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Thread: A decor question - kitchen cabinets

  1. #1
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    A decor question - kitchen cabinets

    We are replacing the 1980s falling apart kitchen cabinets in our house and haven't a clue what "color" to go with. Looking at decor sites like Houzz for ideas makes my head spin and I don't have a strong preference either way. Floor is natural oak wood floor. Some shade of wood or white? What say ye simple people? I don't think we'll be in this house for the long haul so it needs to appeal to the masses I guess.

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    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    White cabinents still seem to be at the top of the trendline, but
    I cant help but think that trend will soon plunge. Still, white kitchen cabinents are classic even if recent years have had them uber trendy.

    The dilemma is, if they are wood, what color wood would you get?

    Me, I am attracted to white cabinents so that us what I would get. That is what I have from 30 years ago, painted white cabinents built by DH. In fact DH is painting them right now for the third time in their lives.

    I also like cherry wood in a classic pattern, something with panels. Also, I would be interested in streamlined light wood, IKEA type products.

    what is the age of your house? Sometimes it is nice to play to that.

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    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    The house we are buying has very cool old cabinents, probably fromthe 40’s or ? 60’s. And it is sad thst we might move the kitchen from One side of the house to the other side, so those kitchen cabinets would have to go. Truly I am sad about that, I don’t want to be one of those people who rip out perfectly good and interesting old cabinets.

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    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
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    After DH paints our kitchen cabinets, we are going to get new countertops! I am now excited about it! We have formica that has been here for 30 years and I never liked it, but I didn’t really want to lay out money for real stone and nothing else was of interest to me.

    I suppose we will be getting quartz which is not real stone but is pretty in the right configurations. I looked online at recycled glass, but that just screams “composite!!!” to me.

  5. #5
    Senior Member Gardenarian's Avatar
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    I've always had wood, but out current house has white cabinets and I much prefer them. Ours are flat panel and very easy to clean.

    We have Corian countertops (came with the house) and they are very pretty and clean looking, but take some care (no hot pans on the counter.)

    Our floors are currently a vinyl that looks, literally, like white smeared with mud. Ick! I am planning to replace these with sheet vinyl in a whitewashed wood plank pattern.

    One thing I would prefer would be to have the cabinet hinges on the inside. Oh, also - we have drawers instead of lower cabinets - I find these very useful.

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    Senior Member rosarugosa's Avatar
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    We don't have cabinets, just a vintage cupboard but it is white; I have always liked white.

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    Senior Member jp1's Avatar
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    Everyone on househunters these days wants white. If it’s going to be more than five years before you sell i’d go with black since white will undoubtedly be out of style by then the same way everyone hates granite countertops now.

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    Senior Member razz's Avatar
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    The only thing that I don't like about my lovely house is the dark (reddish-black) cabinetry. I can carefully wipe it down and it still shows every speck of dust when the sun shines on it. Any grooves in the doors appear dirty despite care.

    Make sure that the white of your cupboards doesn't conflict with white in baseboards or window frames. I have 'cloud white' in my window frames and a light cupboard makes the window frames look grayish and old.

    If I do the cabinetry over which I may in a few years, I would go with a medium oak colour to match the fireplace mantel that blends well with the floor and the railing going downstairs. I would not change them.
    As Cicero said, “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”

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    Senior Member SteveinMN's Avatar
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    White is uber-hot these days; unless you like white and it fits very well with the rest of the house, I'd skip it. It will date a kitchen as mid-2010s the same way cherry Shaker cabinets and dark granite now scream early-2000s. If you go white, razz makes an excellent point about matching the tint to other white finishes in the house.

    We refaced our kitchen cabinets 5-6 years ago, going from the mid-70s dark wood (which neither of us likes) to -- umm -- cherry (white/grey/black laminate counters, though). We have a lot of Scandinavian teak furniture in the house and the cherry was as close as we could get to that. It's a departure from the dark wood, which still exists as millwork throughout the house but the open kitchen, with our furniture, is not a huge departure in color -- and is much less of a departure than, say, maple or birch. Hidden hinges and damped hinges for the win...

    You might also consider appliance colors. A dark finish and white appliances can be a visually-jarring combination. If you're planning to replace your appliances, you'll have a greater choice of finishes.
    Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington

  10. #10
    Williamsmith
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    It’s important to me to have a kitchen with good lighting and therefore I shy away from dark cabinetry. If you have a window or two in the kitchen then I think you can get away with some kind of color in shades of grey, blue. But if the kitchen is in a dark corner of the house like mine, I’d lean toward white or a natural hardwood that is light in color...like hickory. Keep it bright so you can see what you are cooking.

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