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nyrgirl35

Where are all the non-white kitchens?

nyrgirl35
9 years ago

Just want to say I think white kitchens are beautiful, but I'm planing on a medium/dark stained kitchen with an accent area in off white. Everywhere I look I would say 80% of kitchens are white which again are gorgeous but since I'm planing a non white kitchen would love to see all the medium/dark stained kitchens out there for inspiration :)
Thanks!

Comments (85)

  • greenhaven
    9 years ago

    I would not consider my kitchen a "white" kitchen even though the pale gray cabs read off-white. I 'll post a little piccie because I am not quite done yet and want to do a nice reveal.

    What I do want to say, though, is that for some ( like me) there are perfectly legitimate reasons for going with a painted and/or white/light kitchen. Light kitchens are invaluable when there is a dearth of natural light; ithas made all the difference in my kitchen. Also, having simply added a couple cabs to my existing run, Ineeded a way to unify them. That came in the form of painting them.

    I chose quartz counters that read dark grey, rustic pulls, a warm marble backsplash with mixed material accent strip. Stools are metal and wood, pendants are a rustic brown but might get painted black, depending. So my white kitchen is anything but just white and is far from cookie cutter. I will be so happy with it when it is done! Mostly I will be happy to have it done. ;)

    So I recognize that white is not for everyone, just as I recognize stained or painted is not for everyone. I too love ( magsnj?) the baby blue and yellow kitchens, as a matter of fact I love nearly every kitchen that comes out of this forum. Even so I know some are not for me. I willbe pleased tosee your kitchen when it is done. :)

    Ps, badgergal I never noticed before that your floors were laid on the bias. Love it!

  • greenhaven
    9 years ago

    Accent

    Pendants

    Stools

  • brightm
    9 years ago

    Natural cherry on order. Hope it turns out half as well as badgergal and dcward89's (enjoying seeing yours come together).

    I'm in the 'Oh, I should have included THIS or THAT' stage. Lots of nice touches in the pics up thread!

    This post was edited by cal_quail on Sat, May 24, 14 at 20:47

  • allison0704
    9 years ago

    Here is our non-white kitchen:

    Here is a link that might be useful: More Kitchen Photos

  • heritagehd07
    9 years ago

    What a fun thread. I love seeing all the eye candy.

  • bellsmom
    9 years ago

    I have loved following this thread. Many of these kitchens I remember "growing" to maturity here on GW. They are, without exception, rich and inviting.

    Greenhaven, that accent tile is gorgeous! I look forward to your reveal!

  • chinchette
    9 years ago

    We have natural mahogany. I don't think stained cabinets photograph sexy like white does. The feeling of the warmth and how it goes with the other connected rooms is missing from most photos.

  • chinchette
    9 years ago

    We have natural mahogany. I don't think stained cabinets photograph sexy like white does. The feeling of the warmth and how it goes with the other connected rooms is missing from most photos.

  • annkh_nd
    9 years ago

    I love oak. Here's our kitchen, remodeled last year:

  • Joe
    9 years ago

    Allison0704:
    Most beautiful GW kitchen.

  • michellemarie
    9 years ago

    Nightowlrn: My granite is yellow river. It took about 3 months for the granite yard to get slabs in I was happy with. My backsplash tile is Senio tile. I really lucked out as I was going to buy a Walker Zanger crackle tile, but I happened to see this tile at a specialty tile store and they said they were having problems with their supplier and were
    not going to carry it anymore so I bought all they had in the subway tile. It was a ridiculously low price. I had to find the accent tiles online. I found them at mosaictileco.com. Look under the Tuscania section. I think I used the Elba Deco. I ordered it from a tile shop in Georgia. Thanks for asking. I am happy to answer any questions. As soon as I find my before pics, I will post before and afters. Michelle

  • juddgirl2
    9 years ago

    I was hoping allison would post - my all time favorite non-white kitchen!

  • lam702
    9 years ago

    In some homes, a white kitchen doesn't work or fit. My husband wanted stained cabinets, and for our house, it was a better fit than white. All our woodwork, windows and interior doors are stained wood, so I did agree that white wouldn't look quite right, and I just didn't have the energy to paint all that woodwork to make it work. That is not to say that white kitchens aren't beautiful, they are and I may someday have one if it works with the style of the house. It just didn't work with this one. But I do love all the non white kitchens posted here too, just proving that a kitchen can be gorgeous in any color/stain if its done right.

  • ssdarb
    9 years ago

    I love this thread. I did a white kitchen because it fits with my house, but I'm doing a non-white master bath, and these pictures are definately helping me visualize it.

    Greenhaven, I love that counter stool. Can you tell me who makes it?

  • greenhaven
    9 years ago

    Strayer I ordered then at Kohls.com, I think, lol! They were on sale but I loved them at first sight. Opened a box and assembled one, and love them even ,ore in person. The frames are sturdy and the wood splid and rich.

