happy with his management of the basement job.

[UnderProtest]

Jan 9, 2015 12:17:16 GMT -5 jenny1980 said:

I will try the oxi tip! I have tried a ton of different (well rated) grout products and they all suck.

UnderProtest: did you guys stain it yourselves or hire someone to do it? How much was it? We may have to add that to our summer house jobs.

We had someone do it, but it was one project that we might have been able to handle ourselves.  It was just rubbing this paint stuff into the grout and then wiping it off the tile.  I ended up touching up some spots myself and other than being somewhat time consuming (and dull), it wasn't hard.  I don't remember it being expensive but it was years ago.

It was something like this.  
www.tiledoctor.co.uk/groutColourant.html

[pagas]

Jan 9, 2015 11:59:19 GMT -5 @holly said:

Jan 9, 2015 11:55:40 GMT -5 pagas said:

Tell me more...I have white marble floors in our bath and the white grout AND tile is disgusting.  What ratio for the paste?  

I haven't tried it on marble so do a patch test to make sure it won't etch it, but i usually just mix a couple drops of water at time until a little bowl of oxyclean feels the same consistency as wet cement or grout and then apply it to the grout lines for an hour or so. I come back and spray it all with a misting bottle to keep it wet and use a little brush or tooth brush to give it a little cleaning and then rinse!

Patch test in progress. Thanks!

[aprilsails]

We redid our entire first floor last year, and while I can play internet shopper for you, it is really important to bring the elements together in the lighting in your home to verify the colours. This is where a decorator or a local person with a good eye can make all the difference. Otherwise it takes a lot of trial and error and sample collection. I felt like I spent 5 months of my life shopping.

DH and I had picked out our cabinets (painted IKEA white), floor tile, granite countertop, wall paint, hardwood, backsplash and hardware and thought it all looked perfect together. When we brought it to MIL's house to discuss the floor tile turned green in her lighting. At my Mom's house the backsplash tile became an off-yellow. We wound up changing the floor tile selection since it blended into the stainless steel stove since they were the same tone of gray. We then scrapped all backsplash tile selection and have been living without it. We finally got some samples in from Italy last month and our tile order should be in next week. It's ok since we are 100% confident with our choice now.

Also - if you want lighting design let me know - I can give you suggestions based on your floorplan. I'm an electrical engineer and do commercial lighting for work.

[pagas]

What are your inspiration pics?

Here is a cool blue cabinets with butcher block counters look:

[aprilsails]

I also want to see how much natural light you have in the space and which direction it faces. Our living/dining/kitchen only has North facing windows. As a result, we went with all-white kitchen cabinets and light tiling to offset the dark hardwood (ash grey stain on walnut) and dark gray granite countertops and stainless steel appliances.

Initially I was put off by the fact that the Ikea white cabinets are not a true cool white but are actually slightly off white (they aren't cream though). Northern exposure provides a blue quality to the room, so we actually painted the walls a slightly warm light gray and it has all come together beautifully. You would never say the room was warm coloured during the day.

I am a fan of super neutrals.

[sugarbear]

Jan 9, 2015 13:09:01 GMT -5 pagas said:

What are your inspiration pics?

Here is a cool blue cabinets with butcher block counters look:

I love this.

aprilsails, our kitchen window is west facing. It's hard to say how much light we'll have. The space itself isn't huge, and we are both making some windows bigger and taking down a giant tree in our front yard. I'm re-thinking the navy...

Here is a model of the proposed plan, but it doesn't show windows. Windows are facing the kitchen, over the sink, and along the north-facing (left side) wall.
Attachment Deleted
(the long vertical wall won't actually be there-- it's a structural beam)

And here are the colors I like:Attachment Deleted

[pagas]

Jan 9, 2015 11:59:19 GMT -5 @holly said:

Jan 9, 2015 11:55:40 GMT -5 pagas said:

Tell me more...I have white marble floors in our bath and the white grout AND tile is disgusting.  What ratio for the paste?  

I haven't tried it on marble so do a patch test to make sure it won't etch it, but i usually just mix a couple drops of water at time until a little bowl of oxyclean feels the same consistency as wet cement or grout and then apply it to the grout lines for an hour or so. I come back and spray it all with a misting bottle to keep it wet and use a little brush or tooth brush to give it a little cleaning and then rinse!

It was so-so, it got it cleaned, but I still really had to scrub. I  think there is just not an easy way to clean grout.  And I am lazy and do it once a decade...

[aprilsails]

I was having a hard time visualizing a navy kitchen, so I went a-googling.

Here's a navy island with all white otherwise:



Here is white uppers and navy lowers.  I like the colour of the butcher block:



I like the navy in this one. I also like the tone of the wood floors.  It gives the impression of darkness without actually being dark:



sugarbear - are you upper cabinets likely to be windowed or solid?  I feel like all navy along the top generally looks dark, but if it is broken up by several windowed cabinets then it can look much brighter.  Also, windowed cabinets can be frosted if you are worried about seeing through.

[sugarbear]

aprilsails, I don't like the look of windowed because it just seems messy to me. But I hadn't thought of doing clouded fronts.

I love the picture you posted, of the navy island.

[sugarbear]

Jan 9, 2015 18:05:01 GMT -5 intentionalsnarkshark said:

<--- drafter with an interior design degree over here. Just sayin. (Will work for booze)[/quote.
I may or not have just done a fist pump in my classroom.