SFGate

sarahfrisone Are you planning on doing granite? If so, Giallo Fiorito would look great with those cabinets. You can always do a cutting board island which looks nice and is efficient. It looks like your appliances are black and there is a lot of black/gold in the fiorito which would pull your kitchen together. For a new tile I'd say something gold/beige which is neutral but will keep the kitchen light.

4meandchris Yes, we will be doing granite and the dishwasher is being replaced stainless.
We are also thinking of adding a built in breakfast nook under those windows... thoughts on that?

sarahfrisone Do you mean a built in bench for seating? If so I think that would look adorable! Are you thinking about changing the paint color? If so, a color like Putnam Ivory by Benjamin Moore would look awesome in there if you went with the beige theme.

4meandchris yes, built in bench seating around the windows with pull out drawers underneath. Idea came from here!
I like the idea of the beige wall. any ideas for the island? Keep it the same as the other cabinets? We want to put a fresh face on the long back side. Bead board?? But if we do that, it will be next to impossible to match the color, so hummmm. We would probably paint the bench seats white to go with the new white-ish floor.

sarahfrisone You could do white bead board which would match but I'm not sure how well it would work with the cabinets. A black island would look great if you're still planning to change the floor. If you did the island in black the bench seats would look nice black as well. I found a few ideas on here...

JDM Countertops, Inc. I think a granite like Cafe' Creme or Colonial Cream would be nice to compliment your colors and still keep it light. It looks like you have kind of a country feel, so a wood-looking porcelain tile may be nice (it's much more practical than real hard wood). The manufactueres have come out with some great looking lines like the ones below. For your back splash I would keep it light and neutral with maybe a tumbled stone mosaic. For some color and some pop you can add in insets of an accent color (glass or stone) to pick up on other colors you have (hard to see any in the picture).

4meandchris The floor will need to stay white-ish as we have different woods touching the kitchen on opposite sides. We will be doing what looks like tile. Using a product by Armstrong called Alterna. It's a grouted tile looking floor but it will stay overall looking white to keep the kitchen bright. think with the size of my kitchen I could not pull off a black island. Gray would look washed out and odd with all the brown, but what do you think about a darker wood color? mahogony?

sarahfrisone I think anything on the darker side would look great!

JDM Countertops, Inc. BTW, I love the idea of a bench seat in your breakfast nook! I'm thinking about doing the same thing in my house.

JDM Countertops, Inc. A darker island would provide nice contrast, but would you keep the countertop material the same?

4meandchris Yeah, I don't know. My kitchen is not all that large and I don't know about making the island completely different, color and countertop. What typically looks the best?
Yes, I am very excited about the bench seating. I never did this before now because I was worried about the pillows coming up into the windows, but once I saw pics here of that exact same thing, my bravery has come back! I found a cool website that will make custom cushions and pillows, so I will add seasonal colors with my pillows!

JDM Countertops, Inc. I think given the size of your kitchen, I would keep the countertop material the same even if you change the color of cabinetry. It will help provide some cohesion.

Pillows are a cheap and great way to redecorate and seasonally change things up! I would love to see pictures when you're done.

lessismoore One concern on the window seat/nook idea. Do your windows end at "seating" height? Pictures can be so deceiving - it "looks" like your windows would have to be shortened from here ... plus I see an outlet (making it more work too). The other thing I've noticed with window seats; how comfortable would it be to sit with a glass window at your back? Just some things to keep in mind :-)

Total Quality Home Builders, Inc. Definitely go a different color for the Island, even possibly a different counter top than the rest of your kitchen. Not only is it all the rage in the higher end home, but will give you the added flair I think you are looking for. The breakfast nook built in is also a great idea! Coordinate it with the island! I would stay away from the lighter floor however and let your cabinets and paint draw your eye with the lighter color. Go with a tile or hardwood in the kitchen that pulls a bit darker. It will also help to hide the dirt better! For a backsplash: tile with a hint of glass is currently a hot pick. The great thing about decorating these days is the rules have really changed. Nothing has to hard core match anymore and instead just needs to flow to your eye! Have fun and enjoy!

Total Quality Home Builders, Inc. PS: A really pretty hanging fixture over your island with a coordinating one over your sink could do wonders!

4meandchris Good points, all... the nook is a big question... yes, the folks will have their backs against windows. Will that be an issue?? Many of the pictures have it this way.

lessismoore I think you will see this more in a "reading" type of window seat (where you can sit with your back to the wall and stretch your legs out) and less in a actual "dining" nook. Of course, they do have the bench kind which is free standing and that would make it easy. But (we have a reading nook - and I don't know if you have kids or pets - but it makes me "nervous" watching them bang against the windows!) Here are pix showing the difference.
[houzz=Sarah Susanka FAIA] (window seat)
[houzz=Breakfast Nook(ook-traditional-kitchen-new-orleans] (dining nook). You will find variations, some more, some less, but I think it is worth a thought.

4meandchris Yikes! Glad I am asking everyone. How do you attach photos from your ideabook here to these discussions as I'd like to show you what I am thinking.

yvesun I would place a round drop leaf table in the nook as it will give you seating options. With all the natural light you have streaming into your kitchen I would warm up the wall colour to Duron's Pacer White-6098. Have you picked out the granite?

lessismoore If there is a photo you want to embed (from Houzz) in the discussion, just copy the last line of code (word press) and paste it here. If you are on a pc - the code pops up when you do a right click on any pix you want to embed. :-)