I honestly drooled when I saw your mood board. Love it all, and really love the table with your other choices. If, in your heart of hearts, you feel something is "off", pay attention to that. If not, I say go for it!! Remember, it's your house & only you & your family live there! Keep posting progress pics, please!

I suggested the Maine artisan shell plates, I never noticed the price.

Still catching up on all these threads. I am not in love with your table, but that said, it is because it wouldn't be MY choice. However, if think ineffable said it best. For you and your vacation home and your setting and desires, I think it will work beautifully. I did not notice the casters, so it does make it 'better', and the fact your DH will be a part of finishing it will make it special. Love the eclectic look you are putting together.

Love the anthro dishes (I typed "fishes" first.. I guess both work! LOL).

Of course it will take years to get just the right look and feel but your work now will provide a great foundation. My point is not to stop working towards your vision but rather to avoid too much stress over one single element. Your look will come together because you do have a vision. I've missed so many of your threads but I've loved the evolution.. and you've had so many delightful finds. The sink and glass you shared in the third-floor plan are awesome.. just love how you are inventing this house. It has a new life ahead!

Along the way to your vacation home's completion, i expect there will be many finds and some "drops," but the fact that your husband is participating in the construction of the table is going to be a big part of your kitchen and the heart of it, a piece for posterity. I expect it will become the conversation, if not its star.

Thank you for being gracious enough to share this journey with us and forgive us if we are a bit critical, at times, of those things which we will not pay for nor live with, but all meant in a good spirit of lending an eye.

By all means, go for it all, if you are inclined. Budget isn't my consideration either.. Impetuousness is my question.

I adore those octopus plates! What fun.

Maybe its just me, but I never liked skirts of any kind in the kitchen - whether on cabinets or sinks. I like the utilitarian esthetic and don't see stainless steel pipes as being all that unsightly (actually I believe they can be obtained in chrome which would be even nicer). And the open space makes for a lighter less heavy appearance- could use baskets or interesting or antique containers underneath for storage or recycling bin or whatever. What about getting/finding/improvising porcelain legs on the sink.

Kashka_kat, Ahh, but, by contrast, I have ALWAYS wanted a skirted sink, but somehow only think its okay in a vacation home. Apart from that aesthetic preference is the fact that I plan to have storage built underneath it, for cleaning products, etc.

Mlweaving, thanks!

Golddust, surely there is some middle ground between impatient (guilty) and impetuous (I've been bandying about these same ideas since September). At least if you think its impetuous it means you aren't thinking, "oh here she is again with that darned kitchen project!"

Patricia, all take in the spirit given! I think I am lucky to have found people who care enough about it to even have an opinion!

Thanks, Funky, Lizzie, and OutsidePlaying

eandhl, LOL, it was you!? I love them. I briefly considered them. But of course they would also look all wrong in a platerack. And some how eating off those plates when we have shellfish allergies seems I dunno, like bad Feng Shui or something!

did you consider cork flooring? It's available in some colors, and can be done in patterns. Just a thought..
an example from Houzz

[

[Traditional Kitchen[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/traditional-kitchen-ideas-phbr1-bp~t_709~s_2107) by Philadelphia Architects & Designers Kass & Associates

I love Cork, but I wanted a sort of 30s/40s feel and always wanted to use Marmoleum. I have cork here in CT in our craft room. Thanks for the idea, though!

I saw this picture on Crate and Barrel and thought of this thread. Have you considered three shades of flooring? :)

I thought I had posted Sunday morning, but apparently needed much more coffee than I realized, so here it goes again.
I love the table with the wooden casters. It has a great shape and the casters are a playful and fun nod to oak clunky farmhouse tables with teensy casters.
The unfitted fixtures and that amazing stove and skirted sink say to me, this house has been in our family forever. The new furniture, and the fun wallpaper say it is time for fun, family and relaxation in this grand old beach house.
I think its a charming mix of vintage and playful. I love all of your choices. Good job.

