I'd go with the glaze and crackle. If you go darker with the copper, your chairs will disappear. Keep it light, and I think you'll like it much more. Good luck.

Thanks carolssis for your reply. About the island color, I didn't mean to do the entire island the copper.....just the twisted posts we attached on each end, and do the rest of island white with glaze, but crackle only the flat end pieces between the twisted posts. The bar stools would be against the white glazed color of the island, not the copper color. The posts being a different color than the island is my question, along with is white the best color for the island???

Not sure about the support posts being the copper color either, as shown in the photo..........., then possibly painting attached twisted posts copper, and the rest of the island painted white with glaze. The kitchen cabinets are suppose to be white with glaze also.

What do you think? Weird to paint the posts copper, including the attached posts at each end of the island, and the rest of it be white with glaze and crackle? I want it to be a little different, have character but look really nice too. Thanks again.

I would just do the glaze to tone down the white and no crackle. You said it's a small kitchen, but it's a very busy one because every part of it has been embellished with special finishes. The eye has nowhere to rest.

Imo, those twisted posts contribute to the overdone-ness. They do look like a DIY add-on to me. I'm not even sure that style works with the island legs, or the Texan feel of the kitchen in general. Think of everything in your kitchen that draws attention--the pretty granite, a complex backsplash, interesting stools, an ornate hood and sink, a gorgeous door, several pendants. Do you need to add any more character?

May flowers, appreciate your advice. The kitchen was very plain with white counter tops, white cabinets, and light beige tile when we moved in. We wanted it look more substantial and grounded, so we added some dark touches to match the rest of the house. I like different looks with decorating, and I kind of like the interest of the different styles of detail on the island. The house isn't decorated with a Texan theme, however - the doorways are arched and there is a honeycomb tile in the entry way through to the dining area, with a very high ceiling and chandelier in the sitting area and living room, which has a full wall of windows that lets a lot of light in. The kitchen seemed kind of forgotten, ..........so trying to give it the attention and "specialness" the rest of the house has. But as you said, I don't want nothing to appear special because there is too much going on!

Of course, I am disappointed if the posts on the ends of the island look too DIY, but I do like the added "mass" it gives the island. I wanted it to add a little elegance to the kitchen.........?? Hopefully they will look more incorporated after they are painted the same color as the island, they are bare wood at the moment.

But considering your advice about the kitchen looking to "busy", it may be better to paint the support posts white instead of the copper I painted them, to make the island look more cohesive and not move the eye around so much with different finishes?? Possibly it will give the copper hood and sink more of a special look without other accents of copper on the island. The sink was a splurge for us, but we just love it! Working on a budget, we are trying to do what we can with the money we have so we can love our home. Thanks for helping me rethink things!

I don't mind the twisted posts at all, but I would leave them white. I think if they were painted a dark color it would be way to choppy/busy, and as someone already said, there is plenty going on in this kitchen already (given the choice, I'd probably opt for a simpler stool, too).

Some people like so many embellished finishes that they have to include them all. I see it a lot in Kitchens, where I usually hang out. I thought of an analogy after I posted--it's like wearing everything in your jewelry box at once.

The foot area of the twist looks too delicate to me. I think if you keep them, you should remove the foot and replace the recessed toe kick with base molding around the island, or at least on the sides and seating area. You might need to keep the toe kick on the work side. I can look for a photo when I have more time.

I would never glaze an island and leave the rest the plain white, if that's what you are asking. That's a near miss. Personally, I probably wouldn't glaze white cabinets, but that's another issue. If you want the island to be different, it has to be different, not nearly the same.

First thing I would do is replace the blind on your sink window with something lighter so you don't have two big dark things hanging -- let the focus go to your hood without competition. It will tie in with your sink and not look lonely.

If I still wanted a color on the island, I would go darker. It already looks very large for the kitchen and the white against the dark floors emphasizes it. A bright color like aqua would be similar in that regard. I would consider something darker. Looking at your room, take a cue from the border of your rug and the outlines on the blossom in the picture and look for a deep orange/red. Or look at the leaves in the picture and go with a deep green. I would start with similar shades and also look a couple of shades darker. Then consider a glaze to give the color some depth and tie it in with your copper and floors. I would test those ideas -- if they don't work, the idea was free and you can keep looking. ;-)

I am not leaving the cabinets plain white and glazing the island, as I said several times in my earlier post - planning on glazing the cabinets, just needed to know opinions on doing the island the same way, or painting it a different color. I have glazed white cabinets before and they turned out a pretty cream color, darker in the crevices, so I am not questioning the decision to do that.

I was concerned about painting the island a dark color because the granite is black and the floors are darker than they appear in the photo. I would like the island to be darker than the cabinets, but the granite and floor color make me lean toward something lighter for the island. Which is why I wanted some input on THAT subject, if maybe I could go darker even with the dark materials that surround the island, or if it needed to be white to avoid to much dark.

The expresso blind is there for privacy at night, it is up during the day and lets in a lot of light - it is a solid glass stationary window, no panes or lines.

I have considered a light terracotta for the island, then glaze it.......nervous about it, my husband raised his eyebrows when I mentioned it! But I do like that color, obviously since I have that as an accent color. Might be very pretty........

As to every other item in the room being remarked on and disliked, well, I am not going to rip off the twisted posts that we bought and installed or take down the pendant lights I just bought, (because all that looks like too much jewelry), buy new bar stools because they need to more simple (that I just bought), take off the custom ordered blind that we just bought because its dark when its down (these blinds are thought the whole house), take off the granite and get a smaller size granite to make the island smaller because it looks to large for kitchen, etc. etc.