    I agree about allison's kitchen.....except for the light nearly my dream kitchen!

    Eta:http://m.kohls.com/kohlsopenapi/productmobile.html?productID=1670546

    Just missed the sale. :(

    This post was edited by greenhaven on Mon, May 26, 14 at 11:50

  • andreak100
    9 years ago

    Still not done, but we're inching closer. We are doing vertical grain matched cherry slab cabinets with a walnut-ish colored stain.

    Enjoy looking at other people's white kitchens, they just aren't right for us.

  • kalapointer
    9 years ago

    I never thought a white kitchen would work in our craftsman style home, although I like the white cabinetry and marble counters, just not for us. Here is a look at our stained kitchen.

  • Holly- Kay
    9 years ago

    I love white kitchens, I dreamed and longed for a white kitchen but white didn't feel right so I did Maple with a wheat stain and chocolate glaze.

  • bellsmom
    9 years ago

    This GW kitchen has so much charm and works with and around so many unique limitations and choices. I love it.

    Here's a link to one of my very favorite non-white kitchens:

    Here is a link that might be useful: Magsnj's lovely blue kitchen

  • lindanewc
    9 years ago

    AndreaK, your kitchen is very similar in cabinet color and granite to mine. What do you plan for a back splash? I am down to under cabinet lighting and back splash. Would love to see your ideas.

  • avntgardnr
    9 years ago

    Loving all of these pictures...we are in the planning stages, and while I love white kitchens, we will be doing a stained cherry or maple, having come from a painted French cream, i wanted a change. So many beautiful kitchens!!

  • gardenwebnewbie
    9 years ago

    Here's our darker wood kitchen right after it was completed a little over a year ago. I still love it...and will always love this forum for the support they provided. DH always asks why I'm still looking at kitchens...I'm addicted!

    This post was edited by gardenwebnewbie on Tue, May 27, 14 at 1:16

  • quadesl
    9 years ago

    We wanted new countertops in our 23 year old kitchen and ended up replacing our bottom cabinets making them deeper on the fridge and stove side. We also replaced our island, going from one that was 24 inches deep to 27 inches and made the top five inches smaller giving us more space between it and the sink.as well as the between it and the kitchen table. We did all drawers custom to our needs making storage more efficient.

    We decided to keep the original upper cabinets which were in great shape. We saw no need to change them nor the backsplash that was installed just three years prior.

  • a2gemini
    9 years ago

    Wow - some of my inspirations are on this page!
    Here is a link to Holly-Kay's kitchen
    http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg092007318925.html?132
    And Poohpup as I don't think she visits much anymore - we started together, although she finished before us.
    http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg0519083728613.html

    And a couple from our kitchen


    and from the kitchen to the sun room
    {{!gwi}}

  • ck_squared
    9 years ago

    Here is my walnut and Fantasy Brown quartzite kitchen. Completed in December. Still haven't done a full reveal yet. My dh and I knew we wanted walnut and I had a vision of what the kitchen would look like after many months of research. We took down a wall between old kitchen and dining room to make it bigger. Was worried about the light with small windows but we have 10-ft. ceilings and a large slider wall that lets in plenty of light.

  • sayde
    9 years ago

    In our kitchen we re-purposed the original gum wood cabinets, but everything else except the pot rack is new.

  • ott2
    9 years ago

    I am in Texas, and I don't think I've ever seen a white kithen in real life in Texas! No reveal yet, and still getting settled in, but here is my non-white kitchen.

  • Holly- Kay
    9 years ago

    Hi A2, thank you for posting my kitchen. It is always great to see yours! I get window seat envy each time I see it!

  • andreak100
    9 years ago

    Lindanew - we wound up going with an AKDO glass tile in "Parchment" color. We knew from the start that we wanted the staggered tiles with matte/shiny pieces...the question was really what color we were going with. We hoped that a pure white would work (and it was the least expensive of our choices), but it absolutely didn't with our granite. We found some other similar tiles in a grey that we liked and were close-ish in budget to the white, but they read too cold (more blue undertones). The AKDO Stagger Parchment was the only one that came close to having the warmth that we were looking for...I still see a tinge of a greenish cast (not like coke bottle green by any means...but in certain light, it does show a bit greenish). We spent way more on our tile than what we originally intended.

    The picture that I've attached shows the hood when the GC installed it too low (nothing about this remodel has been easy!)

  • User
    9 years ago

    Sayde- You have my all time favorite kitchen, have you ever posted pictures of other parts of your house? I am still bummed that TOH didn't give you a bigger spread, I bet the old editor would have jumped on it (imo the mag has really gone downhill)... but, anyways. Sorry for the digression.

