We’re getting close to ordering cabinets! Honestly this is scarier than tearing out the wall, because once the cabinets are built, there’s no take-backs… You get what you order, and you make it work! We’ve taken a few sets of measurements, ordered wood samples from the cabinet company, narrowed down a door style (Shaker), continued to debate the size of the fridge, done a little consulting on possible floor shades (the floor is maple), and plotted out organization of food/utensils/etc.
Today we went to a showroom to look at countertops with samples in hand of our two top choices for cabinet wood (red oak and cherry, clearcoat finish either way). It’s much easier to match a counter to a cabinet than the other way around, so it’s not like we have to know now, but it was nice to see which tones went well together for the different woods. We’re now leaning toward the cherry.
The general plan is to do white counters, probably quartz composite. The trend of kitchen choices so far is that Sara keeps leaning toward as little texture as possible while Alex keeps preferring more texture, so together we probably hit a good balance.
The larger color plan (subject to change) is:
- maple floor (hopefully a more natural finish than the gold color it has currently, but we can work with that too)
- light wood cabinets with a reddish tint (thus the red oak or cherry choices; either complements the dining room floor nearby, which is oak with an old-fashioned orange-ish finish, while also contrasting with the maple)
- white counters (“white” is open to interpretation here)
- white backsplash (maybe classic subway tile? we’ll have to negotiate our texture/no texture compromise here too)
- blue accent wall on the window side (Sara wants to be a color nerd and paint it Pantone’s color of the year, Classic Blue. This is why the accent color will be done in paint, which is easily reversible!)
- stainless steel appliances (we’re not actually huge fans of the stainless trend, but it was the only color option for Sara’s stove of choice—already purchased earlier on sale—and no one was going to argue about compromise when it came to the stove)
The hope is that this plan will result in a classic, practical, homey kitchen. Sara may have started this project with dreams of airy Danish magazine kitchens, it’s true, but in reality it’s a small kitchen in an old, small (American) house, and the overall effect will be better if we stay true to the house. (The mustard paint and bright green linoleum can stay in the past, though.) Now to finish knocking down the plaster (ugh—look for that post soon) so we can finally stop tearing out old things and start putting in new things!