Sorry no one seems to like any of our choices in this kitchen. We have worked very hard on it. I know everyone doesn't like the same thing, but we like the way we did our kitchen, we like what we put in our kitchen. I was just looking for advise on the island color, not looking for my kitchen to be picked apart and every detail and furnishing criticized because its not someone's taste??? I will figure out what we will be happy with. Everyone have a nice day.

You have a gorgeous, *classy* kitchen! Are the posts painted copper or are they really a dark wood the color of copper? On my monitor they look to be a stained wood. As for crackling *anything*, I'm taking a firm NO.

I have glazed ivory cabs on the interior of the kitchen, with dark stained on the perimeter cabs and love it and have had a lot of oohs and aahs. If I were going to change things, I would stain the island(posts included)and glaze the other cabs~try several glazes on an inside door, it will wipe right off. You will have to poly over it, or it possibly might come off when you use a cleaning product on them. Realistically, I would have them done professionally. Getting a 'good look' to a glaze is not an easy feat. I paint furniture to sell in my antique booth, and use a glaze on every piece(with 2 coats of poly over it)since I don't care for the 'plain paint look' on anything except white furniture. A furniture piece alone is quite a project, taking several days because of drying time. Spending the extra money for someone else to fo the job would be worth it, IMO.

I can't see your pictures but I would think your island would be good painted black. I see your countertop is black so you would have to work with that. Personally I would not glaze the cupboards....to me white looks so clean.

I have seen kitchens where the top cabinets are white and the bottom cabinets are black....then you could paint your island white. I think it all depends what you like and how black would look with the black counter top.

Wow. Now I'm so curious about those pictures.

I like the stained legs with the dark granite. It ties it together nicely. If you add base molding, you'll achieve character, a more substantial look, and ground the island more without adding another finish in the crackle. When you added seating, you did away with the need for the toe kick, so just finish it off with the molding now. Glaze the white and you're done.

Well, it takes courage to post anything here and open yourself up to comments --both those you were expecting and those you weren't. Honestly, I don't think the comments I read quickly through were that bad. Really. I've seen better treated a lot worse. That doesn't mean it doesn't sting, but take a deep breath or two and put things in context.

You said it was a new kitchen and folks don't know what you have done and are set on keeping. The choice on the one and only question you are asking doesn't occur in a vacuum. People will look at the whole thing and comment. The more they tell you the more you can figure out whether you are overlooking something or simply have different preferences or needs or know things about the context we don't get from a single photo or post. I posted a floorplan for my kitchen years ago -- had worked very hard on it and was pretty much down to one decision and trying to decide if I was gutsy enough to make it. Like you, I got a lot of other comments. Don't get me wrong -- it was hard to read them all until I went through the process of realizing that I had an answer for why what I either had to do or wanted to do what I had planned. I realized I was pretty much at the best I could do phase (would love a bigger window or to move a door, but that wasn't happening in that brick wall and no I couldn't steal a foot from another room, etc.), and when that cleared, no one seemed as concerned about the one change as I was. We went with it and it made the kitchen SO much better. If I took all my toys and went home before I got there, I might not have what I have and enjoy. All the opinions and advise here are meant to be helpful and you have to take them as such, remember what you paid for them, and then chose the ones you want to work with. If any.

I was reading quickly through and saw you were going to keep the cabinets white but it didn't stick that you were going to glaze them. Sorry -- my error, and perhaps I should have looked a third time, but I didn't. I have to limit my time and do other things. This is my diversion, not my life.

I told you I tend to dislike glazed cabinets, especially white ones, to be fair and because I've seen too many that are not well done. The last thing I want in a kitchen is something that looks streaky and dirty, and I saw way too many of those when glazing was in its heyday. That said, I do have a glaze on my cherry cabinets and love them. There are exceptions to every rule.

Still, I like the contrast of the clean white with your copper and wood very much. It's clean and warm, old and new -- a nice balance. If you really want glaze, test the idea, and even then, tread lightly. You can always go back with more. I would also do the color on your island first. You may decide that the color plus glaze on the island is enough and that more would not be better.

Sorry if offended you with the blind comment. You hadn't mentioned it and I presumed it was left by the PO to tie in with the sink. With your hood now given a copper treatment, the sink has something more interesting than a plain blind to share attention with. I realize it is there for privacy and wouldn't say don't have anything. I would just go lighter. White would wash out your pendants, so that's not a great choice either. If you have it open during the day and it fades into the window enough and seems not too different than the dark hole of a window at night, maybe it plays better IRL than a cold photo on a computer screen. Especially if you have them through the house. Since it is new and custom and you obviously like it, keep it. If someday something bothers you, you can think back and consider the comments when looking at new options.

I see you took down your photo. Your choice, but I think you were a bit hasty. It may take more responses to see patterns, which should carry more weight than what any single post says -- and possibly to get the post from that one person who tells you exactly what makes everything click for you and makes it clear what you want to do and why. In the end, that's the most important one and possibly the only one that matters at all for you. But you may have to read through 100 or more to find it.

ETA: I like patty_cakes' idea of staining the island and then possibly lightly glazing the island. That's a lot of work to do right, and I don't think most folks are up to that kind of job as a DIY. Maybe you are. I saw a comment on not crackling. I would agree. I think crackling is hard to do well and much better suited to an accent piece in anther room rather than kitchen cabinets.

This post was edited by lascatx on Fri, Feb 28, 14 at 15:42