kitchen cabinets and appliances

[Tybee]

I'm not ready to put in a new kitchen in this house but sometime in the next couple of years I'd like to put one in somewhere. I am torn between white cabinets and sage green--I have put in a couple of IKEA kitchens and loved them so this one is a contender, because I like the clean lines and it would be easier to clean:





But I'm always drawn to white kitchens with butcher block tops. Whatever I do I want butcher block counters.

With all that in mind, I want to get a new refrigerator. We just put in a white dishwasher because we needed one that day and we actually really like it. Am thinking of getting white, not stainless?

[early morning]

I like white appliances, personally. Or black. I don't like stainless for appliances. I also like paintable cheap but well build (think used!) wooden cupboards, because I like paint, and I like to be able to change cheaply. I'd be awful with a kitchen reno, because I just don't care enough. I'd SO settle for having a ceiling with no holes in it. Really.

I do like that Ikea kitchen. But real butcher block is really hard to keep sanitary. Or even reasonably clean.

[catherine]

I'm a sage green fanatic, and I think colorful cabinets (not white) can be a great option. Many shades of sage are considered neutral. I personally find white too sterile, but of course there are ways to "warm up" a white kitchen.

I agree with early that butcher block can be hard to maintain. I put in a maple countertop when we moved in. It was cheap at Home Depot ($250, I think) and y handyman installed it. You do have to season it well with oil and make sure you do it regularly. It can stain otherwise.

I love that kitchen in the picture--sage and pine go great together.

[Tybee]

Early morning, you are right about keeping it up--I had wood countertops in SC and always had a cutting board on top if I did anything on them. I did oil them each week and I just like the way they look, but yes, more maintenance. Catherine, I agree about the pine and the sage now that you mention it.

[Tybee]

White like this one:

[frugal-one]

We had almond appliances when we moved in with the exception of the stainless steel dishwasher. I researched and found a really pretty decorative dishwasher magnet that covered the stainless steel. It brought the entire kitchen together! We just got new white appliances san dishwasher and now the dishwasher died. Ordered a white dishwasher but may still put a decorative magnet on it. It really enhances the kitchen’s aesthetics!

[early morning]

oof, that's lovely to look at, but way too much white for me to live in. and uncovered windows would be a no-go - what do you do when the sun shines through them, blinding you? and showing dirty glass? I do like seeing out, but hate the thoughts of people seeing IN. Especially at night.

[frugal-one]

I personally like cupboards versus open shelves. Just a few things gone from or out of place on a shelf looks disorganized IMO. Guess your post was about the cabinets though….not shelves.

[Tybee]

I personally like cupboards versus open shelves. Just a few things gone from or out of place on a shelf looks disorganized IMO. Guess your post was about the cabinets though….not shelves.

Yes, the open shelves would get very dusty here as we use wood stove and it seems to encourage dust. But I think the kitchen is really pretty.

[rosarugosa]

I've always wanted white cabinets, which is what we selected. I really love the look of butcher block counters, but I was scared away by the upkeep concerns. I like the look of those farmhouse sinks, but I think that front is just asking for trouble from buttons or belt buckles, etc. scratching it up (we don't have a dishwasher, so we are often at the sink).

I know that people often feel white is cold, but looking at those two pictures, the green one reminds me of the sink area and cabinetry in a medical examination or procedure room, so it looks colder to me than the white kitchen (but you know my personal bias). I think it's the combination of the color and the really stark modern lines of the cabinets. I think all the wood in the second picture keeps it from looking cold, but for some reason the green kitchen looks cold to me despite all the wood.

I like white appliances well enough and probably would have opted to keep our older appliances if they weren't so yellowed with age. I still have misgivings over retiring those old built-to-last workhorses in favor of pretty shiny things that aren't going to last long at all. But since we were finally getting a nice new kitchen after 39 years, it seemed sensible to go all in and have nice-looking appliances too. DH liked stainless, and the choices in white have become more limited, so we went with stainless, but I would have also been OK with white.