I can't see your pictures...so I'll answer one question and then pop back tomorrow. Travertine flows quite well with ceramic tile or porceline. My shower is chocolate proceline (I'm spelling that wrong LOL). The walls are chocolate and the floor and ceiling are travertine. The deck of the tub is also the chocolate but the walls are travertine. They look wonderful together.

{{gwi:1388178}}

I think you have to make your album public for us to be able to see your pictures.

Have you eliminated Marmoleum as a flooring option? It's supposed to be bombproof and I find it very attractive.

Thanks for the advice about changing my permissions for the photos -you should be able to see them now.

Ug, my house needs so much help. I think I am going to buy black stools for the bar, change out the curtains in both rooms to panels with holdbacks....and the time may be here to finally get rid of the worlds ugliest sofa set. But that's all on top of what needs to be done with the kitchen!

"Will the above things help? I know from watching all the real estate shows that my kitchen is outdated, but can't exactly nail down the specific whys? Can anyone pick it out? What could bring the look current? Am I on the right track? I am open to hearing any suggestion and feedback (good and bad!)"

Some of the things that date your kitchen are easy to fix. The style of barstools and the "stuff" above your cabinets, window and fridge say 1985 to me. I think a dark stain and some hardware will make a dramatic difference when you add your new appliances.

For floors that stand up to dogs and kids, tile is practically indestructible. As for counters, the wood trim edging, tile counters, the clipped corners on the the island are a dated look. I have granite and corian and I love them both but I see you've got them on your elimination list. Silestone? Paperstone?

I'd add crown molding to the tops of your cabinets but I think your other ideas all work. Travertine is neutral and goes with just about everything, imo. I'd look at Silestone and Ceasarstone for countertops. Recycled glass counters can be rather pricey, if that's a concern. Pricier than granite from what I understand.

good luck and keep us posted!
Robin

Things that I think date your kitchen: the honey-toned oak, the straight line cabinets, the wood edging to the tile counters, the boxy frig.

Things to consider: paint (cream/white) or stain the cabinets (you could leave the window trim as-is since it looks like it matches the family room), add hardware, try to add some variation in the heights of the uppers. Could you, for example, add an attractive hood (a little taller than the other cabs) and move your microwave elsewhere? Could you make your island just a little bigger and put it there?

If you're doing electrical, move your light to the center of your dining table. When you replace your frig, a counter depth, or even better, panelled, would be an improvement.

I can only imagine that it is a nightmare to keep that white floor clean! I would recommend a porcelain tile with some variation in color. I have three kids and my choices of porcelain floor tile and quartz counters were made with practicality in mind. Still I think they are pretty. I love my quartz counters (Caesarstone). I have honed, which has not been a problem to keep clean. The recycled glass countertops are beautiful but quite expensive.

I think that a travertine backsplash would not go so well with your counters, and will always look like an unsuccessful attempt to update. I would either do the backsplash in ceramic tile and stick with your overall look, or replace the countertops.

Good luck!

Hi, Needssometips. That's a very pleasant room to start with and a nice kitchen. What I'd do: I'd put a significant portion of my budget into converting the windows to a windowseat with built-in seat. It looks like you have a pretty view out. This would not only allow you to enjoy it while sitting at the table, it'd create a wonderful area in Grand Central for playing and relaxing at any time AND add more space to your kitchen, allowing you to either slide that island toward the midline or lengthen it, should you wish. It would also add an architectural amenity to your home that would increase its livability and appeal.

It's nice to hear you like your tile. I do too and plan on doing our master bath in a pretty glazed tile that doesn't look in the least like stone, even if it's not very popular now. I've been doing my best to not be seduced in the wrong direction what's currently popular as I try to pin down what I really like--and have liked for a long time--and go for it. Updating's a dicey business since popular materials are invariably out of style long before they wear out.

second what others have said:

i think it is dated because of the honey oak cabinets. Would suggest painting them. and would add crown molding to top of cabinets. Perhaps build in the desk at the end of the cabinet run (by the window) to give it a little bit of distinction from the other cabinets.
I'd take a good look at the window treatments... maybe something a bit updated that will go nicely with your color scheme.

Here is a kitchen with painted cabinets. I think the color would work with your den. It is Benjamin Moore Sandy Hook Gray.

and here is a backsplash with horizontal barnboard which would probably be economical and also go with your rustic/country theme.

Hi! You have so much to work with! I had a similar 90's kitchen with the oak cabinets and no backsplash and tile countertops. My husband gave me $5000 budget and here is what I did. I got new doors and drawer fronts for the cabinets and painted everything cream. Your doors are a much nicer shape than mine were so the new doors might not be necessary for you. I also added beadboard to the island and painted it green(I really loved this). Changed out the cabinet pulls and knobs. I found stainless appliances on clearance. Granite countertops and a tumbled stone backsplash. I had hardwood floors which I left in place because they were there but having 4 young boys, I would really prefer tile. I am going to try to put a picture here but I am a little new to this forum so I haven't done that before.

You have very nice cabinets. A great view and a decent layout. What I would do:

Dark hardwood floors (espresso) with a mosaic tile inset around the island (like a carpet. It is easy and not expensive to do.

