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dicouris

Cabinet refinish to pull togther three rooms

Hello!

This is my first time posting, though I have been lurking and enjoying the home forms for quite a while. I would appreciate some opinions on a decorating dilemma. We are DIYers with many years of experience in home remodeling. We are in the midst of a lengthy whole house project I like to call the empty nest remodel.

We are approaching a kitchen reconstruction that will open the kitchen to the living room. The floor plan below is just a draft, but I wanted to show the basic layout. Our home is a typical New England Colonial.
The kitchen is already open to the dining room. The DR furniture is dark maple with a bit of a midcentury modern flair - I've shown the chair as an example. A prominent feature in the DR is a collection of colorful mid-century pottery (Fiesta, Hall, etc).

The wall to the left of the sink will come down, and in that space we plan a peninsula with seating. Placement of the cabinets & appliances is still a bit undetermined, but the important thing is that the cabinetry will become part of the LR.

We will refurnish the LR, so the only real decorative anchor in the LR is this salvaged oak mantelpiece, which was once painted white and was partially stripped when we found it. Our plan was to clean it up and finish it with liming wax. For the hearth we planned a slab of Barre granite (to match the steps at the entrances). It's a pretty rustic look, and when we planned this design we hadn't envisioned opening the room to the kitchen. With the change to the floor plan, we find that we are completely without a vision for the style of the kitchen and LR.

The kitchen is almost a clean slate; it will be gutted, we need new appliances, new flooring, new everything. The cabinetry is the subject of the dilemma. We have come into possession of a large quantity of honey oak cabinetry. We don't like honey oak but it's free and of quality construction, so we'll make do and refinish it. The question is, since these three rooms flow together, how to refinish the cabinetry so that the rooms coordinate.

My favorite idea for the cabinets is a limed finish. Stain the wood darker before liming, maybe get funky with the base color. I love deep gray, I love blue, I love bold, I hate mousey. My husband's favorite look is dark opaque gel stain. He doesn't mind the limed finish for the mantelpiece, but on the cabinets he thinks it would look contrived, faux-vintage. We could both compromise on a painted finish. Neither of us wants to go with all white, but perhaps white in combination with a different color or finish. One thing that does give me reservations about the limed oak is that all of our doors are six panel colonial, hickory, stained honey pine. We might like to darken up the stained wood, but don't want to paint it. Most of the windows and trim are also stained, but in the kitchen & LR windows and trim are presently white.

Thanks for reading my long post, I welcome and appreciate any advice!

Comments (15)

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I can't remember who, but someone here posted a pic of oak that was stained and it was just lovely. I'm not such a fan of the limed finish.

    IAC, I don't think you need to follow one wood tone so slavishly just because you're opening the space. I would say yes for things that run throughout the space like moldings, but there's no reason why the wood tones can't go and not match.

  • emmarene9
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    It seems that you are saying the kitchen cabinets will now be visible from the living room. Do the cabinets themselves continue into the living room as built in? If they do not, then there is no need to make it all match.

  • sumac
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I know how you feel. We too felt like we had too many wood finishes working throughout. Our choice was to choose painted cabinets and we couldn't be happier.

  • ratdogheads z5b NH
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    emmarene, yes the cabinets will continue into the living room as built ins from the closet to what will be a peninsula between the two rooms.

    The mantlepiece windows are not original, and someone fashioned flimsy luan inserts. I plan to replace this with glass with leaded mullions, and continue that look on the upper cabinet doors in the LR, maybe the kitchen (I can mage the carpentry on the existing doors to achieve this).

    AnnieDeighnaugh, I agree on the trim, the rooms are different now and that bugs me. The DR is an addition with new windows and all wood is stained. Kitchen & DR have painted wood now but that eventually will be replaced so that windows, doors & trim throughout are stained wood (hickory & pine).

    sumac, I'm leaning toward paint as the most cohesive option, but what do do with the mantle? We're not entirely opposed to painting it, but it would sure be a shame to have wasted the labor of stripping.

    This post was edited by ratdogheads on Sun, Dec 7, 14 at 8:37

  • marcolo
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    You have a New England colonial in which you plan to install a partially remuddled Craftsman fireplace mantel, want to continue the remuddled windowpaning into the living room cabinets, and want to know how to coordinate it all with raised panel kitchen cabinets? Is that what you're asking?

  • jlc712
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I believe the opening in the mantel was intended for a beveled mirror, not a window. I would not add leaded glass to it, or to your cabinets. I personally think it would be a shame to put a limed finish on it- I don't think that can be undone. I would stain it to match your doors/trim.

