What would you do with these kitchen cabinets? - Page 4

[honolula]

Yeah to that. Painted wood is hardly a fad. We'd see a lot more of the older examples if it weren't for all the passing wood trends that have come and gone through the decades that have caused lovely old kitchens to be gutted and redone with the kind of dated stuff that we're turning around and painting, now. I was in antiques for a while, and I saw plenty of Early American wood peices that were seriously devalued because someone at some point stripped the very old paint off of them and gave them a smart, modern finish.

I would never paint those floors, though. They're beautiful, not to mention pretty desireable and valuable, unlike late 60's kitchen cabinets. Still, if someone wanted to paint them, it wouldn't be a permanent change. Wood floors need to be sanded and refinished every so often, anyway.

[Aliviasmom]

Refinish in a lighter color. Don't paint. Stain. Either the natural color of the wood, or a similar light shade.

Get new hardware. (The black hinges on the outside overtake the wood! Get the hinges that go on the inside.)

Maybe (depending on the layout of the kitchen) have your dishes cupboard be open, with no doors on it.



Without a better idea of the layout, and no pictures of the counter (haven't read the entire thread), I can't give any suggestions on that. But lightening up the colors will make the kitchen SEEM a lot bigger.

[vm9799]

Originally Posted by honolula

Yeah to that. Painted wood is hardly a fad. We'd see a lot more of the older examples if it weren't for all the passing wood trends that have come and gone through the decades that have caused lovely old kitchens to be gutted and redone with the kind of dated stuff that we're turning around and painting, now. I was in antiques for a while, and I saw plenty of Early American wood peices that were seriously devalued because someone at some point stripped the very old paint off of them and gave them a smart, modern finish.

I would never paint those floors, though. They're beautiful, not to mention pretty desireable and valuable, unlike late 60's kitchen cabinets. Still, if someone wanted to paint them, it wouldn't be a permanent change. Wood floors need to be sanded and refinished every so often, anyway.

absolutely! i just find the "horror" of this all so amusing considering most people don't know furniture/design history to begin with......unless you studied it. this a true "the blind leading the blind" scenario.

but anyway......

my own kitchen in my lovely 1935 bungalow is a 1950's nightmare, complete with bright red counter tops! who on earth ever thought RED counter tops were a good idea?! so we are doing a rather modern update. i'm a serious cook, so i'm designing a "functional" kitchen. rather industrial with touches of dark wood furniture and my black/white checkered floor, but we're gasp PAINTING our cabinets white and using lots of stainless steel. my kitchen is a WORKING kitchen and isn't some showplace for me. given my field i could easily try and "recreate" an original kitchen, or some modern show piece, but i need it to be functional first and beautiful second. so i'll have a more industrial kitchen feel and i'm fine with that.

my advice to the op is to ignore everyone else's opinions, honestly. as a designer when i'm working with a client i must consider THEIR taste, budget, functionality, etc. first before inserting my own. my job is work within their parameters and guiding them along to create the best space for THEM. my own taste and functionality has absolutely nothing to do with it. you want to create a home that when you walk in the door you are happy to be there. and this includes your kitchen too. especially if you spend as much time in yours as i do in mine.

[Pinoikoi]

Originally Posted by vm9799

and as to the "trendiness" of painted wood, well one would just have to look back to our historic colonial homes with the beautiful black painted wood furniture to know that this is not always the case. those pieces are just as classic and popular today as they were back then. and real wood wide plank floors were also painted. ever see the beautiful natural and black checkerboard floors of historic homes? they are GORGEOUS!

I agree that the painted wood cabinets reflect the historic colonial homes. But that is sort of my point. Colonial homes USED to look like that, then they got "updates and updates and updates" and then someone buys the house, and "brings it back" to what it used to look like and it makes it into a magazine... the power of trends.

For example, the apron front sinks. Houses all used to have them... then they lost them for different style sinks, now people are paying big bucks to put them back in.. Why were they ever removed in the first place? Because someone said they were "dated"...

[Pinoikoi]

Originally Posted by Aliviasmom

Refinish in a lighter color. Don't paint. Stain. Either the natural color of the wood, or a similar light shade.

Get new hardware. (The black hinges on the outside overtake the wood! Get the hinges that go on the inside.)

Maybe (depending on the layout of the kitchen) have your dishes cupboard be open, with no doors on it.



Without a better idea of the layout, and no pictures of the counter (haven't read the entire thread), I can't give any suggestions on that. But lightening up the colors will make the kitchen SEEM a lot bigger.

I couldn't agree more.

[PenelopeJune]

If it were my kitchen, I'd leave the floor, because I love old wood floors. The more beat-up, the better. And then I'd paint a super bright, fun color on the cabinets, because that is just my style. I'd either replace those hinges or paint over them.

I don't think your cabinets are nice enough to worry about ruining them. I don't say that in a rude way, I just don't think all wood is worth preserving. I do agree that painting a perfectly nice wooden object with nice shape, nice condition, and good color probably isn't the best idea, but I surely wouldn't call painting your cabinets a travesty.


