Kitchen decisions!

[doubledip1]

Here we go. Lots of decisions. Please give your input!
Kitchen gets TONS of natural light. It has to be expanded because it's tiny and weirdly designed, so we're bumping it out and totally gutting it because it is horrific. You can't unload the dishwasher because the dishwasher blocks half the cabinets when it is open. It's crazy. There's a lot of other awful things going on so we're saying goodbye to it all and hello to a gorgeous new kitchen.

Countertops: quartz, color TBD, either Montgomery (Montgomery from Cambria | Details, Photos, Samples & Videos), Ferndale (Ferndale from Cambria | Details, Photos, Samples & Videos), or Praa Sands (Praa Sands from Cambria | Details, Photos, Samples & Videos).

Cabinets: either cherry with polyurethane, lightly stained maple or birch, or painted maple or bitch in a light sage green (Antique Jade: Paint Color Wheel - Benjamin Moore Paint Color Chart - Paint Color Palette Tint: sage tint 458 Paint - Benjamin Moore sage tint Paint Color Details).

Appliances: all stainless. Dishwasher (probably Bosch), induction cooktop, hood, wall oven, keeping our fridge, and an appliance garage for the KitchenAid and microwave. Pat (DH) wants a coffee area for his Keurig and tea preparation. He wants a HUGE sink, practically a laundry size, (42 Jumbo Single Well Copper Standard Kitchen Sink - CopperSinksOnline
) he likes this one, but we'll probably get a stainless one.

Flooring: We know we want tile. We have hardwood right now and it is beat to hell. There's no way we can refinish it. The dining room, which is attached, and living room, have the same floors, so we are concerned about matching. I LOVE honed and polished slate, Pat likes faux wood tile (Faux Wood Floor Tile - Wood-Like Tile Flooring - The Tile Shop
).

Backsplash: subway tile, probably in a light cream.

So! Any thoughts based on the above? I would love a Wolf cooktop but tragically we aren't made of money, at least not yet. We are still young, so maybe eventually, but not now. Pat wants a gas range, but we'd have to extend a gas line and I think that could get pricey, but we're getting an estimate on that. My parents have induction and are obsessed with it. All my pots and pans would work on induction so that's not a concern. I also worry about the safety of gas with tiny humans. I was a terribly rambunctious and dangerous kid, so I'm sure my kids will be too.

I know FOR SURE I want a huge pantry and I don't want cabinet doors underneath the cooktop for my pots. It makes it so easy to just grab them without doors.

[Snowshoe]

On my monitor your third counter top choice has a definite blue tinge. I think either of the first two counter tops choices would go very nicely with the sage paint on the cupboards. And with cherry. Personally I prefer light colours in a room I will be working in. I find my rooms that get lots of light get too much in either the morning or afternoon. Either I close blinds to keep heat out, so I'm in the dark. Or I close them to keep glare off, and I'm in the dark.

What fun. I was in a recently redone kitchen, quite modern and the bottom cupboards were a sleek dark, brownish grey while the top ones were the same finish but a very light, brownish grey. It might sound dull but it looked really nice, the two different cupboard colours.

[sparky]

Armstrong 12 in. x 12 in. Peel and Stick Slate Sand & Sky Vinyl Tile (45 sq. ft. / case)-26350 - The Home Depot
We used this in our kitchen, laundry, 1/2 bath and guest bath. It is called "luxury" tile. It is almost 1/4 inch thick and goes down so easy. We put down 1/4 inch Luann over the sub floor. It cuts with a utility knife, you can use a jig saw for round cuts or notches. We used 1/4 spacers and put pre-mixed sanded grout to complete the look.
Going down.

1/2 bath

[POPTOP]

How exciting. We did out kitchen last year and it was a project and we weren't taking out walls. Be sure to get all your in-the-walls stuff done while you can. Even extra plugs, etc. Easier now than having to open a wall later.