  • greenhaven
    9 years ago

    Ott2, WOW!!! That is a swoon-worthy kitchen if I ever have seen one! I am feeling a little whisper of something I am not prone to- kitchen envy. :/

  • ck_squared
    9 years ago

    Ott2 - I LOVE your kitchen! Gorgeous. The beams are quite spectacular and I love the somewhat rustic contemporary feeling of your cabs.

  • ILoveRed
    9 years ago

    I love white kitchens but I love all of these non white kitchens too. Just beautiful.

    Hmmmm....what to choose ;-)

    Seriously, I adore quarter ssawn oak. Does anyone have this?

  • cookncarpenter
    9 years ago

    Whitewashed knotty pine in our 10'x 10'-6" kitchen

  • greenhaven
    9 years ago

    red lover If I ever do a whole new kitchen I will totally be doing quatersawn oak.

  • dcward89
    9 years ago

    red lover...we are mid-remodel and I was completely torn between quarter sawn oak and cherry. We ended up going with the cherry and it is perfect in our house but I have never seen a quarter sawn oak kitchen that I didn't love!

  • Annie Deighnaugh
    9 years ago

    Here's our cherry cabs with stain and glaze. No white and no stainless for us.

  • a2gemini
    9 years ago

    Annie - I remember your remodel - Wow - looks great. It is giving me second thoughts on ordering the panel for my DW.
    I can still do it and it will only take a few weeks of sun to get the color match (or even less as I had to replace a panel under the sink and it matched from day one)

    DH said OK but with both of us recently retired (but I still do some consulting episodically), we don't wan't to overdo in the first year.

  • fishymom
    9 years ago

    Ctycdm, I love your kitchen! The whitewashed knotty pine, the ceiling, all those gorgeous windows, great kitchen!

  • sandesurf
    9 years ago

    Here's our AZ vaca/retire home. Finally got B.S. just this year! Remodeled in 2012!
    Oak, in cognac stain, with TB granite.

  • CEFreeman
    9 years ago

    redlover,
    I was an absolutely painted cab crazy woman. Beaded inset, of course. Then I refinished these wonderful, Quakermaid antique cabinets. Looooooveeeeee the oak's grain I graywashed and stained. Then I found some quartersawn oak cabinets. All I knew at the time was oak.
    Couldn't get them to work with stain or graywashing or sanding. I discovered the grain is so much tighter in quartersawn oak I'm thinking of giving these away!
    Then I found some old, 1960s cherry cabinets.

    Now I can't figure out how to cover any of them with paint, so this painted cabinet woman has become someone who pets and croons to her beautifully grained and restored, non-white cabinets.

    Oh - my point? I don't care for the quartersawn oak because I can't get it to coordinate (not match) the other stuff I have. Anyone in the market for some uppers? :)

  • susanlynn2012
    9 years ago

    I loved seeing so many kitchens that are beautiful and not white. I love white kitchens but I also love many other types of kitchens and fell in love with the dark Cherry Kitchens my neighbors installed. Thank you everyone for sharing.

  • cherie stohler
    6 years ago

    we are planning our kitchen remodel, and not finding very many non-white options out there! have spent hours on cliq website and 99 percent are white....boring....not to mention, when I sold my parents home after they both moved on, it took so much work to get their white white cabinets and trim (3,500 sf home!) all restored to looking new. After that nightmare, I am NEVER putting anything white in my home (save toilet paper!!!). Considering a cherry kitchen, but cliq doesn't seem to offer much in that vein.

  • Jennifer Paul
    6 years ago

    We are about to remodel and I'm leaning away from white. We will also have wood floors which can be tricky, but I think it's doable. I've found lots of pictures on Houzz. Here a few favorites.




    As you can see, I'm all over the place, but we haven't chosen any materials yet, so I've still got time!


  • Ranch Mom
    6 years ago

    I too LOVE the last pic that Jackie posted. It is one of my inspiration photos. I am very surprised at how drawn to the QS oak that I am.

  • Bunny
    6 years ago

    I have a white kitchen and am very content with it. But, if I were building from scratch, I would do QS oak similar to the above. I don't think anything else compares.

  • blfenton
    6 years ago

    We just bought a QS oak antique table and love it.

    If you're doing wood cabinets and wood floors, my own personal taste is that I prefer when the cabinets and floor are not the same colour, as in picture 1. Too much of the same. I do like the definition between the two as in picture 3.

  • Cheryl Hewitt
    6 years ago

    My partner was opposed to a white kitchen, so we went with a caramel stained cherry kitchen.

  • Bunny
    6 years ago

    blfenton, I have a QS oak corner table in my living room that I love. Although we bought it new, it is truly ageless (avoiding saying "timeless").

  • HoJo1
    6 years ago


    We did this remodel about a year ago. Used a medium brown stain on alder cabinets and did a white island on oak floors (clear stain). We like the look a lot. My DH did not want an all white kitchen.