Windowseat. Get some 15" fridge top cabinets and put big comfy upholstery on top.

Stain the cabinets dark, a couple of shades lighter than the floor but still a nice, deep, rich, brown.

Put in an agglomerated quartz (Caeserstone is American Made) countertop in a creamy colour with brown flecks in it.

Find a 1" x 1" mosaic tile that you like and cover the entire range wall in it.

Stainless appliances with a slide-in range. GE Cafe probably.

Satinless everything else.

Good Luck !!

You have a Very nice room - lots of potential there !

So I finally learned how to post the pictures from my response above.
Do what you love, this was what I loved!

href="http://s554.photobucket.com/albums/jj434/chrystalandersen/?action=view&current=kit5.jpg"; target="_blank">

Pros:

• Roomy kitchen

• Open to other rooms

• Cabinets look like they're in good shape

• Workflow is pretty good (Ref --> Sink --> Range --> Table)

• Nice classic door style

• Sink and DW are not right across from the range, allowing more than one person to work in the kitchen at a time

Aesthetically, what's "dating" your kitchen...

• Partial overlay cabinets

• No hardware

• Upper cabinets that stop before the ceiling + plants up there

• No crown molding

• Sink (top mount, primarily)

• Tile countertop

• Countertop wood edging

• "Cropped" corners

• Refrigerator doesn't look "built in"

Functionally:

• Island is really too small for sink...the sink overwhelms the island and you have no work space on the one side at all.

• Overhang is really too shallow for seating behind a sink.

I'm not sure the color of the cabinets is bad, I think it's just the color and material combinations that are making them look dated color-wise.

I wouldn't worry too much about the partial overlay cabinets if you fix some of the other things...like a simple crown molding and maybe add undercabinet lights and a simple light rail.

I wouldn't go too elaborate on the backsplash, I think simple would work better for this as well.

I think a window seat as mentioned previously or a banquette bench replacing two chairs at the table would add space to your kitchen and allow your island to be lengthened a foot or so. But, since the window does not look like a bay or bow, I suspect it would be expensive to convert it to a window seat w/o taking up more room from the kitchen.

...

[BTW...I thought you might want to know that McAfee Site Advisor has a warning about your photo hosting site:
In our tests, we found a small fraction of downloads on this site that some people consider adware or other potentially unwanted programs.]

Here is a link that might be useful: Automated Web Safety Testing Results for livefilestore.com

Soooomanyboys, your kitchen is gorgeous and a wonderful illustration for first figuring out what you love and then going for it.

Needsometips, I don't expect you'll be doing it, but just to clarify, my idea is to build a windowseat OUT, no doubt taking most of my budget, but this is a good time for such things as there are a lot of idle framers who'd be glad to pick up some extra work.

5 years ago I did a kitchen remodel. I started with red oak cabinet boxes with white laminate doors, low loop carpet on floor, butcher block laminate counters, black double ovens, almond fridg.

A stainless steel hood over the cooktop would have been a plus. The more you change, update, the better it looks!
{{!gwi}}

Nicole_
I love your granite! What color/kind is it?
Thanks.

I've started to respond to your post a couple of times but life just took me away!

I would be excited to dig into your kitchen because you have such a nice space. The first thing I would want to do would be to make the island twice as deep as it is now by adding another set of base cabinets to the 'stool' side, trimming it all out and adding legs to the eating overhang, painting it a great accent color and dropping a few pendants over it.

Set in a new undermount sink and countertop and it could totally change your room. Plus, I bet you and your munchkins would love to have more space up there for projects and such. AND you'd gain some storage in the new cabs below. Great place for kids art supplies.

If you are on a budget, I might keep your perimeter cabs as they are for a while, adding crown molding to them to stretch them towards the ceiling. Also, put on some nice knobs/pulls, change your outer countertops and add a tile backsplash.

With those changes and a new floor, you might find that you can live with the abinets the way they are. And, if you do want to change them, you can move forward with painting them.

Here's a picture of what I was thinking: (excuse the lame attempt at photo-editing!)

Hope this helps!

Sandy

cassieanne3....thanks! It's juperana royalton. A movement granite. It's more wavy, not as intense as what is available in todays market.

Busybme......I agree. Hanging lights, cabinet hardware & granite...would make a HUGE difference. A bigger island is a great idea!!!!!!!!!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Above the planning desk view

If you make the island bigger, definitely consider a garbage pull-out. I love mine!

If you change the island, you could make those cabinet doors full overlay. We did that in a new house kitchen, and put partial overlay cabinets around the perimeter. Our house style is sort of casual, comfortable, and definitely eclectic!

Anne

Great ideas above that I'm not going to add to, since I haven't even begun my much delayed reno, but I do have one suggestion -- if you don't want the expense of a counter-depth fridge, it looks as though the fridge wall is currently in it's own recess. I would pull the entire bank of cabinets forward to be flush with fridge doors. That would give the built-in look with hardly any expense. Contractor should be able to "shim" the wall out with 2x4's so as to provide support for the cabs.

Wow, I just checked back in! I LOVE the idea of making the island bigger by pulling it out that way. There is definately not enough room to lengthen it from the sides, but there is room to lengthen it from the front.

Thank you all for the awesome ideas. I love the idea of the garbage pullout too!