Need help with my kitchen Low budger DIY
My house is an 1800's colonial,Want to keep the harvest table, my husbands father built it and it has been in the family over 70 years. Would like a floating island, back splash, new vent and stove,new paint,new floor and ceiling.
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either way, you'll need to remove everything off the top cabinets, counter-tops, etc. and cover with a tarp. If you want it 'redone' you may want a professional painter. save money by doing as much prep DIY as you can, but if it's a plaster ceiling, you will need a pro.
I would suggest a deep red for the walls. You seem to like the country look (the rooster, etc) and I notice a good bit of red. It would contrast nicely with your cabinets. Use minimal tile back splash in warm tones that incorporate the honey cabinets, the dark brown of the harvest table, and has pops of red.
I like the idea of going to the Habitat for Humanity Re-store! you can find some great cabinets, tile, and other things there. a few glass-door cabinets would look lovely.
Painting cabinets can be a big, messy, and time-consuming job...I would leave that as a last resort- better to just change out the hardware. A new stove with vent hood sounds like a great idea--I would take out the cabinets above the old stove and install a built-in microwave to free-up some counter space. Speaking of counter space, I couldn't help but notice the TV on the counter! I am not picking on you-I have to have my kitchen TV as well -who want to cook and clean without a little HGTV? Please spend an extra $150 (tops) for a flat-screen...they even make ones that fold under the counter!
Also, your wine glasses must be impossible to keep clean (not to mention hard to reach) on top of the cabinets...Install an under cabinet mount glass/ stemware rack for the ones you use most often and store the rest in a buffet or china cabinet.
If you want to keep the harvest table, I see no room for a floating island...Can you give the dimensions of the kitchen and the table?
I would be happy to post some pics if you like my ideas. GOOD LUCK!!
This Page doesn't have photos but good info.
Get rid of the vinyl flooring and go with a bright-colored lino like marmoleum (if it's in your budget) or Armstrong tiles.
Colonial kitchens almost always have wainscoting. Consider it where there aren't cabinets. Painted. Usually it's tongue and groove in utilitarian rooms.
If it were my kitchen, I'd search for a great old gas stove. Most of them work as well as modern stoves, but if you do a lot of baking, you may want to install a modern convection wall oven as well.
Paint all cabinets in a toasty warm taupe (think mid-tone drabware wedgewood). Paint walls one shade lighter. Try a glossy dark crimson red beadboard backsplash. Add black hardware and eventually, a red stove. Replace hood with a microwave to free up counterspace. Add painted skinny cabinets turned on their sides with drabware beadboard backs above your existing cabinets, leave doors off - but add dentil crown molding and side trim to fill to ceiling / frame corner display area. Use these for some display, some storage of larger pieces. Take little glassware down from above and add one large painted red sign. Add open shelves with wood corbels painted drabware above /the width of the end of your table. Put your cookbooks there with rooster bookends and a basket to keep napkins, salt and pepper, practical table stuff.
Take stuff off counters (see microwave and cookbok notes above). Whe you add a toaster, or blender or mixer, spring for the red one and store them above the cabinets. No, in 1800 we didn't see red stoves and mixers, but that is the fun of the new eclectic mix you can have.
Using your harvest table instead of adding another island in makes good sense - it is gorgeous. If you do really have room for a freestanding island - use beadboard to wrap some it, stain the base dark to match your table and add a natural butcher block wood top - ikea sells them for less.
Look for feedsack with red printing fabric for a valance that hangs above / over the window. Window trim and all baseboards / door trim should go to deeper drabware tone like cabinets.
Eventually change out your fan for a old schoolhouse type fixture on a dimmer and add undercounter lighting. For now, paint it black with spray paint.
For the floor, I suggest natural linoleum, such as Marmolium. It may be a little more expensive than vinyl, but not as expensive as tile. It is a good durable very traditional material that comes in some great colors. Did I mention it is made of natural materials?
I think that I would only consider painting the cabinets after seeing the end result of your other updates too. It would really be a shame to paint quality wood!
Finish off your ceiling first, then choose your flooring. If you choose flooring that will look good with your cabinets, then it will so much easier to pick paint colors, backsplash, vent and stove. After everything else you can get new cabinet hardware to coordinate with your new lighting, vent and stove.
;)
I Hope to get your input too, when we start building later this year. Amish are going to erect our building and we have already picked out some furniture built by an Amish craftsman!
In the meantime - I am trying to sell our previous home, while living in an incredibly small, and really really old farmhouse on our new property. I can't wait until the day when we can move into a brand new place and shove this poor old place in the ground. So nice to live vicariously through the Houzzers here!!
Good Luck to you and hope to see you on Houzz again.
I think the wood of your cabinets is calling out for colors that are golder and warmer - the blue of the walls clashes. A real cream or honey color even.
Everything here is tile - countertops, floors, backsplash. Northern france has wooden floors, but everything in the south is terra cotta tile - the choices of colors is endless, of course.
But iin general, I think your kitchen is beautiful. Just a few color changes will make it all come together.
