kitchen ideas/thoughts

[pumpkin]

Ok. In my head I have a few things I want to do to change my kitchen, like put in a backsplash, change the sink, and replace the counters.

However, I'm going to be replacing my fridge in the shorter term so realized I should figure out what my overall plan/scheme should be. (And I suck at this stuff)

I currently have white cabinets, which I'm fine with. The layout of the kitchen won't change and it's not work the $ to replace them all, etc. I'd like to get darker counters; gray or black.

So, I'm trying to decide what direction to go with appliances when it comes to color. Right now they are all white. In the end I'd like something Classic. I know I keep hearing that all-white kitchens will soon be out of date and whatnot, and that's not really what I'm going for, but also don't want to do things that will be dated soon.

Then again, part of my kitchen is painted yellow and I love it! lol
Hopefully I'm making sense and apologize for rambling. Pleas share your thoughts, suggestions, ideas.

And here's a pic from when I was cleaning to move in.

[rooster222]

How about slate colored appliances? I think those would look nice with a darker counter and then keep the backsplash light.

You may also want to consider a counter depth fridge. Some people complain that they are too small but we have one and it works for our family of four.

[mrsukyankee]

Unless you are planning on selling your house in the next few years, I wouldn't worry about what is 'in' or 'out'. Go with what you like. I like dark and white kitchens in any combination, along with silver appliances. But if you like white appliances, go with that!

[aprilsails]

If you don’t intend to replace your other appliances anytime soon then I would stick with white. In my opinion the only reason to replace an appliance is if it has well and truly broken or as part of a full kitchen renovation where it no longer suits. If you’re happy with your other appliances I would leave them as-is.

I like grey counters for your space. I did black at the last house and found them pretty stark and also a pain in the ass to keep clean. I also love grey and yellow together so you could keep your wall

[lessel]

I prefer stainless appliances. My two cents would be to do stainless appliances, stainless sink, dark gray countertops—some kind of quartz with a subtle texture, and put either stainless or black pulls on the drawers and cabinets.

Purely cosmetic recs though. If appliances are working and you don’t have the budget you don’t have to do all of the things at once.

[penguingrrl]

I like your cabinets a lot! But I’ve always been partial to white cabinets. I feel like white cabinets are generally timeless.

Personally, I would start moving towards stainless steel appliances as you need to replace them. I would also go counter depth with your fridge as I think it would fit better. I also find that deep fridges lead to more food waste for me as stuff gets lost in back then goes bad.

I have white cabinets with dark grey counters and love how it looks. When we moved in the dishwasher and stove were black. We’ve since replaced the stove as the oven died, and put in stainless. The dishwasher is old but fine, so those will mismatch until we need to replace the dishwasher and it doesn’t bother me at all. Our fridge is in a different room (old house fun), so doesn’t matter at all.

You could definitely do a fun tile backsplash with dark grey counters and it would look great!

My mother (who is an interior designer) did white cabinets with butcher block counters and it looks amazing! But the butcher block is fairly high maintenance, which wouldn’t work for me.

[pumpkin]

You guys are definitely voicing a lot of what is in my head.
And yeah, I'm not planning on replacing most of the appliances anytime soon, but for the fridge. It was here when I bought the place and I'm over it. I'm tired of fighting with it, the random freezing of food and for some reason I feel like no matter what I do I can't organize it.
I think I'd prefer a counter depth one, but am also afraid of how small it might be.... Though also want to make sure whatever I go with I can "match" as needed with the other appliances.

[pumpkin]

penguingrrl, can you tell me more about your dark gray counters? I get overwhelmed with all the options so always like tried and true recommendations. 😊

[penguingrrl]

Jan 26, 2020 12:44:19 GMT -5 pumpkin said:

penguingrrl, can you tell me more about your dark gray counters? I get overwhelmed with all the options so always like tried and true recommendations. 😊

I know very little as they were here when we bought the house. They’re laminate, not granite, but dark grey and speckled to look like granite. I love the look, the laminate itself isn’t holding up well.

[woowoo]

Not sure how set you are on black counters, but I've had black granite counters three times now and I hate them with the fire of ten thousand suns.....

I know that's not what you were asking.

I don't mind white appliances, but they wouldn't be MY first choice. However, I would definitely do what you prefer, especially if buying a white fridge allows you to keep your other appliances (ie: definitely don't do mixed colors).

[penguingrrl]

Jan 26, 2020 12:42:30 GMT -5 pumpkin said:

You guys are definitely voicing a lot of what is in my head.
And yeah, I'm not planning on replacing most of the appliances anytime soon, but for the fridge. It was here when I bought the place and I'm over it. I'm tired of fighting with it, the random freezing of food and for some reason I feel like no matter what I do I can't organize it.
I think I'd prefer a counter depth one, but am also afraid of how small it might be.... Though also want to make sure whatever I go with I can "match" as needed with the other appliances.

Are you referring to making sure you can get the same brand in a counter depth fridge, a stove, and a dishwasher? If so, I wouldn't work towards that specifically, to be honest. Different brands do a better job with different appliances, and matched sets may not do what you want functionally. As I said upthread, my mother is an interior designer. Pretty much none of her clients does matched sets for appliances because they generally want the best for each thing within their price range (which varies anywhere from $3K for all three pieces to upwards of $40K).

I went with a GE range because the appliance guy my mom works with swears by them for ranges in the price range I was looking at (and a year in OMG I love it so very much). When it's time for a dishwasher I plan to do a Bosch 800 because that's what my mom has and it's fabulous (cleans the dishes really well, better than any other dishwasher I've ever seen, efficient to load, and absolutely silent while running). The Bosch stove was out of my price range, and the GE dishwasher does not come recommended by my mom's appliance guy, so I generally go not matched to get the best function.

[Deleted]

Personally I would do a stainless fridge, counter depth if you can. I'd replace your door and drawer pulls with something more modern, it's an easy and inexpensive update. Personally, I would not do black countertops, I'm just not a fan. I would think that a nice grey would be very complimentary to your white cabinets and new stainless fridge. I might also consider white counters with a lot of veining and then do a grey tile for your backsplash. I wouldn't do a subway tile because it seems like they are everywhere these days and would instead consider something like an elongated hexagon, tons of pictures here www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GCEV_enUS884US884&biw=1536&bih=754&tbm=isch&sxsrf=ACYBGNTjdCXkIVz4UfvpV3SWUafV5ui16w%3A1580314563302&sa=1&ei=w68xXvKBEuzL5gLio6jQCA&q=grey+elongated+hexagon+backsplash+kitchen&oq=grey+elongated+hexagon+backsplash+kitchen&gs_l=img.3...24819.26696..26937...0.0..0.101.1165.10j2......0....1..gws-wiz-img.......35i39.wC4BgFKvfzY&ved=0ahUKEwiy77bBmqnnAhXspVkKHeIRCooQ4dUDCAc&uact=5



As for matching applicances, I think that they only thing you need to worry about is whether or not you want them all stainless or white, I wouldn't worry about the brands, because truth be told, you'll be much better off selecting an appliance based on its ratings instead of the manufacturer.