Mtn, this is hard to say without offending especially when you have so many people here that are willing to encourage you with your current design ideas but this kitchen is a bit of a frantic mess. I know you want a more fun and eclectic feel that moves away from your calmer, more simple first house but this is just not feeling like a cohesive design. Maybe you should hire someone who specializes in the more layered design. The time layered, but a little bit funky or still young feeling look that you are going for is hard to get right without being way too try hard.

Mtn, have you seen F&B Cooking Apple Green? I love it! But it seems as though you are leaning more towards blue or grey? Another new F & B color that I think quite lovely is Stiffkey Blue.

I really love the direction that you are taking your vacation home. It is going to be fun and cozy!

Hi Holly, I do love both of those colors, but I am thinking of a grey similar to the Marmoleum. BM color capture says it is Cape May Cobblestone .. we will see!

Thanks, Cooper, that is exactly what I am trying to achieve.

AthomeinVA, No worries, I rarely take offense at anything anyone says, as I assume good intentions. I totally agree that eclectic, layered and quirky are sort of the Olympics of decor. Really hard to get right. However, I am adamant against hiring someone. I have been uniformly, and deeply disappointed with my experiences with decorators. Even looking through shelter magazines, I find most rooms pretty uninteresting and amateurish. So the odds that I would find someone who does work I really like are small. Moreover, the decorators i have worked with are totally tone deaf about value. Partly due to their business model, partly due to their level of appreciation for the best, they routinely suggest things that are many times more expensive then need be. It feels a little sickening to me.

If I were trying to create the One True Kitchen, I know exactly what I would need to do to get a 98% "ooh and ahh" rating from this board. But for projects like mine, with a stated quirkiness goal, I think by definition "quirk" will leave a lot of people shaking their heads, muttering "hot mess". That is a given, and it's okay with me.

Moreover, my DH keeps telling me not to worry about making a mistake, especially with decor. If I make an unconventional choice and it falls flat, I will change it. In the end I bet it will cost a lot less then a designer, plus we (my whole family) has fun doing it.

All that said, I'd love to hear what elements you think do or don't work if you want to share more of your opinions? Or any insight as to how to get this look?

Thanks!

Everything, except the table, is a wonderfully eclectic mix, IMHO. I like the table Suero mocked up with the rest of your collection.

Eclectic decor is never going to please everyone but that's what it's all about, it's very personal and only has to please the people who live in the house.

I've always been attracted to eclectic style but don't always like eclectic rooms by well known designers. I'm sure that's because they were designed primarily to appeal to the people who paid the designer and not designed for *my* personal satisfaction.

This is why eclectic style is really difficult for any of us to critique. I think it's OK to say that "in my opinion" a certain element doesn't work with the mix, but not to say the entire plan doesn't work.

I love the eclectic mix I have in my house but don't expect anyone else to like it. Probably the reason not too many of us who decorate in this style post pics on forums.

What does your fridge look like? Is it a Smeg? Because, so pretty.

I understand where you are coming from and I am glad that you do not just think I am some rude btch, at least hopefully! I hate typing long replies especially when I am not sure how to put my thoughts out there and even what my thoughts are exactly so please excuse the mess that is to follow.
I have looked at many different aspects of your idea individually and some aspects combined to try to understand what gets to me, and just to be clear I am not awe struck and always searching for another OTK, I tend to like quirky rather than trendy. Looking separately at the unique ideas within your kitchen I like them all but combined it is maybe too much. When I look at kitchens with skirted sinks the surrounding cabinetry is either more typical and plain or there are other areas that are skirted too. Having the skirt, then the cab with the look of tons of drawers, then the fancy range, and then the open console is distracting in some way. Maybe if the open console had a skirted bottom too it would work better? Or if it and the surrounding cabinets were more simple. Then, you have a beautiful wood cabinet with glass, a checkerboard floor, woven chairs, white doors with wood trim, it is a lot going on! Simplifying your idea by eliminating a few items may make for a much nicer space that can have some quirky elements added back in, like some interesting china displayed in the cabinet. I do not think that you have to make a completely typical kitchen, just maybe not so much happening at once.
In trying to think of an eclectic kitchen with a similar vibe John Loecke and Jason Oliver Nixon came to mind but their kitchen is actually very tame compared to the most of their designs. They did a very nice job of making a kitchen that is very unique and has a lot of interesting details but is unified.