I like painted wood, and I don't think it's trendy. I see beautiful old Hoosier cabinets that were obviously painted years and years and years ago. And I actually like the patina that is on them from the old chipping paint. (Other than the lead issue. )

Be thankful you can paint or stain! My cabinets are that terrible late 80s, early 90s laminate stuff. I haaaaaaaaaaate them.

Since you are talking about replacing your kitchen appliances, I wanted to say to think twice if you are considering a flat-top glass stove. I hate mine. It was here when we moved in, and it looks so pretty when it's freshly polished. Gorgeous. But as soon as you cook on it, it looks crappy. You can wipe it with a wet rag, but it won't look good unless you polish it up again. (A huge hassle.) Plus, I'm not supposed to can on it (the canner will be too heavy and could break the burner under the glass) or use cast iron on top. Plus, we had to replace all our pots because they had roundish bottoms and wouldn't set level on the stove. All my copper bottom pots had to be put away.

[Pinoikoi]

Originally Posted by PenelopeJune

All my copper bottom pots had to be put away.

Was anyone else thinking Chester Copperpot? Or was it Copperbottom? (goonies reference..)

[Blooming]

We have made a decesion.
:

First, I wanted to let everyone who was concerned about the floors know that they aren't going anywhere. I love them, in fact all the wood in this house was what made me fall in love with it. Someone took the time to build in a lot of the furniture right down to the dressers.

However, the cabinets will be painted. We took off one of the hinges yesterday and the wood is ugly. Not to mention DH really wants to bring color to the cabinets and I'm pretty sure I'm starting to agree with him.

So the cabinets will be a blue silk (from Glidden) color with silver hardware:

The trim will be Ivory sampler and the walls will be shell white.

I'm pretty sure we will be going with white appliances (no glass top because we can).

We're also going to replace the facuet on our sink with something a bit more elegant and hang a new light over the sink.

I think this is the plan, I hope it is, I'm ready to have a kitchen that feels peaceful!

[Blooming]

Originally Posted by alaskanteach

Was anyone else thinking Chester Copperpot? Or was it Copperbottom? (goonies reference..)

And yes, I was thinking that! "Angie you Gonnie...gonnie, gonnie!"

[vm9799]

Originally Posted by alaskanteach

I agree that the painted wood cabinets reflect the historic colonial homes. But that is sort of my point. Colonial homes USED to look like that, then they got "updates and updates and updates" and then someone buys the house, and "brings it back" to what it used to look like and it makes it into a magazine... the power of trends.

For example, the apron front sinks. Houses all used to have them... then they lost them for different style sinks, now people are paying big bucks to put them back in.. Why were they ever removed in the first place? Because someone said they were "dated"...

ah yes, but you said that painted wood was "trendy" and i was simply pointing out that is isn't. painting wood isn't trendy or a fad or anything of that sort. yes, there ARE trends, and there's no dispute to that. but that is not the statement you originally made.

and as for your apron sinks comment, no, not ALL houses used to have them. again, without any design history you're making comments that are just not true.

sorry if i'm coming across as argumentative, but you're making arguments based on your opinion and not on facts......and as a designer that spent 4 years actually studying this, it's a huge pet peeve of mine.

[vm9799]

Originally Posted by Blooming

We have made a decesion.
:

First, I wanted to let everyone who was concerned about the floors know that they aren't going anywhere. I love them, in fact all the wood in this house was what made me fall in love with it. Someone took the time to build in a lot of the furniture right down to the dressers.

However, the cabinets will be painted. We took off one of the hinges yesterday and the wood is ugly. Not to mention DH really wants to bring color to the cabinets and I'm pretty sure I'm starting to agree with him.

So the cabinets will be a blue silk (from Glidden) color with silver hardware:

The trim will be Ivory sampler and the walls will be shell white.

I'm pretty sure we will be going with white appliances (no glass top because we can).

We're also going to replace the facuet on our sink with something a bit more elegant and hang a new light over the sink.

I think this is the plan, I hope it is, I'm ready to have a kitchen that feels peaceful!

i think this sounds really lovely! good for you for listening to your heart on this!

[weliveintheforest]

Originally Posted by Blooming

So the cabinets will be a blue silk (from Glidden) color with silver hardware:

The trim will be Ivory sampler and the walls will be shell white.

This sounds beautiful!

[PenelopeJune]

I think your plan sounds just lovely! I'm glad you are going with a color on the cabinets. That will really brighten the place up. And yay! for not going with a glass top stove.

[PenelopeJune]

And hahaha! to the Goonies reference. I loooove Goonies. One of my favorite movies of all time.

[vm9799]

Originally Posted by PenelopeJune

And yay! for not going with a glass top stove.

i couldn't agree with this more! i HATE : my glass top range and can't wait to see the day that they haul it's sorry butt out of my kitchen! lol!

[VBMama]

Please come back and post photos when you're done! This thread has inspired me to paint my dated cabinets too!