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Kitchen advice :) PIP.
Hi guys,
My husband and I are closing on our first house on march 9- very excited! We love this house, however, there's a couple of things- that although very nice- are just a little different to our taste (for example there are light hardwoods and dark kitchen cabinets). I think the first thing we are going to do before we move in, is refinish the hardwoods to a nice dark color, get the walls repainted, and add in wainscoting on the bottom story of the house.
One thing I am particularly curious about is the kitchen. The cabinets are a really beautiful wood, and there are other great details about the kitchen. Our taste is little different though- we prefer a lighter, fresher look. Would anyone be able to tell me how involved it would be to redo these cabinets white? (We would probably change the countertops to a lighter color, too). We want the space to feel a little more open. We haven't really ever done any of this stuff before, so Im going into this a little blind. Would we paint or stain these cabinets? Is it a tough job? Cost? Also, does it look like a little island would fit in the space without opening it up too much? We really tend to need a lot of counter space! (The space looks quite a bit smaller in pics than it does in person).
Sorry if this post is a little all over the place, just want to get a head start on plans for this place so we don't have to make any last minute decisions. You guys are always so full of great advice 
here is a pic (we took this on inspection day. This is with the sellers stuff still in it)-
TIA!
eta- there is a double oven (both full size) on the wall to the left which you can't see, and the fridge is to the left of the range. There are also french doors to the dining room between the fridge and the wall with the ovens.
Re: Kitchen advice :) PIP.
Hello and congrats on your new home!
Repainting cabinets is not hard, but VERY time consuming. Basically it requires you to take all cabinets/doors off the hinges, sanding, priming, and painting. The cost of doing it yourself is low- all you really need is a sander (orbital sander worked great for me), and high quality paint, primer, brushes, and other inexpensive tools.
You could also get them profesionally painted, it's more $$ but if you don't have the time or don't want to do it yourself it's a good route to go.
That is a gorgeous kitchen. I can see why you want to lighten it up, it looks dark in there. Needs more overhead lighting!
Tarheels&Rebels, she is the one you need for the paint question! She painted some and they looked amazing. Those cabinets look great as is, but I definitely understand trying to live with something you don't like -- it's difficult!
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I am always in favor of leaving wood in its natural state if possible, I think a gray/white granite would really open up the kitchen, and possibly some different flooring in there. I can't tell if the flooring is nice or not. You could always try and use the granite you removed in another area of the house like bathrooms or laundry rooms, just so that it doesn't end up in a landfill!
Something like this
Or this
my read shelf:
<a href="http://www.thenest.com/?utm_source=ticker&utm_medium=HTML&utm_campaign=tickers" title="Home D
It is dark in there. I'd probably try lighter countertops, lighter paint color, and more ceiling lights before painting those cabinets, though. Since they're newish and in relatively good condition, it seems a shame to paint over them.
That said, if you want to paint them, I'd probably hire it out. Normally I'm all about DIY painting, and I painted the cabinets in our last house myself. However, a couple of professionals with sprayers and commercial-grade paint will probably do a better job, more worthy of the cabinets. Another alternative is refacing them, although that can be $$$.
That kitchen is beautiful.
I'd try more lighting first, then a lighter backsplash (it looks dark), then lighter countertops before touching those cabinets.
Are the current countertops granite? It looks like it in the picture. If so, before making any changes to the cabinets (which look new and like they are in great condition) or countertop I'd try smaller changes like others have suggested. Maybe the backsplash, lighting, decor, etc.
And if you do decide to paint those cabinets, since they are in such great shape I'd have it professionally done and not DIY.
Would it be possible to put in a skylight? It could bring in a lot of natural light. Just a thought. I wouldn't touch those nice cabinets.
As for the island, it's hard to tell from the pic, but it could work. I'd measure it out with tape and see if you think it would fit.I really love this island from C&B, and the white top could help lighten up the kitchen like you want.
Thank you guys so much for the advice! Like I said, Im going into this totally blind, so I really appreciate it.
As for the countertops- yep, they are granite. But I -really- don't like black granite... especially on darker cabinets. Its just not my style, and I am irrationally picky. Sometimes I annoy myself because even when things are really nice, and are the kind of things other people would love to have/do, if it's not my taste I just want to change things.