Here is a link that might be useful: John Loecke and Jason Oliver Nixon kitchen

I'd center the stove in the middle of the wall with something (like a nice vent) to draw the eye upward. There are too many items the same height on that wall and the symmetry is off for my taste.

Maybe look for and old (red) Chambers Stove that's been redone.

Thanks, Lucky.

Nuts, Thanks.
FYI, the comment period on the table has now closed.
: )
I have decided that ,given the quality (solid cherry) history (Sunday Lake Shaker colony in Maine) personalization (DH will make it from a Kit) and seller (a wonderful potter in Cornwall who I'd like to give business to), any hesitations that I had are out-numbered.

Geokid,
I am unabashedly a form-over-function girl, but even I can't condone a Smeg for a 6br/5 ba summer home. Too darn small. We are getting the Northstar below, which brings up a side question. Would you bother to have the fridge custom painted (the mfr does this) to match the white of the stove? or is it unnecessary. I planned to do it but Wms Sonoma is not being helpful on the stove color info.

AtHomeinVA,
Strongly worded, yes. Rude? I don't think so.
I've seen that kitchen before, it's wonderful. I don't think mine is anywhere near as complex, not even close. Part of it may stem from the fact that the first part of my post is the moodboard. The second part is JUST the layout (just a layout, but one that happens to have been cut and pasted from photos, leading some to misread it as the plan for color, fabric, and what not).

So if you look just at my moodboard, which is the question at hand, I do wonder how you can get a "frantic mess" out of that? Really? especially considering that the wallpaper, which I show mainly for fun, deserves to be about 1/20th that scale, as it goes AT THE BACK OF one, glass, upper cabinet in the kitchen.

Lots of people don't like sink skirts (I always have) but two skirts would, to me, start to look silly. Plus I have bought great baskets for those lower shelves that I am having lined with muslin or somesuch.

My carpenter is making the two "cabinet pieces" in the layout. We have not designed them yet. They will probably both be the same color (grey family to match the floor). Probably not distressed, and maybe even a bit glossy.

For looks (see Mousehole) and function, I'm a big fan of the deisgn of the piece to the right of the stove; don't paln to change it much. The one to the left of the range, I'm less sure of. It is a d/w drawer and I don't want it to seem like one --- I grabbed the image and cropped it in because I thought all of the false drawer fronts and hardware would really keep people off the scent of "dishwasher". OTOH, it may be too busy next to the range (and the range is busier then what I wanted, a Chambers, but c'est la vie).
On top of all that is the hardware to consider.

My absolute biggest concern was that the chairs (pure white, very dark navy, and rattan) did not go with the floors (yellowy cream and blue-grey). No one seems to see it as a an issue. The table controversy seems to be centered on the casters (which you'll barely see I think) and, for a few, the color (which will match the existing cab anyway). The wallpaper isn't worth talking about really for this room; it's about as important to the space and the dish towel I hang on the range.

The walls will be off white. The b/s will be white subway (my cut and paste looks creamy, but it was the easiest way to get the visual).

If I knew photoshop (Santa brought it for Christmas), I could fix the colors of the layout and add it into the moodboard. That might help eradicate the distraction of the photos I chose, and would probably be more representative.

Sorry Mtn, didn't see your earlier post saying you're going with the table. (I decided all of a sudden this afternoon that I'm going to try to weigh in when input is asked rather being a lurker. Guess what I did as soon as I decided that, yes, post about your table, but without reading the last day's worth of posts.) It's all coming together in the most delightfully unpredictable way.

