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Epic Battle with MH re Kitchen (PIP)
As a follow up on my post below, I thought MH and I were settled that he could live with espresso cabinets and light granite. But we went to the kitchen store last night and all of a sudden he's making excuses about how that granite would get stained (even though I explained the sealing process to him). In any event, I just wrote him this email laying it all out. I hope we can get this resolved soon because we're finally in a position to finish this effing thing! (And, uh...this is insanely long)....
INSPIRATIONAL PHOTOS
Here are many looks I am using for inspiration. Not any one of these is My Dream Kitchen, but they are all great inspiration for the type of feel I want our kitchen to have. Specifically, I love the contemporary lines of the espresso cabinets and light countertops, and the light airy feeling created by the contrast between light and dark. Most of these photos contain elements you have expressly vetoed (e.g. white countertops and/or cabinets), but I still want you to get a feel for them before I present my suggestions for practical solutions.
I also love the idea of ?mixing and matching? light cabinets and dark cabinets as shown here:
And I also like the white cabinets/dark countertops approach. These looks below are all pretty plain, but it?s very easy to add a lot of color and pizzazz with paint and the backsplash when you?ve got totally neutral base pieces like these.
CAVE KITCHENS
Now that I?ve shown you a sense of what I love, here are some looks that I?m trying to avoid: the dreaded "cave kitchen.? Even with high ceilings and in most cases light backsplashes, I think that these color combinations are much too dark and dreary for the centerpiece of your home.
This one almost works for me, mostly because the light floor, high ceilings, light neutral backsplash, and lighting brighten up the space.
I have seen only one kitchen that I think pulled off the dark/dark combo without turning into a cave kitchen; I think the high ceilings, light gray floor, and overall space really help:
PRACTICAL SOLUTIONS
So, with all that as background, here are the possible solutions I see to our cabinet/countertop combo dilemma.
1. Gray Granite. We find a gray granite that we both like at someplace like Seattle Granite or G.S. Granite (which are comparable to Pius price-wise). It could be like as shown in the picture below, or even a little darker. We pair the gray granite with the Pius espresso cabinets and find a fun backsplash we both love. Everyone wins!
2. Solid-Surface Countertop. I?m not sure if you actually LIKE the look of the lighter countertop with dark cabinets. I had been assuming that you didn?t, but yesterday you said that you liked the LOOK of the light countertops, you were just afraid about staining a light-colored semi-porous stone like granite. If that?s the case, I could look into pricing for non-porous solid-surface countertops like Corian. In terms of style, Corian now makes countertops that look like natural stone, as shown below. We could find a light-colored Corian or other solid-surface countertop that we both love, and then pair it with the espresso cabinets and a fun backsplash. Everyone wins! (Unless, of course, it really is that you simply don?t like the look of light countertops, in which case only I win).
3. Dark Granite with Dark Cabinets. We could go with a dark granite and the espresso cabinets, and give me a lot of latitude to try to brighten everything up with light paint and a light backsplash. My goal would be to avoid the cave effect, getting closer to this look as opposed to the cave-like looks above. Everyone mostly wins.
4. Seal the White Granite. We get the white granite that I love with the espresso cabinets (paired with a mutually agreeable backsplash) and it becomes my responsibility every year to seal it with the 511 Impregnator (yes, that?s what it?s called. That?s almost as good as the Caulk Master 3000). Please note that the white granite has flecks of brown and burgundy in it, which would help hide stains unlike a plain white granite or marble (and any granite we get needs to be sealed to protect it from oil and citrus stains anyway). Melissa wins, Nick settles.
5. Cherry cabinets with Dark Granite. We get the Pius cherry cabinets with a dark granite and I get a lot of latitude to try to avoid the cave effect by using light neutral paint and backsplash. Nick wins, Melissa settles.
So, there you have my current thoughts. I know there are other options out there, but I see the first three as our most viable options. Please let me know what you think.
xoxo
M
Re: Epic Battle with MH re Kitchen (PIP)
I had to catch up and go back and read the other post (from yesterday?)
I really like how you laid out all the options. It's a huge step to finish up the kitchen (we have never had to compromise from a blank canvas. I can't imagine how hard that must be!)
I really like the light countertops with dark cabinets - especially with the mixed in glass front cabinets you have selected (I think you will still go with some of those?) because you can brighten the space by adding lights and even putting some fun color dishes/glasses in them).
