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joneyjmw

White kitchens... too much??

joneyjmw
11 years ago

Im about to open up my kitchen to the living room and complealy re-design the layout. I'll be almost "studio" style, think kitchen on one wall and livingroom on the opposite wall. I am planning on painting all the cabinets white to get away from too much wood grain. (the floors wll be a dark wood)

I have white appliances and have to keep them, I really don't think I can even afford to recover them, is this too much white? Originally we were thinking off white cabinets and then I remembered white appliances and I don't like that look...

the countertops are going to be gray, I was thinks a of a light yellow for the kitchen walls (the color is called cornmeal) and the living room will be a light blue-green, I was planning on trimming everything in white. I'm just worried about it beeing to stark... or will it look clean and fresh??

Comments (14)

  • lavender_lass
    11 years ago

    I think white cabinets would work fine...but if you want to try something a little more colorful...what about yellow cabinets?

    You could paint all the walls the blue/green, with the yellow cabinets and white appliances. There are some beautiful yellow kitchens on the GW. Some are finished and some under construction. Fishies has some lovely pictures! If you do a search on yellow cabinets, they should show up :)

  • joneyjmw
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Yeah I tried to convince my husband that colored cabinets would look good and he made faces at me, thats how we settled on off white, but I'm really thinking white white is the way to go. I like white kitchens, I was worried about it being too "in your face" white, but I also think if we go off white then the white appliances would be "in your face". thanks

  • lolauren
    11 years ago

    I think white white would look lovely. When people have white appliances with a not-as-white paint on their cabinets, it always looks bad to me.

  • taggie
    11 years ago

    I think it sounds lovely. I agree you should go white and not off-white, with the white appliances. Here is a pic of our previous house which sounds kind of similar to your color scheme with the exception of the countertops (black vs. gray). We did have the white cabs, white appliances, wood floors, and yellow walls that you're thinking of though.

    Good luck with your new kitchen, I think it sounds great!

  • joneyjmw
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Ooooo! I like your kitchen, thats a pretty acurate layout of how it would look too, minus the pantry cabinet though. I think thats what I needed to see, most of the white kitchens I googled were in an "L" or "U" shape, i hadnt seen the straight line of cabinets like mine is going to look. thanks

  • williamsem
    11 years ago

    I am not the best person to offer color advice. But I'm in the middle of planning our project and I too have a DH that makes faces.

    If you have some time, just keep working on the elements you are sure about. Find a few pics of what DH thinks he wants. Take some pics of what you pick out with some samples of what DH wants. He may find out reality doesn't match his ideas. Find some pics of the colored cabinets you want. Put them in the picture mix. You will both see things differently at some point, and hopefully what you end up liking matches!

    My DH wanted black granite. And espresso cabinets. And dark walnut door flooring. Our kitchen is small, with moderate light and the new design will have cabinets down a short hall. And no way painted cabinet would look right in the house.

    I actually had to put up dark brown stuff up for him to visualize along with some pics I found online. Then it hit him how much it would feel like a cave. So we decided on light floors. Then picking out granite, he liked light ones. Go figure. So we have light granite. Then last week I took a ton of pics of medium stained cabinet samples with the granite. Now he wants white cabinets, the dark ones don't look right o_O

    So now we are down to just a granite color, which we have a deposit on. Everything else is back up in the air. Due to DH who knew just what he wanted at the start.

    I guess the moral of this story is try to make sure what DH says he wants and doesn't want are based on actual thought processes, not just gut reaction. I found having just 2-3 pics of anything to offer, you know to clarify, was an amount he could handle and see if that's really what he meant.

    And when he says you're thnking too much, come back here and read a bit. It's normal here :-)

  • User
    11 years ago

    A white kitchen only works in an open concept home if you use white in a BIG way in the other half of that open concept. Otherwise, the space feels unbalanced. That could mean white walls, white drapes, white sofas, etc. But you can't make one end of an open concept room all light and bright and the other all earthy and cozy. It's jarring, and if you want that, you might as well not be taking walls down.

    Treat the space as a WHOLE. If you can't integrate white into the whole, then perhaps it's not a kitchen that fits in with your home's vibe.

  • Madeline616
    11 years ago

    I agree with those who said white will be lovely. I was really concerned that my all-white kitchen (white cabs, white marble, and a very light floor) would look too stark and clinical, but I learned that a) it just plain doesn't and b) I can add pops of color with accessories.

    Lots of people have the built-in appliance look seen, with white cabinets and white paneling on their appliances to match. I think it looks fantastic :)

  • deedles
    11 years ago

    I like your idea of white and the colors and I also agree with Greendesigns that the white should be balanced throughout the space. White curtains could be just enough, depending on the window placement.

    Williamsem: ROFL! My DH shares that trait with yours. Also, he tends to reject my ideas, then a few weeks later he'll say what a great idea he had and repeat back to me just what I had suggested earlier. I've learned to say "good idea, you're so smart", instead of reminding him that it was my idea in the first place. Seems to work better that way. Gotta keep the big picture in mind, right?

  • a2gemini
    11 years ago

    Williamsem- my DH loves caves so glad I never gave him a total cave option LOL.
    Good advice from lots of folks.

    In reality DH didn't want to deal with anything except to make sure a place for his coffee pot and his bicycle helmet and bottles.

    He did get interested towards the end as he just wanted it done!

  • williamsem
    11 years ago

    A2, I never said it was an option :-)
    If I just say no, he gets his panties all in a bunch about it. If he decides for himself he's wrong, that's fine. I just have to strong arm the thought process once in a while.

    Deedles, I think if we were neighbors, you and I would have lots of drinks and laughs comparing notes (and cork samples)!

    Green designs makes a good point about balance. I think that's what is making me hesitate with cabinets. I could see where an open plan would make that important.

  • deedles
    11 years ago

    Williamsem: I wish we were neighbors! I'd make you a good Wisconsin 'old-fashioned'. whiskey or brandy, your choice!

    (there should be some pickled mushrooms in there, though)

  • desertsteph
    11 years ago

    " he tends to reject my ideas, then a few weeks later he'll say what a great idea he had and repeat back to me just what I had suggested earlier."

    I've found that it has worked like that with all the men close to me over the yrs. Whatever the idea is, it's fine if it comes from them - lol!

  • deedles
    11 years ago

    Alright desertsteph: join us for drinks!