    Since your cabinets are free and you don't like the wood/ stain, I think you could go bold with them. Painting would be much easier than staining or liming, and you'd probably get better results. Paint them the blue you like, and then you can carry the blue color into the decor of the LR and DR to tie them together.

  • ratdogheads z5b NH
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    marcolo, I'd never heard the term remuddled and had to look it up. I think you've kinda nailed it though. The mantle is a hack that matches nothing and I'm trying to get everything to match the mantle. I'm lost.

    To be clear we don't live in a historical colonial home, it's 1950s construction. The whole house has colonial trim, raised panel doors, which to be honest I dislike and I guess I'm trying to downplay that style. Unfortunately we're not about to replace it all.

    My husband is particularly opposed to painting our wood doors & trim. We both dislike the color of the cabinets though.

    jlc712, the central opening in the mantle has (I think) the original mirror. It's not beveled but it's old and heavy with nice patina. It's the side door windows decorated with jig-sawed luan that need to go. Any suggestions for what to do with the windows?

    The picture I posted is how we found it, partially stripped with the remnants of many layers of white paint. I've stripped it as bare as I can short of using a plane or having it professionally dipped (not worth the $). The paint is deep in the grain, hence the plan for a limed effect. I haven't tried it, but my sense is that staining won't hide the white. Maybe I should just give that up and paint it.

    nosoccermom, LOVE that blue!

  • jlc712
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Oh, I apologize. It was difficult to see the mirror in the picture. I think I'd pop out the jigsawed pieces and just use glass. Have you tried a liquid stripper, like Citri-Strip? You may be right about just painting it, if it's not restore-able.

    I agree with your husband, I wouldn't paint your doors/trim either. But you could definitely do that beautiful blue on the cabinets. I don't know what the oak cabinets look like on the inside, but could you reverse the doors- maybe you'd like that side better?

    If it's a 50's colonial, I wouldn't be overly concerned with being true to that style-- It just needs to work with what you've already got.

  • marcolo
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Yeah, you need to stop remuddling. Your house is a '50s colonial and you aren't going to change all the elements that make it that. So accept it.

    Your furniture can be whatever you want. The actual fabric of your house is a little different. You can add more modern elements (like light fixtures, for instance), since we do live in the present. But you can't go back in time to before the house was built and pretend your fireplace has been there since 1911 along with some random LR cabinets. It's just going to look like you can't recognize Craftsman when you see it.

    There's a guy down the street from me--a contractor-- who can't stop remuddling. He has execrable taste. He put fish scale shingles and a faux Victorian door on a 1920s colonial. Believe me, everyone makes fun of his house--including people who don't know a Victorian from a Vitamix. It just looks like a mistake, even if people can't explain why.

    All that said, if you want to keep that mantel, I'd make it look like what it is: an eclectic found item that you brought into the house. Don't try to weave it into your woodwork or built-in cabinetry with finish or detail. Make it stand out, almost like it's a unique piece of furniture. Keep the current finish with a protective coat. Paint it an accent color. Stain it something different. Whatever. Make it seem more like furniture or an art piece.

  • emmarene9
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Stains come in degrees of transparency. If you tried semi-opaque on the fireplace I think it would hide the paint deep in the wood. If you are unhappy with the look then you can paint. This is reference to the fireplace only.

  • Mike121
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I have always be an admirer of wooden cabinets but oakwood is always the best option for me. Its matte finish along with impeccable sheen make it remain new for a longer period of time.

  • kswl2
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    I would paint the kitchen cabinets and do as Marcolo suggrsted with the mantel, perhaps painting or staining it in a color that relates to the kitchen?

    Also LOVE that peacock blue! Not necessarily for the house in question, but in principle.

  • ratdogheads z5b NH
    Original Author
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    Thank you for the feedback. All along I have had this nagging sense that something was wrong in the picture, so I'm glad I spoke up and asked.

    I'm happy with the idea of letting the mantel stand alone as just a quirky found item, that's why we got it in the first place.

    I do think we'll paint the cabinets rather than stain, and I'm already pulling out my swatches and scheming.

  • melle_sacto is hot and dry in CA Zone 9/
    9 years ago
    last modified: 9 years ago

    You know what, that mantle would look awesome painted a fun, vibrant color! I also like your idea to go ahead and paint the oak cabinets, and I'm sure you'll be able to find some better hardware, too.