I have light grey granite tiles (which is an even bigger stain risk because of the sand grout). We are not careful and everything has been ok.
I love the white cabinets (and even the white with dark mixed in) but does that match the rest of your house or will you need more updating and remodeling to get the look completed? Not that it really matters, because if you guys both agree on that I'm sure it will all work out!
I think the dark/dark with light paint in the last picture only works well because they don't have upper cabinets and I don't think it sounds like that will be an option for you, so it will be really hard to avoid the cave look you are nervous about.
I'm so excited to see what you end up going with!
Hi Robbi!
You know, I just figured this out after staring at the photo for a while; you're totally right. At this point I'd hate to start messing with the design (to try to eliminate uppers) because everything up until and including this point has been such. a. struggle! I can't imagine going back to the LAYOUT drawing board too! At least we both love the layout!
I agree - i think this only works b/c they don't have upper cabinets, so you see so much more of the light-colored walls!
we have gray granite as well, and are NOT careful about it at all. it's been fine, no stains (as far as i can see!). moisture only really seeps in if it stays wet for like, a day or two (which has happened - oops) - but then you just wipe it up and it dries up fine. if you had a colored wet spot that you let sit there for a few days, then maybe (just maybe!) it would stain, but otherwise, i don't see that being a problem!
Thanks for this info; I'll be sure to pass it on to MH! He's gotten used to me saying "but the Hawaii Nesties think..."
I think you laid out the options really well!
My favorite look is still the light granite and dark cupboards - I think the gray granite would be a nice compromise, if he's willing to go for that (if he genuinely likes the look anyway, and isn't just saying that).
I also really like the light cupboards and the mix & match ones, but I think the other look would go better with your sense of style (I get the sense that you guys prefer clean, modern lines and color schemes, and the mix & match ones are a bit more...I don't know, not shabby chic exactly, but something like it).
I agree that the all dark look just won't work with the cupboard layout you guys have in mind - there will just be too much dark in the room.
Yeah, the clean, modern lines are a good compromise. If I designed my own kitchen I probably would go with all white everything with light green as an accent, and running with that kinda shabby chic feel. MH doesn't like that look at all, and would go with ULTRA modern if it was all up to him (e.g. super minimalist stainless steel and plastic). I find that ultra modern style to be too cold and stark, so the comtemporary style we chose seems to be a good middle ground for us.
We have a lighter granite (almost grey) and we have white cabinents. If your kitchen is small then white works wonders! I love the contemp looks but my mom is an interior designer and rec'd against it for our small kitchen. My parents have the darker granite. I must say the lighter granite shows MUCH less stuff than our light. I am glad we got the light granite. We have also not sealed it yet and we have no stains. I am not careful at all either. We have darker granite in one of our bathrooms and that shows streaks, tooth paste, etc more easily. So dont worry if you dont seal it right away.
My word of caution about granite is to make sure you see your slabs to be 125% that they match when they meet up. Pick them out yourself and make sure they are from the same slab. I have learned SO SO much about kitchen remodel that it is crazy (i.e. like where do you put the seam, or how many faucet holes to get or under or overmount sinks).
PS What color is the lighter one by itself in PIP? I think I know exactly which one (forget the name~) because I liked it too, BUT when I took the actual sample home and had DH hold it up it looked awful. The lighting in your kitchen will make a world of difference rather than a picture. Get TONS of those as samples and take them home and play with them. They will look way different at home. Wish I could give you the 15+ samples (dark and light) that I have.
I guess getting samples is not so easy and Home depot charges for them (ridiculous!), so go to a Granite place and ask for them.
PS the Impregnator is the best sealer that I have rec'd too.
Like a lot of pp's, I like the espresso cabinets (a lot), but I may be biased because I choose espresso for all the furniture we've bought since we got married
And I think it would look great with a light gray countertop. I personally would actually prefer the light gray over white, because gray hides/blends in dirt/stains/etc better than white does and the light gray wouldn't make it look like a cave kitchen. I actually am a big fan of dark colors (my wardrobe is almost all black and our dinnerware set is black) but even with my bias towards dark colors, I *really* don't like the dark cabinet/dark countertop combo (I never heard the term "cave kitchen" until now but that pretty much explains it in a nutshell). GL!