Just a little tip . I think you have too many ideas being thrown at you. Some are good.
Start by identifying what your color / style preferences are. Do you even like white cabinets, or do you prefer the color wood you have ? Do you want the kitchen to be bright and colorful, or do you prefer a more serene feeling?
It helps if you tag a bunch of rooms that you like and then identify the common thread.
Design is only good if it is a reflection of your taste and meets your needs.
HAVING SAID THAT, there is are a lot of artifacts and utensils that will distract from any look you are trying to achieve.
Before you do anything, remove 90% of the things on the counter, everything from the walls, and everything from above the cabinets. It is not a country "homey " look, it is visual clutter.
It is okay to have well chosen pieces that you enjoy, but a few well chosen pieces will satisfy your design.
Keep in mind that as the cabinets are now, they jump out from the background.
When the space is visually broken many times between base cabinet color, then backsplash
( different ) color, then cabinet, then wall ( color again ) it is harder to create a pulled together look.
Example: if you decided to leave the cabinets the same as they are,
Choose a shade backsplash that BLENDS with the cabinet color and the same goes for the walls.
If your cabinet is honey toned, don't choose a white or dark color backsplash.
A med. warm tone ( NOT Silver, or blue or bright for example ) - such as pumpkin colored glass, or copper, would be more harmonious.
If you did want to change the cabinets, say paint just the upper cabinets a color ( I would go lighter than the base cabinet color - not darker) , you should do the same thing; blend the surrounding walls and the different base cabinets will create contrast and anchor the room.
Additionally, you have white appliances which really look dated unless they blend in with white cabinets. YOU will get more bang for your buck aesthetically if you change those and get rid of the white. I would personally make do with the floor and adding an island and doing that first.
Anything that creates a harsh visual break ( like white appliances next to wood ) chops up the feeling in the room.
You could contemplate painting the one wall without cabinets a stronger or brighter color, and perhaps instead of a hanging collection, have a tall vertical chalkboard ( like those large 6 ' mirrors that are framed like art ) or a framed bulletin board or a large piece of canvas art !
If your budget allows, put crown molding on the upper cabinets and dress the window with an updated treatment ( no frills and do not obscure the window - place a treatment as high as the crown molding ).
You can inject your style / pattern with this and either some overstuffed chairs or some coordination chair cushions and a " personality piece " on your table.
Good luck and enjoy the process ( but do your homework ! )
Comments like these: "It is not a country "homey " look, it is visual clutter." are not constructive or helpful in any way...nor are people who come across as know-it-all types:
" rather than the things that are important to YOU, what SHOULD be done is_______instead...
A "Country clutter"-style kitchen if done well, can be really cute, homey, and comforting. Not everyone wants to eat and gather in a sterile, stainless-steel, industrial looking environment. Might as well live in a hotel! ; )
dont get bullied by whatever anyones suggestion are,go with what you like and take the tips and hints you need,you know how you want to live,good luck and i hope to see this kitchen again in the before and aftersection and i am sure it will be "magnifique"!!
On the "stuff" comment, I just went through cleaning out my kitchen in and outside the cabinets and I can tell you, if you haven't done it, it is so refreshing. A couple of rules/thoughts when you do (and of course, donate all that you can or have a garage sale to help offset future costs):
Ask yourself simple questions when you pull it out of the cabinet: Do I really LOVE this? Do i USE it? If you do keep it. If you don't, keep it only if it has sentimental meaning. Take the wine bottle on top of your cabinets, is this something you look at often and get gooey? Maybe it is from a great anniversary and you can't part with it. That's ok but if you don't use it or need to see regularly then perhaps a keepsake box in the attic is a better place?
On cookbooks, do you use them all regularly? I found that I had a bunch that I bought to support church but never used them. Donate. Now, my Joy of Cooking and the other classics that are pretty AND I don't use them, I kept because I like classics on my shelf!
Wineglasses? I see you have a bunch. Do you have that many parties to accommodate that many drinkers? If not, donate (glassware and other silverware stuff will not sell at a garage sale) If so, perhaps box them and store them where you can access when you have the party.
Also, re-look at some of the things you have. Bring the pretty ones at eye level. The ceramic apple thingy above the cabinets looks nice and would be really pretty on the table instead of the candles mixed with the bananas (do they really go together?)
We get into what it easy and don't re-look at simple things because if we did, it would just be another project. But, if you are going to paint/replace/etc. then this is a great time to make boxes that say garage sale, giveaway and toss. I kept three out and each day attacked one cabinet so as to not overwhelm myself.
One final note: I also rearranged where stuff was in my cabinets thanks to my great friend Lina. It was difficult as first but it made so much sense. As an example in my case, my food was in a pantry that was several steps away so I moved that closer then used the pantry to hold my serving dishes and cookware that was only used occasionally. This was one of the greatest re-designs of my life.
Enjoy!
and who knows maybe I will be able to help someone also! Carol I will post a after picture, It will be a while because of sickness in my family so check back!