I'm one who likes the big double kitchen sink; find it more versatile. I do have a brass sink in the small bathroom (off an old yacht) and it's a pain in the neck. It is a high maintenance. Check into how to clean, etc, before getting a copper one; you may run into some maintenance issues.

Choices of colors is such a personal thing. I do have a very pale green in the kitchen and love it. All my countertops in the wet areas are, right now, laminate. Couldn't afford a composite or granite/marble when we did the remodel. That's something easily changed in the future. In the non-wet area is butcher block we got at Menards. Really not that expensive. For pots and pans, spend the extra and get the slide out shelves. Have them now and LOVE them. Where cabinets meet in a corner I chose not have a turn table cabinet. I felt it wasted too much room. Instead I have one cabinet that goes all the way to the corner and the other butts up to it (if that makes sense). Seldom used stuff gets stashed back in the corner. It's amazing how much room you lose by not taking advantage of the corner space.

We have vinyl tile in the kitchen, extremely durable with the dogs, easy to clean, and very water resistant. We're doing the bathroom now and are putting in a vinyl plank floating floor, again for ease of cleaning and water resistance. *The Home Depot

When it comes to cabinets, get the best you can afford. In fact, anything that cannot be easily changed, i.e. colors, flooring, countertops, spend your money on good bones stuff, electrical, plumbing. Like I said, saving up for the countertops I want because they can be changed out easily. Buy a good sink and good fixtures. I chose a Glacier (or something like that) faucet and almost immediately had to change it out. Have a Moen now.

Happy planning.

[Georgia]

Flooring: We know we want tile. We have hardwood right now and it is beat to hell. There's no way we can refinish it. The dining room, which is attached, and living room, have the same floors, so we are concerned about matching. I LOVE honed and polished slate, Pat likes faux wood tile (Faux Wood Floor Tile - Wood-Like Tile Flooring - The Tile Shop ).

I am very interested in the tile that looks like wood! We refinished our wood floors in 1997 when we bought our house and they are absolutely trashed now. Years of dogs and kids did a number on them. I also don't think that when you refinish wood floors they're as durable as the original finish. I was also thinking of replacing them with bamboo floors but every time one of the dogs scrambles on the wood floors I have now, I cringe at the thought of what their nails would do to new wood floors. I would love to see a room done in the faux wood tile!

[doubledip1]

We definitely changed route and saw the slabs in person and are going with Praa Sands. It is so gorgeous in person. So now the cabinets will either be a blue or gray.

We have bamboo flooring in the bedrooms and after 2 months of living here, Luna has definitely dented the bamboo with her antlers. It's not gouged, but you can tell there was an antler-dropping Lab there.

Here is the faux wood: Faux Wood Floor Tile - Wood-Like Tile Flooring - The Tile Shop


Definitely bringing the countertop sample to the tile shop to see if it looks better with the faux wood or the slate! Faux wood would be half the price.

[Jollymolly]

I like the wood tile idea Have fun picking and choosing.

[Snowshoe]

Our Vet's foyer and big waiting room is ceramic tile that looks like wood. There's no way I'd mistake it for real wood but it does look attractive and it must be durable and easily cleaned if it's in a Vet's office, wouldn't you think? I would not have asked about it if I had not found it attractive and our basement wreck room floor is a mess. But I googled it up and apparently it is not that resistant to scratching and is hard to keep the grout and the tile clean. The tile has surface irregularities and is not slippery, even when wet, at the Vet's. You can get a sealer for the tile and the grout but they have to be reapplied every so often and they can make it more slippery. Phooey, I like it. Oh, and we would put it on our slab on grade basement floor but the website says it might not be so good on a raised floor on joists that would flex.

[janedoe]

Whatever you go with, let us know how you like it. I look at our upcoming kitchen gut and am at a complete loss.

[kimbersmom]

Love love the Praa Sands!

slate can be very slippery when wet, so I'd check that.