Friday, March 02, 2007

Kitchen Adjustment

Superdad and I are seriously thinking of remodeling our kitchen. For those of you who have seen it I'm sure you understand why. It's all fairly new but it's just not how I would like it, the highlight in ugly-ness being the bright green formica countertops.

Given the amount of time I spend in my kitchen it's disappointing there aren't more pictures of it and, as a result, I'm forced to once again share this awful picture of me, but if you enlarge it you can see the kitchen. Sort of.


What we want to do:

1) Re-do the floors. Pull up the linoleum and put in hard wood. We can try to match the oak currently throughout the first floor (which is the less expensive option) or we can go with a lighter maple, which could help make the kitchen feel larger and brighter. I'm sort of leaning to a larger plank (think 4-5 inches) maple, but I am open and encourage any suggestions (especially from a particular aunt who I know possesses an acumen for envisioning what would look good!).

2) Re-do the absurdly ugly counters. We're open to almost anything for the new counter top, although my preferences certainly seem to trend towards some type of stone. It's such a small amount of counter top that granite or silestone are the front runners right now. So, tell me what you know about the positives and negatives of each. Color suggestions are welcome, too.

3) Put in a new sink. We have an old, crusty stainless steel sink and I want an under mounted sink of some sort. This though, I feel fairly capable of choosing on my own since the selection is a bit more limited. I'd love to hear input from those who have one though and if there is any downside.

UPDATE: I took and posted current pictures here.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love to decorate! Wish I lived closer and we could get together and "talk shop!"
I would pick the flooring out first and match everything to that. Matching the oak might be difficult so I would choose something different altogether. What about ceramic tile or travertine? If you don't like either of those, then I would go with the maple or something besides oak.
For the countertops, definitely granite! I love mine, it's easy to clean, you can put hot pans right on it, I can't think of a single negative thing about it (and I have had it in two houses!). You're going to want a color that compliments the flooring and the cabinets. There are some really pretty granite colors out there!
I have a stainless steel undermount sink to match my ss appliances, but you could also do a cast iron undermount sink in any color.
HTH, can't wait to see what you pick out!

Unknown said...

Cait, I wish I had some advice, but I don't really since we're doing the same thing! I can't wait to see all of our choices and create something unique and fabulous. I like megan's suggestions as far as flooring, countertops . . . everything. I love your idea of 4" wide wood - would look really nice in that kind of kitchen. You can get some wonderfully looking fake wood floors in gizillion of colors. We are leaning towards this for our dining room because we like the look of wood but hate the maintenance. We have it now in 2 bedrooms and our kitchen. I would never ever have it in my kitchen again . . . unless it's the fake sutff. Grated, it's not nearly as pretty, but if it's a good kind, you won't be able to tell that it is fake! It's scratch-resistant and you can spill anything and everything on it and it cleans up so great. For our kitchen, I think we are leaning towards ceramic with a darker grout (we've learned our lesson with light grouts).

Counterwise, I would go for a stone . . . they all are beautiful. I think granite is the most pricey, isn't it? I'm not sure . But there sure are endless possibilities and colors. I don't think you can really go wrong anymore with the way they are all made and how they look these days. As for color, I'd do a lighter stone color. If your cabinets are dark, go with lighter, if your cabinets are lighter, go with darker. You want to compliment it! If anything, this was pounded into my head from all my art classes I took. And it really does make a huge difference.

Sinks? I have absolutely no idea. that is something I have not even glanced at yet at Lowe's. Good luck!!!! I'm excited to see what you do!

Anonymous said...

4)knock out that back wall. There's a little room in the backyard, isn't there? ;)

(i only tease b/c i'm jealous.)