I think we might start with a lighter countertop... I just have a tendency to feel claustrophobic in darker spaces. The WHOLE house (it is 2600 sq ft) is hardwoods- both upstairs and downstairs. There is no carpet at all and I love that. The only parts that are not, are the foyer/kitchen and bathrooms. Eventually, I would like to extend the hardwood to the foyer/kitchen, but for right now I don't mind the tile. It's not really my style (again..lol) but it is good quality. The house was built in 2006 and the owners did soo much to it, and they are meticulous so everything is done very well and good quality. I almost feel like I'm treating things as if we got a fixer upper... when in reality nothing needs to be changed at all. Kind of hard to justify the changes I want to make... lol.
I like having a fan in the kitchen, but you are right about a different light maybe making it brighter. I was hoping if we had room for a kitchen island that we could put some pendant lights above it. Or maybe over the little peninsula. And I would love to add in some under cabinet lighting.
Does anybody know how much it might cost to get those cabinets professionally painted, if we did decide to do it??
Thanks again
I think painting the cabinets a white or cream would really lighten the space and then you might not want to change the counters. Here's a good picture of a white kitchen with black granite counters:
Also is the backsplash all tile already? That might be another area to lighten up without having the cost of $60+/sq foot to change granite.
I also would try to do the cabinets ourselves although I bet it's very tedious, but DH and I are pretty handy. I wouldn't know how much it would cost to do professionally, but I imagine that it would be less than a couple thousand dollars to just paint.
ETA - Oh and I would try living there before you add an island. It might feel really cramped in that space.
Are you united with the CCOKCs?
That kitchen is gorgeous. The cabinets looks rich and luxurious. Are they brand new? I wouldn't touch them!
I wouldn't buy the house if I hated a brand new kitchen that much; but I agree with the responders who suggested more lighting. I think that under cabinet lights and more recessed lights would make a world of difference.
lol, I don't HATE the kitchen at all, it's obviously a lovely kitchen. I could live with leaving it as is and not doing anything- we love the house and it is in our perfect neighborhood. I just *want* to change things, and we are in a position where we can so my imagination is running a little wild.
I think the cabinets are maybe 3 or so yrs old. As i mentioned, the house was only built in 2006. It was redone by the owners, though, ski know they aren't original to the house. I do think that the backsplash is all tile, too.
DH thinks that if we did the cabinets lighter, it might look weird with the lighter tile on the floor? That didn't really cross my mind, though. We just know that we can't obviously change the space itself, so we thought lightening it up might make it feel a little more open.
My biggest piece of advice is to live in the house for a few months before you make any final decisions about big renovations. It makes sense to have the floors refinished before move-in and having things painted, but as for other things -- there were things that I thought I would hate about my house that I found out I really liked, and other things I had no idea would be an issue that became a bigger priority. Our kitchen is pink (!) and I thought I wouldn't be able to stand it for a minute, and now I hardly notice it. We put our effort into changing the room we're in the most, and it was a good decision.
In the meantime, start looking around on Pinterest and other sites, pinning kitchens you love, and then deciding if you want to work with what you have or go ahead with the changes. You may find there's something you hate about the cabinets (doors don't hang right, space in the wrong places, etc.), and you'd be bitter if you had them all painted just to decide you wanted to replace them anyway. For example, we had a broken window pane replaced for like $250, and then a few months later decided to replace all the windows. We should have just waited!
I think PPs covered your issues with the cabinets & brightening things up pretty well. As far as the island goes... One of my neighbors has an island that is more like a small piece of furniture, that she can move out of the kitchen if she wants. It was so handy to have that extra food prep space, and I loved that it wasn't a permanent commitment. I'm now on the hunt for something similar... unfortunately I don't have a picture to share with you, but does that even sort of make sense?
Although, if you had a furniture-style island rather than something built in, then you probably wouldn't want pendant lighting above it.
I agree with some of the comments that you need to try lighter countertops first and more lighting before you paint the cabinets white. The natural wood color already looks great as is. Though you still need to match the tint because it looks like some are lightly tinted and some are dark.
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