I think the cabinets are beautiful! The molding is going to look so great. A SS refrigerator will make a big difference too. I think you are going to love this kitchen when all is said and done.

Wow it looks great! Did you raise the entire ceiling? What a difference and I love the addition of the crown to the cabinetry! Keep the pictures coming!

Kat :)

great progress! those cabinets are exactly like the ones i had. we were going to keep them and paint them, but when we realized that the new wood flooring and subflooring was going to be 1 1/2" high, we had to go on and tear them all out anyway. are your ash? thats what mine were.

are you going with a stainless refrigerator?

I get it. I have had two all-white kitchens and when it's all-white, before any of the finishing touches go in, it can feel strange, clinical, cheap and wrong. (Okay, that's how I felt.)

But from my perspective, that is, someone who is not living in your kitchen, who can see that it's still unfinished, and whose most recent all-white kitchen has been completed for nearly a year, I see a lovely kitchen in the making!

In our previous house I (myself) painted the cabinets white and we had a white tiled countertop / backsplash and some white appliances (already existing). Before I painted the walls (apple green) and before we added ORB knobs it was too white! But then once we did those things it was wonderful.

previous kitchen:

And I remember when the boxes arrived for this (our current) kitchen, and I thought "ugh, looks like crap melamine!" Too depressing -- all that money, energy, and I dreaded going in there to watch the progress.

current kitchen:

Countertops, backsplash, knobs, paint, window treatment -- what a difference they made (for me!). Please keep the faith -- your kitchen is going to turn out lovely. I can tell!

Thanks nekothecat! They do look better in pictures then in person, but that's just normal touch-ups that have to be done when a painted surface is installed I am told.
The moulding is actually already attached to the top of the cabinets, but it does sort of blend in pictures, I guess :)

Thanks for your comments. I am beginning to believe I will love it when it is finally done, thank goodness.

lesmis - yes, the entire ceiling was raised to the same height as our other ones. For some odd reason, the builder dropped only the kitchen ceiling to 7 feet. Now we are at a normal 8 feet. The old ceiling was just slightly above the window. This was our biggest motivation in updating our kitchen and we are extremely pleased with it now.

teppy - I am glad we could keep our old cabinets and have them painted. They are actually Oak. Which was a hassle in itself. They had to be skim coated (?) to diminish the deep graining before painting to get as close to a smooth finish as we could. This was the only way to stay within budget for us. Yes, I hope to find a reasonable SS fridge so I don't have to feel guilty about changing out a perfectly good working one!

rmkitchen - that was me to a "T" last night. Bright lights, everywhere I looked was white, white and more white and it DID feel cold, clinical and sterile. Thanks for the pics..... it really does make a difference doesn't it. Oh, I have drooled over your kichen but sometimes I have trouble matching the kitchens to the owners!

..... and Nomorebluekitchen (Anita) if you see this, you are right. It really isn't so bad when you step back and post your pictures ;0

I think the new kitchen is beautiful. I'd be saying prayers of thanksgiving every time I looked at it.

If you could see my current kitchen, you'd understand why I think even your old kitchen is beyound beautiful. LOL

Hang in there. You obviously have wonderful taste and your kitchen is going to be drop-dead stunning.

Just a quick note, the Fisher Paykle stainless fridges are gorgeous and affordable.
I am replacing my white fridge with one.
Good luck! Love the new kitchen.

Thanks caroline. I actually do count my blessings that we are in the position to do this renovation. I looked at my old kitchen as I posted this today and thought "hmmm, I guess it really wasn't SO bad" :)

Thank you for your kind comments. For a small space - approx 12 x 12 or so and a small budget - we are around 17K - I don't know that I will achieve 'drop-dead stunning' compared to others here. But it is enough to make my little family and my little house feel happy.

We are incredibly blessed and I remind myself of that daily and I am ever so grateful for what we have and therefore while I love loooking at the bigger and better, I also remind our family all the time how fortunate we are.