Hi Golddust,

I tried getting a Chambers (powder blue) and in the end, decided against. Long story having to do with deliverability and reliability. There are not many givens in my post, but if you see at the outset, the STOVE and CHAIRS and SINK are givens. Done.

Anyway, not being a fan of uppers, I actually like the symmetry of one horizontal line, and three equal 5' spans, window, tile, window. BUT, you will be pleased to know (and much to my chagrin!) that I need a range hood by code. At Pal's suggestion, I will put one in that spans the full length between the windows, and tile it as well. So that will give variation in height (alas).

I would not consider centering the stove by itself on both functional and aesthetic grounds. Functionally, I like to have trash, sink, d/w. Aesthetically, again, I like 5' window, 5' wall, 5' window.

There's 2 different aspects to this conversation - there's the specific individual items chosen and then there's the overall comprehensive design - how those elements fit together. I think the specific items themselves should not be critiqued, as they should indeed reflect personal taste and meaning. But the DESIGN - how those items are placed and how they relate to each other and to the architecture of the house (and, if they do or not) - that can be critiqued and is what I would want to get from a forum like this. And, what I'd hope to get from a designer bTW - I can select the items, just tell me what to look for and how to put it all together.

There are design elements - like scale, repetition, contrast, etc. - that are not matters of taste, but have to do with how we humans perceive spatial relationships and what looks pleasing to us, or what other message is conveyed. These have been applied since the dawn of human history! Fashions and fads come and go, but the principles of design remain the same. (Of course some art intentionally throws the rules out the window but that's a discussion for another time!)

Anyway - FWIW, Im not saying you need have an art school degree - my own method is more intutitive - also known as trial and error LOL. Its not until I start getting color up on the walls and a few items placed that I can start to visualize what I want.

I love unfitted kitchens and look forward to seeing yo ur progress.

Nuts, no worries, thank you for posting!

Kashka, I think you make a good point, but personally I am okay with people expressing opinions on just about anything (with the caveat that it's a bit of a waste of time if I already own it!).

In re basic design principles, yes, it is particularly helpful to the OP ... and the rest of GW'ers... when people can explain why, in terms of design principles, they think something won't work. Eg, when you mix patterns you should vary scale and keep in the same colors, or somesuch. I

have always gravitated to light colors on everything for example, and it was here that I learned that you need contrast and grounding. Simple, but I didn't realize it until someone made that specific point about something.

Mtn, thanks for the tip on the Northstar fridge. I'm planning on one of the LaCornue ranges for one of our residences, and I've been stumped on a fridge. I'd been heading in the direction of a built in fridge with cabinetry panels but would really prefer ((gasp)) a basic white fridge. Do you happen to have any photos of the Northstar used in a kitchen with LaCornue or Lacanche?

I also want to say (and should have said above) that I LOVE the table with casters, chairs, skirted sink, unfitted cabinets, wallpaper and plates you've selected. All of it. The only thing I was thrown off by is the yellow tone in the white marble Marmoleum, but I think if you added to your moodboard a photo of an actual kitchen floor with white marble Marmoleum rather than the sample chip from the manufacturer's website, you might find it gives a better representation of how it will look IRL. In other words, I don't believe, based on what I've seen online, the color is as yellow as what's shown in your mood board. Not sure ... but you might want to try it and see the difference.

I do not like mood boards. They sometimes seem to give a false sense of relationships without looking at the big picture, but that is jmo. I believe that every element needs to be looked at together but that the furniture should not be included at this point. My statement was not that the mood board is a frantic mess (it is cute but still off, the stove is out of place to me) but that the kitchen with all that it has going on is so very busy.
Please understand, I have the tendency to like things that are too much at first glance but with time realize that a parred back version is what I really want so I can sort of relate to the complex balance of fitting in so many neat things but it just not quite working.

The Northstar is great too! I'd paint it. A blue. To go with your floors and chair.

Your table, chair and floor:

Juju,
No, I don't recall seeing that ... but i bet you could with google. I did a tiger maple icebox fridge w my Lacanche here in CT, but didn't want to repeat that. Plus NoStar is pretty reasonable, less than a fourth the cost of what I spent for the icebox hardware, subzero and its tiger maple cabinetry.

