Sheena's Kitchen

Dear Christine,

I love your blog. I really, really do. My family and I just moved into our first house and I need some serious design advice. (my husband just peaked over my shoulder and asked, "does she do that for free?" I said, "Yes! She really does! Isn't that awesome?!" ) Anyways, my kitchen/dining room/living room need some help...

A couple of dilemmas-

There is too much wood in the kitchen. The cabinets, the floor, the kitchen table. I'd like to paint the cabinets and the kitchen bench white, but I'm not sure if it would go well with the black counter tops and black appliances. Would you paint the kitchen table white too? Or would that be too much white? Could I get away with NOT painting the cabinets? I love country/cottage/farmhouse style, and bright colors. My favorite color is a limey, viney green, which I would love to incorporate in the kitchen. Turquoise is beautiful too. (I don't know if these are colors would look good, I'm just saying. I LOVE green.) I'm want to choose colors and items that I won't have to change for a while. I love patterns too, but don't want to choose something that will be outdated in a couple of years.

Ahem. So. Too much wood.

Then there is the kitchen back splash. I'm just not sure what would look good with black counter tops. I really liked the pictures in your recent post with the bead board back splash. I've been dreaming about a green tile back splash too, but I'm not really sure how that would look. Maybe white or teal subway tile?

Last, there are built-in shelves running the length of the living room and above the kitchen range. I'm confused about these shelves. Am I supposed to put decorations up there? I'm worried about hanging stuff on the walls AND putting things on the shelf. I don't want it to look cluttered, or create competing focal points. What do you think about adding some architectural details above the shelves...such as beadboard or stonework. (ha! like I could afford stonework) Brick wallpaper, perhaps?

Anyways, I know that is a lot to cover, so whatever you can get to would be much appreciated!

Thanks again,
Sheena

Dear Sheena,

I want to add some style to your kitchen. There is simply nothing happening in there right now.

1. Window Treatments. All you have is hard surfaces. This room needs some fabric. If you are concerned about it going out of style in a few years- simply avoid your trendy color combos. Go for something more unexpected. I selected one for you below from Amy Butler. The black background will do wonders in helping to pull your counters into the pallet rather than being the lone black item in the room. It will look more like you chose them specifically to go with your fabulous cafe curtains.
2. Don't limit yourself to just one pattern in the room. Pull in some color and softness with a rug as well. The rug below is from Dash and Albert. I love how they go together - but not too matchy. Put it under your table- or in your work area. (not both.)
3. For pattern #3- look to your light above the table. I would hang a patterned drum shade like the one below from Shades of Light. You said you love green, right?
4. You need new lighting in the adjoining entry as well- go with something totally different like a metal lantern. Don't' try to have a matching set of anything.
5. So- should you paint your cabinets white? I would paint them green. I like the kitchen below with the green lower cabinets and white shelves above. I would take out the entire upper cabinet that is over the peninsula- and all of the dry wall above it. Totally open it up. I like your idea of a cream subway tile backsplash- and also your idea of bead board above the shelf area. Add black hardware.
6. One of the nice things about painting- is is allows you to make some changes to your cabinets. I would add a nicer hood- like the one below- or even a more simple one made of beadboard- like the ones in this post. The hood should aways be the focal point of the kitchen.

Good luck with your changes! Don't skip any steps! Do everything I said.

Tamlynn's Kitchen Remodel

Hi Christine!

I hope you are doing well, your blog is still very fun and informative. I am dreaming here, but if I could rip out everything in my kitchen and start over, I would still be at a loss where it comes to layout. My main problem is that I would like to keep a small eating area in the kitchen. We do have a dining table in the family room/great room, but we do our school work there, so it is not available for breakfast and lunch. So disregarding plumbing, gas, electric, etc. and just keeping existing walls, what do you think would be the most convenient kitchen layout in this space?
Thank you,
Tamlynn

Hi Tamlynn,
Your floorplan was too light for me to read exactly- but I got the measurements and the basic idea- I have two plans for you. #1 is above. In this plan I would add a nook- built right in- matching your cabinetry material- not missing a beat in the flow. It is only large enough for a 36 x 36 table- but the floorplan doesn't sacrifice too much counter and storage space.
Notice in this picture above the shelf above the windows. You have several windows in your area- I would have a shelf like the one above. It adds some continuity to the flow of the area. Compare that with the picture below with no shelf. I like the shelf.

Below is an idea for your built-in. With such a narrow room- this will seat more people than you could at a table. If you have small children- they can just pile in. :)

I wanted to show you the picture below for the ceiling- I love how the horizontal slats of the bead board help that long narrow room feel less long and narrow.

I would have your kitchen be white- like those in these pictures- whenever the space is as narrow as yours- I feel it makes for a much nicer feel than a wood stain. More open- less claustrophobic.

Overall- you don't have a lot of storage- One idea is to use extra wall space to hang things like your pots and pans. You have to have decent looking pots and pans- but the look could be really cool- and not take up valuable cabinet space.

Notice in the picture below more hanging storage- this time of utensils.

A different look below with hanging pan storage.

To increase your cabinet and counter space- I have a couple other ideas for you- floorplan #2 is at the very top of the post. Here I put a little bar along your wall- similar to what you find at Chipotle- it doesn't take up a lot of space- and with your dimensions you should be able to fit three barstools. It's perfect to have the kids eat a bowl of cereal- or have a snack. It is not very "family conversation" friendly- but hey- look how much more cabinet space you have. :)

Well Tamlynn, I hope I gave you some ideas- good luck with the remodel! Anyone else have ideas for Tamlynn? Her room is a challenging 8' x 19' with three doors and two windows!