Hey wintertime - Thanks! I really need to get looking for a new fridge. The plan was to keep our old until they die and replace as we go along. But the old fridge in the new space is rubbing me the wrong way. The other appliances I will live with, but I really need to find a reasonable fridge. I will check those out! (I just love this board!!)

I like the iron colored knobs better than the nickel. But I love the contrast of ORB or iron with white cabinets. (I'll be putting one of those colors up on my white cabinets... eventually.)

I love how your kitchen is shaping up. You're in the home stetch!

rmkitchen, both your white kitchens are pretty. But I love the island in your current one. Beautiful!

Thanks buddyrose!! I am partial to the iron also. From the beginning DH said NO black (iron) so the weathered is as close as I dare get :) My real favorite (not shown here) is Spanish Antique Pewter. It is very dark. I have a feeling DH will vote for the nickel but we promised not to make the final decision until the granite is installed on Thursday. If I remember correctly our granite is a med grey with black/brown and cream. Our stoneyard calls it "Oyster Pearl" but I think it's more commonly known as New Caldonia??

I am embarrassed to admit I don't recall what our granite actually looks like, so it'll be quite a surprise when it gets here....lol. Let's just hope it's a GOOD surprise!

It will be great. You'll fall in love with the stone you picked as soon as you see it on your counter top. Most granites are so gorgeous. BTW, here's a photo of New Caldonia. And I think it's beautiful.

Aw, thanks for going to the trouble of finding a picture, that is so sweet!

Here's the one from the stoneyard:

pretty similar. I could be happy with either one. Now the suspense will kill me for two days! haha

They are both beautiful...so are the cabinets. I have to keep my old ones and just painted them white. I will give my right arm for your BEAUTIFUL cabs. ENJOY them and those knobs are precious! Hang in there it will be GREAT!

That is a beautiful transformation. Looking great.

I can see a great transformation work in progress! Once the counters and the floors are in and the room is painted, you are going to love your new kitchen.

omgosh, I can't wait to see the completion. You've done a wonderful job!!!!

I love, love, love white kitchens.
This is so exciting watching yours come together.
Fantastic moving the ceiling higher. It looks
larger more spacious. Very ingenious of you.
I like the Iron. If you got a beautiful faucet
to match it would look amazing too.
The Iron goes better with the New Caledonia too.
Keep up the good work.
~boxerpups

hey jan-jan.... those ARE my old cabinets painted white :) My painter will be flattered you thought they were new! That was definitely not in my budget. I really cringe when I see the old Cathedral Arch style door labelled as dated and I hesitated to paint them and top the old girls with granite, but I think they look better white and I almost like the arches now. Who knew, huh??

brutuses and lynn2006 - thank you! This thread evolved from a major meltdown I had when they were installed on Monday. I am better now :) It is nice to see others approve.

bestyears! you found my thread :) I posted these just for you :) Thanks again for asking, like the new haircut analogy, you were right. It changes things to see it thru other's eyes!

Went looking just for your pictures this morning as soon as I logged on. Thank YOU! I am in the process right now of renovating our kitchen and we have the exact same cabinets (lovely aren't they?). We are also painting them, probably SW Antique White, so I'm loving seeing your transformation.

Thanks boxerpups! I saw your post on inspiration kitchens, some beautiful white ones I loved looking at. You either love them or hate them, huh? Definitely two camps there!

I will have to give the credit of raising the ceiling to my DH and DS. The original ceiling height was 7 feet and both my guys are 6'3"... haha. It was always like being in a dark cave in there. They love, love, love the new normal height and it was our biggest motivation to remodel.

Thanks for the Iron vote.... more votes for my side!! I'll pass it on to DH :)

Hi bestyears! You are very welcome, although I need to Thank YOU for asking. The positive response here has pretty much erased my panic attack from Mon night :) You have the same cabinets?? Don't you think they look better painted? DH REALLY hated the idea of me painting his precious solid oak cabinets and I worried so much about having them ruined. He actually loves them, thank goodness. I can't wait to see your progress! I'll be posting some tomorrow of my granite installed for pattyk_64 since it's one of her choices what I got.