As for the Marmoleum, I have samples in hand, and the chair. The "white marble" really is that yellow. I don't understand why they do not offer anything closer to white. Maybe because it has a tendency to get a little green?

AthomeinVA - Yes, my point exactly about moodboards. Big discussion here about the wallpaper for example, but Id bet 80% of the people who walked into the kitchen might not even see it.

The stove probably looks out of place in the layout because it is; the layout elements are distressed and countrified, for one. Think of the layout like it is below (the way my GC sent it) ... the only item I own in it is the stove and a white sink.

Hmmm...if the tile is that yellow, then definitely no on the blue fridge.

What about marmoleum click? There seem to be different colors than the marmoleum tile.

I'm afraid that if the stove and the fridge are close in color, but not exact, that it will look jumbled. Either they should be very different colors or the same. How does the fridge in quicksilver look with all the elements?

This post was edited by geokid on Tue, Jan 14, 14 at 18:07

Hi Geo!

I had another reason I didn't want a blue fridge; I think they are 50s or 60s, especially the shades easily available. It also bothers me that its not a food color. I am going more with "they never really redid the kitchen since it was built, but they put in linoleum in the 20s and got new appliances in the 40s" ... if you can call that a style!

I was afraid youd agree with me on the refrigerator color. Although I cannot imagine anyone back then worrying it if was all the "same white!"

Looked at the Click --- and got samples --- white marble is still the lightest.

You've probably tried a bunch of color color combos, but just for kicks, try the Dove Grey with actual samples of Silver Shadow and also White Birch.

Wow, people have a lot to say about your kitchen mtn! I think it's because it's so different from from what's typically posted here! I've been thinking about paint color and I think that if it were me, I would try to incorporate navy as one of the painted pieces, maybe the larger one, and paint the dw cabinet dark grey. I think with the chairs, it would be good to bring some navy somewhere else in the room. Maybe, also into the fabric for the skirt, I know someone else mentioned ticking. Or possibly printed grain sack. As for the fridge, white would be probably be safe, or have you thought about the buttercup or bisque? They might tie into the floor. I'll be checking back to see what you do!

Sweet-tea,

Yes, and any and all comments are welcome!

I don't feel like unearthing it, but back in October I had a thread with everyone voting for either Buttercup appliances or Blue, at that time using a b/w floor. People must be getting so fed up with this kitchen! I think I ended up abandoning that idea because i hated the NoStar stove design, tho I liked the color Buttercup.

So the stove became the driving issue, that took a few turns and a spreadsheet of research before I decided on this Albertine. I get tired just remembering all this!

I am not worried too much about fabric now, but I agree I would want to bring in some navy. Not a grain sack ... that's too much like my CT home, which is a farmhouse. I naturally gravitate to that look but I think it's wrong for the Maine house.

I too, was thinking about a shiny navy cabinet or table, but will a big dark thing in a sea of light, look like a black hole? IDK

Hi mtn'dux,i've put off posting on this thread since I just wasn't seeing what you were seeing, *your* vision, but know that's not important. Kashka_kat has said what I was trying to verbalize, until I start putting it all together IRL, i'm never sure. As luck would have it, I always buy what I love and in most cases, it has seemed to work. If that's the same as trial and error, then I guess that's the 'way I roll.'

Here's a link for a 'flea market kitchen', or maybe it could be considered an unfitted kitchen? And I love the idea of it! I have several French style dressers/armoires/etc., and hope to do what i've been calling 'free standing cabinets' in a kitchen, someday. I wasn't familar with the term 'unfitted kitchen' so thank you for the enlightenment.

Here is a link that might be useful: kitchen

I appreciate suero's rendering above--it provides perspective for the casters (which were questioned) with the chairs and flooring. From that pic, they all work well together, I think. (Maybe too well, but nevermind that!)

I researched Marmoleum out of curiosity because I have a future project to which it may apply. I, too, am surprised that "white marble" is what it is... there's no white even in the primary color description, which was ivory and cream.

On its own, it's very pretty with the accompanying tile you have chosen. In fact, I think its creamy component lends an aged feel.

I wondered how it would look with white appliances atop it, and found this image linked from a google image search. Ignoring the tiny black squares, I think I'd vote for a white refrigerator vs a color. In your layout, it won't be near enough to the range to highlight any differences in the undertones of the white.

Here is a link that might be useful: [Marble white with white appliances[(https://www.houzz.com/products/marmoleum-dual-tile-kitchen-floor-prvw-vr~7581398)

I think a big dark navy might ground the sea of white. I like a dark element in a room so light it might fly away. One piece can do just that but not an even distribution in weight, just one heavy piece.

Hi Patty, Thanks for the link! Often unfitted kitchens look the one you show. Problem is, to me, that is too country for the house. That's the tricky part i think.

Patricia, I will have to mock it up to try to see. I agree with the point, tho.

Peony, thx so much for finding that photo. Unfortunately I don't like the way it looks at all. Oh noooooooooooo. I'm going back to bed. : (

Skirted sinks are so pretty, and easy to change out anytime you want a little change...less mess than painting or reflooring, less elbow grease than moving furniture. But, you know the movie "A Christmas Story"? I like the doors added under the sink where Randy hides with his glass of milk (poured from a glass milk bottle). They come all the way to the floor.

If the White Marble is too yellow (or maybe not yellow enough), can you find out what other tiles they may come up with?

"New tile collection....More colors, sizes, and design options are coming soon, so check back for more when the rest of the tile collections launches Spring 2014!"

Maybe greys:

NSoccerMom,
Thanks, but i have to order very soon; like yesterday. The limited selection is very annoying!

Another image http://www.longleaflumber.com/bamboo-cork-marmoleum/marmoleum/

Scroll down to 4th pic.

Here is a link that might be useful: Long leaf lumber

I have not had a chance to read the whole thread but my first reaction is it all works together and will give a very retro feel. The table is simple and I love simplicity like that. At first, I thought the wallpaper would be too busy with the floor but then realized you were only using it a tiny bit so I think it works.

kitchentime,

bless your heart! that is much better

whewwwww

I love the look, I think it's great, and I do like the suggestion of the plaid floor layout.

Have fun with it! :)

I haven't read any of the replies because I did not want to be influenced :-)

That said, I would call the kitchen an eclectic jumble. Each element taken separately Is wonderful-- an outstanding example of whatever it is, be it flooring, vintage style appliances, seating, etc. I think the colors of gray and light yellow (floor) do not really "go" with the wood tones, and the navy chairs do not go with anything. I appreciate that you want to leave the wood in its original state and love the table you have chosen rather than some overdone RH version of an old farmhouse table. If there is one thing to change it would be the flooring, as a little gray paint on some of the unfitted elements does not define the room as the floor will. In the interest of time I would have the floor painted a blue and white checkerboard or plaid, sealed well, and use your wallpaper and all the other elements planned. If you paint you can control the colors rather than be at the mercy of a flooring mfg and you can always floor over it when you find something you like better. I'd use Blue and white mattress ticking for the sink skirt (which was my first choice when you were looking for fabric). It's not a bad thing for a few of your choices to be ordinary enough to give some space around the more distinctive bits.

This post was edited by kswl on Thu, May 22, 14 at 8:56

Actually, this post has been superseded by another one.

The floors are now wood painted white, the d/w cab will be off white, and the custom table will be grey (probably with a soapstone top).

I am using a box pleated off white linen sink skirt with navy grosgrain trim.

Here is a link that might be useful: Yet another Mtnrdredux kitchen post (BAER)

Did not realize I hadn't kept up with all the changes but it sounds PERFECT! I love blue and white and it never seems tired or contrived, but always fresh and lovely. Looking forward to the reveal....you do realize you owe us a video tour, right?? :-)